What is the appropriate age to spay my pup?. We waited until our cat was 6 months old. Is it the same time frame for dogs? Thanks!

yes! before the first heat is the best time to spay

Regarding Spay and Neuter on a Husky

Should pretty much give you enough info.

~Chris~

My bitch is due to be done this year, she has had her first season and I think she is both physically and mentally mature to be spayed, She has just turned one. With males on the other hand - unless any medical or behavioural issue dictates that he needs them off then they shall stay on

It really depends on who you ask or what vet you talk to, opinions are all over the place. I think most people agree that you don't have to wait until your bitch to have a season before you spay her. Generally I think it is around 6 months of age is acceptable. Both of my males were neutered early at 4 months, since my vet was willing to do it that young. Some vets will not spay or neuter until 10-12 months old, but personally I think that is too long. I think having it done earlier is the more responsible thing to do so that you don't have any accidental puppies

jschrader wrote:

It really depends on who you ask or what vet you talk to, opinions are all over the place. I think most people agree that you don't have to wait until your bitch to have a season before you spay her. Generally I think it is around 6 months of age is acceptable. Both of my males were neutered early at 4 months, since my vet was willing to do it that young. Some vets will not spay or neuter until 10-12 months old, but personally I think that is too long. I think having it done earlier is the more responsible thing to do so that you don't have any accidental puppies

Sorry to hijack

May I ask why you think dogs should be neutered early?

Neutering early has been proven to close the growth plates due to taking the testosterone away far too early. Which also means the dogs brain isn't able to mature as it should do and also the males then have been shown to remain puppish and smaller in size.

You can have entire animals and be responsible. I have two entire bitches and an entire male and have avoided any unwanted pregnancies.

There is conflicting views on this. I consulted my vet about any pros and cons from neutering early. I am not saying you are not responsible, everyone's situation is different. Some people may not be as diligent as you with making sure their males and females are watched when the bitches are in heat. Also, there is the chance of attracting male dogs

http://www.aspca.org/pet-care/spayneuter/early-spay-neuter.aspx

I have had no issues with either of my males that were neutered at 4 months of age.

Thank you all very much!

Your welcome! It is up to you and your vet to determine what age to spay your pet, so I would talk to them first. I wanted to let you know that if you look online like I did, you will find conflicting opinions on what age to spay/neuter or if to do it at all. It is a passionate subject on both sides!

jschrader wrote:

Your welcome! It is up to you and your vet to determine what age to spay your pet, so I would talk to them first. I wanted to let you know that if you look online like I did, you will find conflicting opinions on what age to spay/neuter or if to do it at all. It is a passionate subject on both sides!

I was very confused by the stuff I found online, one site said it was ok to have it done at 8 weeks and others said not until a year. I'll talk to my vet and see what he has to say as well. Thanks again!

It's going to depend on each individual person and their individual dogs. I'm glad Cheyenne be was spayed early, but would have waited with Rodeo if I had that choice. He is very immature and could have used some "growing up" before he was neutered.

Every dog is different - this is just another one of the ways they're different. I originally wanted to get Stark fixed at 6 months, but then he ended up with Demodex around 5 months and I wanted to wait until we were sure it was gone so he didn't get fixed until about 10 1/2 months.

This topic seems to be one of those topics that everybody is going to have their own opinion on, but at the end of the day, you will know your dog better than anybody else on the planet, or forum, or websites, so that's pretty much all what it comes down to. You'll know when it's right for your pup and your vet can assist (not tell) you with that decision when you feel the time is right.

It really depends. Spaying early affects the rate of growth of bones either by stopping the growth early or having prolonged growth of other bones. This can make a dog structurally unsound, leading to injury while in motion. However, a dog usually has to have fairly poor structure from breeding for this to happen, so it won't effect a well-bred dog. If a dog is just going to be a companion, then it really doesn't matter, and I will spay early, between six and eight months, to avoid cancers and other issues.

I plan on doing schutzhund at some point in my life, and those dogs won't be altered until after 18 months because it's a high impact sport and I want to lower their chance of injury as much as possible.

jschrader wrote:

There is conflicting views on this. I consulted my vet about any pros and cons from neutering early. I am not saying you are not responsible, everyone's situation is different. Some people may not be as diligent as you with making sure their males and females are watched when the bitches are in heat. Also, there is the chance of attracting male dogs

http://www.aspca.org/pet-care/spayneuter/early-spay-neuter.aspx

I have had no issues with either of my males that were neutered at 4 months of age.

Perhaps it's different over here. I'm not offended, I know you weren't calling me irresponsible nor am I saying you were wrong for when you had your dogs done - just simply putting another side across. I know everyone's situation is different but I had a plan in place for what I would do with my bitch/dog when the girls came into season and put that in place when it happened.

http://www.doglistener.co.uk/medical/neuter.shtml

I would never argue with someone getting their bitch done, but would suggest waiting until the bitch has had her first season or is at least 18 months old. But sometimes your vet is not always the best person to ask. I don't ask my vet about nutritional aspects because they have only 2 days worth of education on ALL nutrition on animals. Often given by the companies of the foods they have in the waiting room.

