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Most of the dog sport people I know are now waiting until their dogs are at least one year old to 18 months to spay or neuter in order to ensure that they reach their full development. I think this is wise and will ultimately result in sounder and healthier dogs.
Beyond that, I think spaying and neutering is a good idea in almost every case.
All I can add to this is that I had a Pomeranian spayed at 1 year of age, after her first heat had come and gone. Besides the inconvenience of bleeding everywhere and attracting my other pets to a humpfest (nothing came of it, as the other pets were altered), after her spay she started leaking urine with excitement. They say the leaking is a risk of not waiting until the first heat, but in this case it didn't matter.
Most of the dog sport people I know are now waiting until their dogs are at least one year old to 18 months to spay or neuter in order to ensure that they reach their full development. I think this is wise and will ultimately result in sounder and healthier dogs.
Beyond that, I think spaying and neutering is a good idea in almost every case.
Do you have a serious stray dog problem in the US? Because there isn't here in Scotland and spaying to young just for inconvenience sake to me says you should not own an animal. Buy a stuffed toy instead!!!!!
Well, this is a thread with legs. It appears to be a problem that is unending.
The danger of a spay after the first heat is that very few "average pet owners" have the facilities or the knowledge to prevent their girl from becoming pregnant. A standard backyard fence will not keep out the neighborhood Romeo, and he could have come from as far away as 5 miles, or even more.
The heat is inconvenient and after all the bleeding is finished, that is when pregnancy occurs and many owners think that after the blood is finished that the heat cycle is finished. It isn't.
I keep show dogs so they are not spayed until their career is over, and it is a major undertaking to guarantee that they don't have an unwanted pregnancy. I've got expensive secure kennels and my girls in season spend their season in crates and are never outside without a leash and a supervising person, who is ready and willing to fight off unwanted attention-- which can actually be potentially dangerous.
Look at all the mutt puppies in the pound. Those are there because someone couldn't figure out how to keep their canine from getting pregnant and didn't spay before the first heat. I'd be willing to bet that a large percentage of those puppies are from first heat cycles.
(veering wildly off topic, it is difficult to talk about dog breeding without being allowed to say "*****")
Last edited by oregonwoodsmoke; 08-31-2016 at 11:07 AM..
Do you have a serious stray dog problem in the US? Because there isn't here in Scotland and spaying to young just for inconvenience sake to me says you should not own an animal. Buy a stuffed toy instead!!!!!
Like there are no mongrels in Scotland? The country is full of misbred oops puppies of mixed heritage. And don't pretend that you don't have animal control officers driving around in their wee blue escort vans picking up strays and that the country isn't chock full of privately run animal rescues trying to find homes for unwanted dogs.
The only difference is that Scots will still bucket unwanted puppies and that isn't much done in the USA
Well, this is a thread with legs. It appears to be a problem that is unending.
The danger of a spay after the first heat is that very few "average pet owners" have the facilities or the knowledge to prevent their girl from becoming pregnant. A standard backyard fence will not keep out the neighborhood Romeo, and he could have come from as far away as 5 miles, or even more.
The heat is inconvenient and after all the bleeding is finished, that is when pregnancy occurs and many owners think that after the blood is finished that the heat cycle is finished. It isn't.
I keep show dogs so they are not spayed until their career is over, and it is a major undertaking to guarantee that they don't have an unwanted pregnancy. I've got expensive secure kennels and my girls in season spend their season in crates and are never outside without a leash and a supervising person, who is ready and willing to fight off unwanted attention-- which can actually be potentially dangerous.
Look at all the mutt puppies in the pound. Those are there because someone couldn't figure out how to keep their canine from getting pregnant and didn't spay before the first heat. I'd be willing to bet that a large percentage of those puppies are from first heat cycles.
(veering wildly off topic, it is difficult to talk about dog breeding without being allowed to say "*****")
I disagree, I think the stray problem is primarily a cultural and economic problem. I am a typical, average dog owner, fenced in yard, middle class neighborhood, blah blah blah. We don't have roaming dogs here on a regular basis, one of my girls came into rescue in heat. She couldn't be fixed before I got her so we had to wait a few weeks. It was not a big deal. No roaming Romeo, no puppies, etc. In fact, if the rescue I got my dogs from didn't insist upon spay/neuter I would not have gotten my male done.
There are associated health effects of spay neuter, and it appears as if there is a likely link between spaying and aggression in female dogs. If Europe can manage to allow the typical pet dog to remain intact, without out subsequent flood of unwanted puppies that we get, than it is possible to do so. Additionally, I would like there to be other options to total removal of the sex/hormone producing organs, the pet equivalent of tubal ligation and vasectomy.
I disagree, I think the stray problem is primarily a cultural and economic problem. I am a typical, average dog owner, fenced in yard, middle class neighborhood, blah blah blah. We don't have roaming dogs here on a regular basis, one of my girls came into rescue in heat. She couldn't be fixed before I got her so we had to wait a few weeks. It was not a big deal. No roaming Romeo, no puppies, etc. In fact, if the rescue I got my dogs from didn't insist upon spay/neuter I would not have gotten my male done.
There are associated health effects of spay neuter, and it appears as if there is a likely link between spaying and aggression in female dogs. If Europe can manage to allow the typical pet dog to remain intact, without out subsequent flood of unwanted puppies that we get, than it is possible to do so. Additionally, I would like there to be other options to total removal of the sex/hormone producing organs, the pet equivalent of tubal ligation and vasectomy.
I agree with this. ^^^ I had the same experience whe my female was in heat, and though I lived in coyote country I only saw 2 extra coyotes near the house ever. Not one stray dog.
I would also like to add that culling is alive and well right here in the USA. It is just no longer talked about in public.
Btw, a huge portion of dogs in rescue in the UK (haven't checked Scotland proper in a long time), are imported dogs from Romania. In Europe there is not the problem we have here, I never saw a stray dog in the UK in 4 years living there, and never in the times I have visited. Not saying they are perfect, and we are not, I know they still have puppy mills, and dogs do end up homeless, but it is NOT on our cultural disposable level.
Now many vets in England, are hard pressed to spay neuter without special consideration. I can't cite specifics, just word of mouth and reading recommendations. Many vets (and owners) consider it mutilation, like tail docking, and declawing cats.
My friend adopted her puppy from a rescue while living in Germany, and they highly recommended not neutering ever, and definitely not until after the age of 2, her vet in Germany wouldn't do a neuter either.
This is a large breed thing. The rescue we use REQUIRES that you not spay before the first cycle. In Newfies the females actually get larger if you don't and the joints are far more likely to have issues as the hormones from the heat cycle close up the growth plates on the bones. It is pretty much universal on the newf group I am on that you should wait.
Perhaps, but as a Great Dane owner of nearly 25 years, I've only had one issue with spaying and that was with my girl who was spayed at age 3. She has had obesity ever since. All the other dogs that I had done early I had done did great. As for height/size issue, you can't predict how large they would have been if you had gone the other way, so there's no way of knowing if the spay affected it. I believe a good diet and genetics play an important role, along with routine veterinary care. I prefer to do the early spay because they recover quicker and weigh less. They need less anesthesia before they weigh 75 pounds, but even at age 6 months they may be heavier. When I took them to the vet for early spay the vet did nothing to dissuade me, especially with my deaf Dane whose deafness is genetic. When I spayed my deaf girl at age 6 months, she was up and about the next day, driving me crazy again As an aside, I take the practices and advice of rescues with a big grain of salt. They require a lot of things.
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spaying before vs.after first heat
As an aside, I take the practices and advice of rescues with a big grain of salt. They require a lot of things.
