So i'm about to get an 8week old husky pup.
I know all the burdens and joys that come with the pup but had some questions in regards to neutering.

When is an appropriate age to get this procedure done? ASAP?
Should i wait a year or something of that nature to let the pup "develop"? or is asap the best option.

Thanks everyone

Where I live, my pup had to get all of his parvo/distemper shots and his rabies before he could get neutered. And since they're all 3 weeks apart, I didn't get him neutered until he is 5 1/2 months. His had "developed" enough by then but the best thing to do is talk to your vet and see what they recommend. Although you should definitely do it before they reach sexual maturity which is at about 6-7 months.

I like the 6 month mark for neutering and spayings.

That will depend on how fast he "matures". Balon will be a bit over 5 months and is being neutered on Friday. His teeth are all in (save for two extra baby canines that didn't come out and now have to be pulled lol) and he has begun to mark a little. So friday it is.

I'm a bit different about neutering than most. I disagree with early neutering, since it can cause growth problems in some dogs. We will begin training for agility next week with Cato, we may not neuter him if proves to be good at agility, since we would love to get him involved in the show world. BUT, if we neuter him, it will not be until 18 months of age.

Note: This is MY OPINION, you don't have to agree with it. I am providing studies to back my opinion as well.

Here is some reading:

http://www.naiaonline.org/pdfs/LongTermHealthEffectsOfSpayNeuterInDogs.pdf

http://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2011/02/17/dangers-of-early-pet-spaying-or-neutering.aspx

There are many other studies, I can post more if you like.

Please don't misunderstand, I completely advocate spay and neuter, but I personally am against early spay and neuter.

Neutered Kale at 5 months, he's 23.75 inches and almost 60Ibs. Small to medium dogs (which Sibes fall under) can be neutered early with little to no effect on growth plates. Large to giant breeds is a different story. Spaying and neutering is all personally preference. Do whatever you feel most comfortable with; stick to your gut.

I agree with Brooke, stick to your gut. Do what feels right. My dogs have all been neutered earlier in life besides Odin. He was older (5-6ish) when he was neutered.

If I had to do it again and got to choose when I neutered my males... I would most likely wait. It would depend on the dog and their individual temperament but I feel I generally would wait. Not super long but probably around 12-18 months.

I should mention that we also have a couple of unspayed female dogs on the street, I don't believe in overpopulation should he get out!

Megan I found the articles you linked to really interesting thanks for posting, I like to research all about dogs myself and have read many articles on this very subject . And boy does the info out there vary!

I waited for Braiden until he was 18 months for the reasons Megan stated. Was actually going to wait until 2 years, but he started acting really pushy with Max our Pit mix so opted for 18 months. Skyla will be 2 in September and will be spayed then. Max was a rescue and was already fixed when we got him. All depends on personal preference.

My first husky, Casey was neutered at 7. I had misguided ideas about breeding him. I was young did not know better. After continued probs with over aggression and other males, we had him neutered. And realized that we should have done it much sooner.

My second husky, Tasha was neutered at six months after her first heat. She developed cancer at nine. I don't know if there was any correlation. She lived until almost 14.

Bodhi, my current husky, was neutered at a year and five months. It was a condition of rehoming him, but I would have done it anyway. He never had aggression probs, but the constant marking he displayed before is much improved since neutering .

I think 6 months is a good age..

Blaze was neuter 2 weeks after we got him at 9 months..

Kerian was spay by the shelter at about 2 years.

I usually stick to 5-6 months, Embry and Zoey were both done at 5 months.
Ares is almost 7 months and I haven't gotten him neutered yet because we're attempting to get his papers and potentially show him depending on how he fills out.

Balon was neutered yesterday and is doing fine, he isn't found of his cone of shame lol, but I only use it in the crate as he doesn't seem to be licking! They also had to pull his top two baby canines as the adult ones were in and they hadn't fallen out yet. He is on pain meds, and restricted activity of course. My vet believes in 5-6 months, she watches for teeth to be in, and he had them all.

I've also read articles that provide evidence which supports waiting until your doggy is fully matured.

I have also read that Huskies take slightly longer than other breeds to reach full size/maturity. In most cases 2.5 - 3 years.

So in an ideal world I would like to wait. If his personality changes and it needs to be done sooner for other reasons then so be it.

Yeah I have no choice but to neuter my dog because only one of his testicle descended.... but I wasn't sure when is the right time to do it..

Chachawolf, can they locate the testicles? Will it be Exploratory surgery?

chachawolf wrote:

Yeah I have no choice but to neuter my dog because only one of his testicle descended.... but I wasn't sure when is the right time to do it..

I would give it until about 6 months of age to neuter him. Lucian had one testicle that was taking longer then the other one to descend. They had told me they would wait until he was 6 months old to neuter him, and give it time to drop. It did drop on it's own finally.