Probably not. You're going to remove one drive, which if you have an intact male dog and there's a female in heat down the street, your dog may want to go pay a visit. But for most dogs, if they want to get out and run and play, they're probably bored and you need to take them on a walk. Get some energy out. It's not going to help with that.

There are effects of hormones on personality. The main ones we're going to lose are testosterone on a male dog. Generally, testosterone is what leads to aggressive behavior. So dogs tend to be more compliant and easier to handle. If they have learned behaviors, then that doesn't change. It doesn't take away their drive to play and have fun. There are a few dogs where we would not recommend castration on a male dog. These would be active, working police dogs, or any high-performance dog. The lack of testosterone could remove that drive. But for the average pet that lives in a house, they're going to be easier to manage. They're going to mark fewer things and be less likely to run off. In female dogs, we really don't see any changes in the behavior. Some people believe they need to have one litter to get a nice personality, but we've never seen that. There are many nice dogs that have never had puppies.

I think it's a good idea. And I'm faced with this question a lot because they'll come in for a yearly checkup on a, I don't know, let's say 10-year-old dog, and he's perfectly fine. Well, I get it. You wonder—does he need it? I don't know yet, to be honest with you. Do I recommend it? Yeah. You bet I do. Why? Because he's 10. If I catch something early, then I have a much better chance to treat it effectively. If I don't look, I'll never know. Maybe he's a dog that comes in two weeks after he was just here, and now his kidneys are greatly impaired. He's in kidney failure. Something like that. Would I have had better results knowing that two weeks prior and addressing it then? Heck yeah, I would have. So if given the opportunity, yeah, I will always choose for the side of being cautious and more proactive when I can. But the word "need" blood work is an interesting word because it's, like I said, if you don't look, you'll never know. So it's my job to be the advocate for the pet and recommend things earlier if possible so we can catch them earlier and have a better treatment outcome.