We'd like to get our Ghost neutered, but were not sure if 3 months is the best age to get it done.

Questions like this always prompt a flurry of very differing comments.

This article from PetMD (which tends to be 'technical' and dry) weighs the advantages and disadvantages of neutering along with copious detail about why to have them neutered.

Of course one has to consider Cesar (I don't care for the gentleman, btw) since he has his opinion.

A quick glance at this article weighs the positives in a less technical manner than the first.

The problem comes in that there isn't one good answer.   Early neutering, earlier than six months, brings its own set of pros and cons, while waiting till the dog is mature (let's say 18+ months) brings its own set.

My recommendation, read everything you can, consult your vet for his (er, her?) preferences and make your own decision.

I would never neuter a dog that young. Waiting until at LEAST 6 months is optimal. Waiting until a dog is over 1 year old is even better, however, you have to be responsible and make sure your dog doesn't get another pregnant while waiting.

our vet told us to wait until he was between 8 months to 1 year old to do the neuter surgery. but i did it at 6 1/2 months old.

I would also recommend checking your city ordinance when you make your decision. Mine states all dogs above six months have to be neutered unless you obtain a special permit thingy.

I had to go look and Danielle is indeed correct...  According to this AVMA paper several cities have laws requiring that dogs and cats be neutered before they're four months old with some pretty severe penalties. In L.A., for example, the fine is $100 and 8 hours community service for first offense and $500 and 40 hours for the second.

I found this article on AnimalLaw.com to also be interesting.

Wow Danielle, and thank you Al for looking that up. I find that law kinda crazy. Not so much that spay and neutering shouldn't be done, I believe it needs to be, but it has been highly recommended that medium (huskies), large and giant breeds should not be spayed until fully grown. It has to do with hormones and growth plates, I would have to find the article, but research has been see that animals s/n at a young age "may" have issues later in life with HD and arthritis, because of lack of hormones, they end up growing to rapidly. I am waiting to spay Sofie, she has had her first heat, and she will be a year old in August, not sure how long I will wait, but I certainly have seen first hand the difference in spaying at a young age with Miya, she was 5 months old. I wonder how these laws affect those who truly want to wait like myself? If there are no laws, I would consider s/n around a year old for a husky, with giant and large breeds up to 3 years of age.

sometimes i wish i could have waited to do the neuter, but the city wants them do have it don't when you get the rabies vaccine at 4 months old because to have to register them to the city as soon at that vaccine is done. i got lucky and they gave me until he was 6 1/2  months because i had prof of the appointment for the neuter so i didn't get any penalties.

Interesting to read that USA has such a enforcement.

I had never heard of a city ordinance regarding s/n. I have heard of young s/n due to rescues/shelters. Never knew. Some of the specifics makes sense at LA is a big city and it probably has a overpopulation problem. I guess they all offer you a "permit" with fees if you want to keep a dog for breeding or just not do it too soon.

My Beka was spayed at a young age due to being a shelter puppy. I had her at home with me at potentially 8-9 weeks as soon as she recovered from the surgery. The shelter had misjudged her age as they thought she was a husky gsd not a husky aussie. They had her fostered for 4-5 weeks after being dumped on their door step so they thought she was 12-13 weeks. She did not have any growing problems as far as bones, muscles behavior but she was "hooded" which was due to the early spay and she had to clean more often. Never had an issue with it even though our vet though it might be a possibility.

I am trying to hold out with Vlad. But he is already humping everything. It is a continual hump fest at my house. I think if things do not change I will get him fixed at 8 months. My nerves can not take it I am scared he is gonna get out and go "dating". The dog park is a continual watch even with timeout he does not get it. I have never seen a dog hump as much as he does. Him going after my pillow while I am sleeping on it totally unnerved me though.

My vet has stated that 4 mos is probably too young and less than that is def too young. But 4 mos should not be detrimental so she does it but usually does not talk to the "parents" until after the 4mo check up and rabies shots. (It all has to do with the individual dog grown and the environment of the individual dog in her opinions as she has heard the research on "no need to wait" and "definitely need to wait until older". So most go at 5-6 mo. She recommended to wait until 6 mo for Vlad as he is a big boy growing so much and she knew he would bike and scooter later in his life. Now she thinks it was definitely a good idea since he is still growing so much. She basically said it is two different fields or opinions in research and they both have the same amount of data to back up there theories. So very opinionated but you can totally find an expert to refute the research someone else have full vetted as the best information. So I am really trying to hold out just a bit longer.

Like you Colleen, I's never heard about any specific neutering laws, just the policies and procedures of the shelters.  All the cities / states that I read about had exceptions to the law, mostly aimed at show dogs and actively working dogs.  Generally, those whose gene pool we want to build upon.

As you also mention, there seem to be two very outspoken groups "do it now!" and the "delay it until they're mature" and conversations are seldom sociable - This forum continues to amaze me that we can hold discussions and very seldom do they turn into flames.

This is a hard topic because there's no right answer. Each situation is unique. My advice is to do as much research as you can and make your own informed decision about the best time to neuter your dog.

I had my Chihuahua neutered at 7 months. He had been diagnosed with Legg-Perthes Disease and had to have major surgery to remove his hip joints. It wasn't something I wanted to pass along to offspring, even by accident, so I had him neutered immediately. I'm glad I made this choice because a friend wanted to breed him to her female a few months later, and I was able to turn her down easily by saying he was neutered. If he hadn't been neutered, it would've been hard to say no to her.

I had my last Siberian Husky neutered at 3 years old. I waited that long because I wasn't sure if I wanted to get into dog breeding. When I was sure I didn't want to breed, I had him neutered. Until that time, I made sure there weren't any accidental litters. It was easy to avoid since the only other two dogs we had were altered and Kiba was never off leash outside. I'm glad I waited to neuter him. There is a lot of research that shows early s/n leads to bone and joint problems later in life.

Suka is almost 8 months old and he's not neutered yet. He has a testicle that never descended, but I'm still waiting until he's 2 years old before I consider neutering him. I wanted to show him, but the undescended testicle ruined those plans. I'm not only waiting for age 2 for the bone and joint reason but also because it's in the sales contract that if I neuter him earlier than that, the breeder's hereditary issues guarantee is voided.