Many dog owners often find it difficult to make their mind as to whether their dog should be neutered or not.

Neutering or altering is the name of the surgical procedure in which the reproductive organ of a male dog is surgically removed. For a female dog this procedure is known as spaying. Whether carrying out this procedure on a dog is good or bad is a debatable question, and we are not going to probe into the morality of it.

The fact that this procedure serves a practical purpose, i.e. keeping the stray dog population under control is enough for continuation of the practice.

Dog owners, who do not want to get the surgery done on their male dog, normally do so thinking the surgery will be a painful experience that will cause permanent damage to the psyche of their lovely boy.

But it is not a very complicated procedure for an expert vet and practically the trauma of surgery lasts only for around for 48 hours. Plus the truth is, this surgery in no way hampers the well being of the dog. Best age of carrying out the procedure is within first few weeks of life but it can be done anytime in the life of a dog, though in very dogs there may be some complications.

And to think of other benefits, population control of stray dogs and related benefits like less pressure on dog homes etc are not the only benefits. There are other equally if not more important benefits to have from this procedure.

The chance that a neutered dog will get injured or killed by a car while crossing a busy road to go after a bitch across the road is zero. Imagine a dog running across a busy street, other than killing himself the dog may cause a serious accident involving others.

Surgical procedure of neutering involves removing the testicles as result of it the testosterone level in the dogs blood flow decrease. This makes the dog of more friendly temperament and more suitable for a family with small children. Various behavioral problems like jumping, fighting with other dogs etc. reduce considerably.

And removal of testicles rules out the chance of testicular cancer in male dogs.

One word of caution, recently some studies have linked neutering with prostrate complications.

But still, considering everything (specially the frustration and disappointment of the hapless dog with testosterone surge in the bloodstream but barred from mating) it is a practical procedure that does more good than bad.