Mammary cancer is the most common cancer occurring in female dogs. By spaying your female dog, you significantly reduce the chances of mammary cancer. Spaying also prevents your female dog from developing pyometria (an infection of the uterus that can be hard to detect and can be fatal if not treated in time).

By neutering your male dog, you can prevent testicular cancer, prostate cancer, enlarged prostate, and rectal tumors all of which are stimulated by testosterone. It is especially critical to neuter a male dog that has one or both testicles retained. A retained testicle has an even higher incidence of becoming cancerous or can twist causing extreme pain and distress to you dog.

Intact female dogs in heat will attract unwanted male dogs from as far as a mile or more away. A female dog can be very driven by her urge to reach a male when she is in season and will find any way to him that she is capable of, including getting out of or into a securely fenced yard. This wandering also subjects a dog to theft, being hit by a car, shot at, hit, accused of biting, etc.

Intact male dogs are more likely to wander and roam when they pick up the scent of a female dog in heat. They will dig under, go over and, barring their ability to do that, will go THROUGH a fence to get to a female in season. Just as is the case with a wandering female, this wandering subjects a dog to theft, being hit by a car, shot at, hit, accused of biting, etc.

Female dogs can have a bloody discharge for as long as 21 days or more during their heat cycle.

Dogs can contract sexually transmitted diseases that can seriously threaten their health and the lives of any puppies they may produce.

Intact male dogs mark by lifting their leg and urinating. They are more likely to mark in the house and on your furniture than a neutered dog. Dominant intact female dogs will also sometimes lift their leg to mark.

Intact dogs (both male and female) tend to be more territorial and aggressive. Fights cause injuries and are subject to owner liability.

A female dog giving birth to her puppies is always at risk to complications and can lose her life in the process. Complications during labor are likely to necessitate a Caesarean section. C-sections are not only costly but can be life threatening to both the dam as well as her puppies.

If you allow your female dog to have puppies or your male dog to sire a litter (intentionally or unintentionally), you become responsible for every life that you bring into this world as a result from that breeding. Are you willing to ensure the parents have been heart tested by a Board Certified Veterinary Cardiologist since the Boxer breed is highly prone to heart conditions they can pass on to their puppies?

Are you willing to make sure every home is carefully screened to ensure the puppies are going to families that will love and care for them for the next 10 years or however long they may live?

Too many puppies grow up to be adults that are left to live outside alone and apart from their human family members. Dogs are social animals and have an inherent need to be close to and interact with their family. Without this close social interaction with people, dogs easily become lonely, distressed and ultimately depressed. Can you be certain the puppies you are responsible for producing will be loved, cared for, and an essential part of their families’ lives for as long as they live?