Pet Digest

Tobias is a tough guy and a survivor. After everything he had already been through, he somehow bounced back like nothing bad had ever happened. He was growing into quite the character—and quite the dog. By the time he was approaching his first birthday, Tobias had turned into an absolute beast of a guy, weighing in at around 70 pounds. That was a full 30 pounds heavier than we had originally expected. His personality had flourished right along with his size. Tobias was the kind of dog who ran straight to Mom and Dad whenever something wasn't right. Bump his knee? He was in your lap with those big, teary eyes. Something scared him? He wanted his people. In many ways, he wasn't just another dog in our home. He was another toddler. The Conversation About Neutering As Tobias approached his first birthday, we started having the conversation about neutering. At the time, I had already spent quite a bit of time researching the subject. My understanding was that large-breed...

how does sexual maturity affect ligament development? We actually see something similar in humans. The sex hormones that signal “maturity” (and I mean physical maturity, not mental) develop at different rates in males and females, and they play a huge role in how the body finishes growing. These hormones are responsible for signaling growth plate closure—basically telling the body when bones are done lengthening. They also influence collagen synthesis, which is important for the strength and elasticity of many tissues. We usually think of collagen in terms of skin, but it’s just as important in ligaments, helping them stretch and stabilize joints properly. In dogs, typical spay and neuter procedures remove the ovaries or testicles, which stops the production of these hormones. If this happens before a dog has finished developing, the body no longer receives the signals it needs to complete normal growth. A helpful way to picture this is to compare it to humans. It would be like interru...