THE MALE DOG

The male is more or less sexually active all year round. His interest in sex starts early in puppyhood. Pups as young as three months old show sexual interest. They will mount your leg or the backs of their litter mates. These sexual actions on the part of the male pup don't necessarily mean that he's oversexed or showing abnormal behavior. These may come later on, when he's mature and cannot get rid of his is sexual energy. Early mounting and interest in sex are instinctive reactions. Nature is preparing the pup for his future role of procreator.

As the pup matures he will show more and more sexual interest. The desire to mate increases with age. The awkward pup will show more interest in other dogs, both male and female. He'll carefully examine their genitals and mount them, going through the motions of the sexual act. Most of the time this mounting and simulating the sexual act is nothing more than a "dry run." The young male is usually too inexperienced to actually copulate. Believe it or not, he will probably need some help to achieve a complete mating.

Unless the male is kept under control, his increasing interest in sex can get him into trouble. Sex and food are two topics guaranteed to start a dog fight. Nowadays, most dogs are well fed and don't often get into a fight over food. Not so with sex. Just let a female in heat go by and she will quickly have a large following of males, ranging from pups to grizzled veterans. The competition for her favors becomes fierce and fights break out. Usually the best fighter does all of the mating, or at least gets the first chance.

This sexual competition among males is another one of Nature's plans to perpetuate a strong species. The weak and ineffectual males are weeded out in the fights. Only the strong get a chance to mate in the wild dog packs; the weak ones have to be content with the role of onlooker.

But the survival of the fittest is not an issue among domestic dogs. You are not interested in having your male eliminated. Nor do you want him to be injured. And he can get injured if he tangles with huskier and more sagacious dogs while competing for a female. All of this is a good reason why you should keep your dog at home.

T he average mature male getting a balanced diet and adequate exercise is capable of mating up to the time he is 10 to 12 years old. He should not be mated under 1 year of age in or over 10 years. The American Kennel Club will not accept puppies for registration when the sire is under 7 months of age or over 12 years. The over-1-year and under-1 o-year regime is best to follow.

Cryptorchidism

Cryptorchidism among dogs is not uncommon. It is a condition in which both testicles have not descended from the body into the scrotum. Cryptorchids are sterile. They cannot breed since the undescended testicles are either atrophied or the spermatozoa are killed or rendered immobile by the body heat.

Monorchidism

Occasionally, you will see a dog that has only one descended testicle. Monorchids are not sterile. They can mate and produce offspring just as well as the dog with two testicles. But the condition is a fault. Geneticists believe that monorchidism is hereditary; consequently, if you have a male with one testicle, your chances of mating him to a purebred bitch are nil. There is too good a chance that a portion of any litter sired by a monorchid will inherit the fault.