Spaying

[Blondie]

Christie is only 2 months old but I was wondering, what is the ideal age for female dogs to get spayed?

 

[Zoom]

Generally before their first heat, which happens around 6 months, so between 5 and 6 months. Some people advocate four months, others go for early spaying at 2 months. I personally like my dogs to mature as much as possible before neutering, so I'd go for the later date.

 

[Whisper]

^^^Yep, and some people also wait for full maturity and spay or neuter at a year or two. You'll find it's largely a matter of choice, as there are arguments for each.

 

[bubbatd]

I'm with Zoom . Ideally I think going through one heat and spaying 4 months later would be great ... but why take chances and go through tht mess .

 

[Dekka]

I ask that my puppy buyers wait till one year with girls. Most of mine don't come into heat until just after one year, so at most they will have one heat to get through. I feel that animals need hormones to develop properly, growth wise.

 

[AnimalLoverCatRescuer]

I ask that my puppy buyers wait till one year with girls. Most of mine don't come into heat until just after one year, so at most they will have one heat to get through. I feel that animals need hormones to develop properly, growth wise.

For real? Aren't you afraid of oops litters? I can see requiring it be done BEFORE a certain age like 6 months or something sice they can reproduce then and it is a bigger risk, but I never heard of anyone saying to not do it UNTIL at least a year. That just sounds like a mistake waiting to happen. What if they want to do it sooner? Do you not sell to them?

 

[Blondie]

Thanks for all of your valuable opinions. I do worry about the growth thing, but Blondie is around and even though he doesn't really like her yet, I'm not sure he'll be able to resist her if she comes into heat! :yikes:

 

[Dekka]

The risk of an oops litter is very small. If they had an intact male in the house (or vice versa) then I might consider it. I do not sell to people who let their dogs wander free.

In europe ppl just dont' spay and neuter like we NA do. Interestingly enough they also don't have the pet over population problem like we do. The issue is the owners, not the dogs. To have an oops litter, you have to let your girl with a boy.

 

[SummerRiot]

usually 6 months is ideal.

 

[Maxy24]

Are vet says 6 months...not too young and also there is usually no chance for an oops to happen that young. Unless you are 100% sure your girl will never be in contact with a male while she is in heat (sometimes it is hard to tell if they are in heat) then do it before her first heat. So Blondie is intact? Are you getting him fixed at some point?

 

[Dekka]

Even if you don't know if your dog is in heat, if they are always on leash, around other dogs on leash, how can an oops litter happen?

 

[bubbatd]

If you are a responsible owner , there's no reason for a whoops litter .

 

[Blondie]

Blondie is intact because he was sick when he was a pup (ehrlichia) and went through so much that I didn't want to do it, besides we didn't know we were going to have a baby girl in the house. I think 6 months will be fine for her.

 

[Dekka]

what is stopping you from neutering him now? IMO taking out hormone producing organs during growth is a lot to do to a dog.