LSAT 117 | Section 4 | Logical Reasoning: Q22

LR Question 22 Explanation

QUESTION TEXT: Trainer: Research shows that when dogs are neutered …

QUESTION TYPE: Flawed Reasoning

CONCLUSION: If you want to protect your dog from arthritis, you shouldn’t neuter it until it’s full-grown.

REASONING: Dogs neutered in early puppyhood usually develop improper leg bones. Improper bone development leads to arthritis later in life.

ANALYSIS: The evidence says: don’t neuter in early puppyhood.

The conclusion says: don’t neuter until the dog is full-grown.

Those aren’t the same thing. The trainer acts as though there are only two options: (1) neuter in early puppyhood, or (2) wait until full-grown.

But there may be other possibilities, such as neutering in middle or late puppyhood.

If neutering during those periods doesn’t create the same arthritis risk, then you wouldn’t need to wait until the dog is fully grown to protect it from arthritis.

Take, for instance, coffee and children. Let’s say research shows that giving children coffee at age 3 causes sleep problems. So, don’t let children drink coffee until they’re adults if you want to avoid sleep problems.

But what if your kid is 17? Then the evidence from children who are 3 years old might not apply.

Likewise, the trainer’s evidence only tells us something about early puppyhood, yet the conclusion rules out all times before adulthood.

___________

1. We don’t need an exact percentage. “Usually” is enough to establish that early neutering increases the risk.
2. The stimulus says improper bone development leads to arthritis. The argument may take that premise as true without explaining the biological mechanism.
3. CORRECT. The argument never considers whether neutering in middle or late puppyhood also causes arthritis problems. Without that information, the trainer has not justified the much stronger conclusion that you should wait until the dog is full-grown.
4. This is a trap. You might be thinking about cost vs. benefits, but remember that the conclusion is conditional: If you want to protect your dog from arthritis … The trainer is only talking about arthritis prevention, not about what is best for dogs overall. Even if early neutering has other benefits, that doesn’t undermine the narrower claim about how to reduce arthritis risk.
5. The argument never claims that proper bone development guarantees freedom from arthritis. A dog can have properly developed bones and still develop arthritis for other reasons. The trainer’s point is just: Early neutering may increase arthritis risk. That claim can be true even if other causes of arthritis exist.