Are neutered dogs worse fighters than intact ones?

[Deleted]

Neutered dogs have decreased testosterone leading to decreased drive and muscle strength. Hence they are naturally at a disadvantage compared to intact animals. When optimising for a useful dog, wouldn't it be counterproductive to neuter the dog?

[Musth]

Yes it definitely is. But of course a neuter dog can still perform in some cases. But it is at a definite disadvantage.

[Deleted]

I would never ever neuter a dog, my dog is neutered because it's not really ''my'' dog on paper. It was bought for me when I was 6, and I didn't get to make those decisions. Now my dog is a pussy and lost a fight to an SBT. Entirely the neuter's fault. Otherwise my dog would've murdered it instantly... jk

[Hardcastle]

Yeah a neutered male in my experience is always... what you'd expect. A gelatinous bag of goo. Like the dog equivalent of a gamer incel.

On the other hand spaying females doesn't seem to really have any negative effect on performance. I believe they've even done studies on racing greyhounds which proved it didn't negatively effect them at all. Although actually, as I say that, I believe male race horses can also compete despite being desexed.

With fighting you just feel like it has to be detrimental. That said the combination of desexed and battle-hardened serious dog, would be rare, so personal experience could be skewed by desexed dogs always being raised as pampered wusses.