Expert: Marcia Owen - 10/16/2010

Question
I have a nearly 3 year old Birman stud who is still having trouble with his technique. I have given him lots of opportunities with 3 girls on all different occassions over the time since he was aound 9 months of age. He has always been interested in girls and does try without success. I am unsure what approach to take because I am wondering how much longer I should keep him entire. His lines mean a lot to me and I don't want to lose that.
Thanks in advance.

Answer
Dear Louise

I sympathise with you as sometimes it can be the same with the girls.  However don't despair as some of them can be late starters.  I know of a Birman in the UK who was 3.5 years before he got the hang of it and it was when I took my very 'tarty' girl to him that she showed him what he needed to do he never looked back.  Are you using girls who are very experienced?   Does he come from a line that are late developers? The other thing you might like to check out is that he does not have an problems around his penis.  It is not uncommon with longhairs for hair to become encircled around the penis which means that he cannot perform the task properly.  Its certainly worth checking that one out.

As to how long you can keep him entire - if he is happy and not showing any stress symptoms then I would not do anything hasty.  If he is indoors and not spraying then even better as being entire is not a problem to him as long as any behaviour is not causing a problem to you.

It may even be worth having a cat with your vet to see if he can find any physical problem.

Regards