SLB wrote:

But sometimes your vet is not always the best person to ask. I don't ask my vet about nutritional aspects because they have only 2 days worth of education on ALL nutrition on animals. Often given by the companies of the foods they have in the waiting room.

Anything that has to do with nutrition, straight to ItsAHuskyThing for me LOL!! Although it could be a lot worse, the vets that I request aren't pushy with the food - they're satisfied with the raw as long as it's complete.

UndarthAngipoo wrote:

SLB wrote:

But sometimes your vet is not always the best person to ask. I don't ask my vet about nutritional aspects because they have only 2 days worth of education on ALL nutrition on animals. Often given by the companies of the foods they have in the waiting room.

Anything that has to do with nutrition, straight to ItsAHuskyThing for me LOL!!

Hahaa Pet forums for me - there is a great woman on there who knows everything about raw feeding so I trust her word. However I have done a great deal of research myself so I don't need to run to her quite as often any more

Personal / professional opinions are what matters here.
I would talk to your vet the one that will perform the surgery because every vet has a different opinion on age and on why you should or should not. Our vet saw 4-5 months (or for a boy after the testes drop) as fine especially since he started humping. However we adopted one dog and they fixed her at the humane society at 4 months only later to find out she was 3 months old and we have always had to watch for female problems because she was not fully developed when fixed. (per the same vet). The same vet requested we fix our older dog to curb his behavior and prevent many possible diseases when she found out we were not breeding him ( he was about 4 yrs old.) This way the vet, the dog, and you can figure out what is best!

UndarthAngipoo wrote:

SLB wrote:

But sometimes your vet is not always the best person to ask. I don't ask my vet about nutritional aspects because they have only 2 days worth of education on ALL nutrition on animals. Often given by the companies of the foods they have in the waiting room.

Anything that has to do with nutrition, straight to ItsAHuskyThing for me LOL!!

Hahaa Pet forums for me - there is a great woman on there who knows everything about raw feeding so I trust her word. However I have done a great deal of research myself so I don't need to run to her quite as often any more

In the USA vets promote spay/neuter around the 6 month age mark. It's routine here - while in Europe talk about spay/neuter isn't a big deal.

I'll link an article that was just published this month about a study done in Golden Retrievers about neutering affecting health.

http://news.ucdavis.edu/search/news_detail.lasso?id=10498#.URxYuJcfYfQ.facebook

IMO - for the average pet owner a bitch should be spayed before their first heat to reduce the risks of an accidental pregnancy. MY stance for what I would do is I wouldn't spay a bitch any earlier than 18 months preferring to hold to the 24 month mark to allow for proper growth. With dogs I wouldn't neuter unless there was an actual medical need for it.

My female lab was done at about 5 1/2 months and so was male Balon. Both did fine!

I'm getting Rogue spayed this week. The vet I work for says that if you do it after their first heat they risk getting breast tumors and if you do it too early they will sometimes produce a hooded vulva where the skin grows around their vulva. Unfortunately Bella has a hooded vulva and was spayed after she went it to heat once. Their are risks for every age. Hooded vulvas are less serious than breast tumors that's why im trying to do it before her first heat. What are your opinions on early spaying, later, or after a heat cycle?

Both of ours were done around 6 months. There's no medical reason for them to go into heat, and each heat increases the risk of mammory cancer. This is one of those very sensitive subjects. In the end it comes down to what you and your vet decide between the two of you.

Niraya, why would you spay a female but not neuter a male unless medically necessary?

Actually - females receive hormones that are only released during their heat cycle (males get hormones also) Spaying reduces the chances of mammary tumors and means no risk of pyometra and zero chance of an accidental breeding. Spay/neuter also affects the timing for the closing of the growth plates (which is affected by the hormones that are only released during heat cycles/and at a certain time in growth for males)

Males are proven to have higher instances of cancers because of neutering as opposed to keeping them intact.

Niraya wrote:

Actually - females receive hormones that are only released during their heat cycle (males get hormones also) Spaying reduces the chances of mammary tumors and means no risk of pyometra and zero chance of an accidental breeding. Spay/neuter also affects the timing for the closing of the growth plates (which is affected by the hormones that are only released during heat cycles/and at a certain time in growth for males)

Males are proven to have higher instances of cancers because of neutering as opposed to keeping them intact.

We are on the fence with Nova - We want him to fully develop and not worry about growth plates (I want him to pull a sled and work). Our Vet was pushing neuter at 5 months then the next minute she is telling us about her Lab guide dog program were they wait until 18months to neuter. I can't get a straight answer out of the vet...