Hi Lindsey. What is presented here is the only evidence on which to base such a decision. The rest is conjecture. I hope it gives you some comfort that an earlier date would not be inappropriate, especially considering that the behaviour describe may become learnt with time and difficult to abolish.

My 8mo old standard poodle x old english sheepdog is humping until full ejaculation. I initially thought I had to wait until 2 due to the study results, but this would show that between 6-11mo is not doing harm to him? Should I get hips and elbow x-rays to check growth plates? I’m seeing a lot of advice about standard poodles maturing physically at 24 mo. when growth plates are completely closed. Mainly, he is humping owning when in play mode and over excited – bites at shoulder, jumps, humps, a sometimes gates full erection with glans swollen. I’m soo worried about increasing his risk of cancer!

Hi Lena. The best age we advise is listed in the article above for each poodle size.

Hi Gail. The behaviour may have nothing to do with testosterone levels, but the safest thing to do is to get him desexed as soon as possible just in case. If you look at the data you’ll see that there isn’t much risk with doing standard poodles earlier (such as 6 months) so that’s what I would do.

Hi Brook. That’s perfectly reasonable. I wrote this article just so that people could see what the science tells us.

Hi Whitney. There is very little evidence for or against behaviour changes associated with neutering female dogs. I wrote a short article you can read here about aggression but the jury is also out on that one.