ST. PAUL — A Minnesota dog owner has reached a legal settlement with a breeder whom he accused of vengefully neutering his champion bichon frise without permission, the two sides said Wednesday.

John Wangsness sued Vickie Halstead, from whom he had originally bought the dog, Beau Lemon, for more than $50,000 in damages and ownership of eight vials of frozen semen that he said Halstead got from the dog before she neutered it. The dog was ranked second-best in its breed by the American Kennel Club for 2011 and 2012, which was the year it was retired from competition.

Both Halstead and an attorney for Wangsness, Larry Leventhal, said they couldn’t discuss the terms of the settlement due to a confidentiality agreement.

In his lawsuit, Wangsness said Halstead asked to use the dog for breeding in June 2013 but that she instead neutered it. Leventhal said she was angry that Wangsness had allowed another breeder to try to use the dog for breeding.

In an affidavit, Halstead claimed that her contract to breed Beau Lemon didn’t restrict her from neutering him, and that she did so because she was concerned about his health.