I don’t have a dog. I’ve never had pets in my house. My mother never wanted the house to have any pets. “I’m already taking care of three kids and a house. I don’t need more things to take care of.”

So, I don’t know much about dog neutering. But my friend just got her dog, Meeko, “fixed” recently. (Strange how that’s the colloquial term. Like there was something wrong with the animals the natural way.)

According to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals,

Neutering won’t affect your dog’s working abilities, friendliness, playfulness or personality.

I wonder how long it takes for dogs to be “back to normal” after getting fixed. Meeko’s not in a happy place right now.

And this reminds of Mike Rowe of Dirty Jobs neutering lambs with his teeth. Some methods of neutering may be more “humane” by itself, but which methods produce the most humane results? Also watch Mike Rowe’s great TED talk where he talks about what he’s learned from Dirty Jobs, and his lamb-neutering experience.

(This post was a request from a friend to write about “dog neutering.” It became about neutering lambs, too.)