Are dogs "scrotally aware"?

The notion that dogs are prone to self-trauma after procedures that involve the shaving of, surgical preparation of or cutting through the scrotum has been contradicted by a pair of studies, according to Fetch dvm360 conference speaker Amanda Dykstra, DVM.

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The surprising study on scrotal castration versus prescrotal castration in dogs.

Drs. Bushby and Griffin demonstrate pediatric castration in a puppy (photo package).

"We have avoided scrotal castration for a long time, but [a 2015 study by Woodruff, Bushby et al.] showed that this [self-trauma] isn't necessarily the case," she says.

In this video Dr. Dykstra imparts how this and another study point to the fact that dogs are two to four times more likely to cause self-trauma if neutered pre-scrotally. Click to learn more.