Verdict on Spay/Neuter Age...

[Tihannah]

Finally got to talk with my vet today on the Spay/Neuter issue. I've been on the fence about this from recent reports stating that early spaying/neutering can affect the growth of my dog, and personal information shared with me from other GSD owners. My vet was very knowledgeable on this discussion and gave me his "medical" point of view and information.

This is what he told me. Neutering at an early age has adverse affects on males as it alters their development due to the lack of testosterone. Testosterone contributes greatly to the growth of males and muscle development, which in turn usually results in the less muscled, lanky males. However, in females, this does not have the same affect. He explained that a females development is only altered during heat cycles, and that spaying early has no effect on their growth whatsoever. He explained about their growth being contributed to their pituitary gland (sorry, I don't have a great short term memory for conversation so I don't have specifics of what all he said). But that spaying before the first heat will also greatly reduce the risk of mammary cancer, which I'd already read.

So his recommendation: for males, it is best to wait until full development, but necessary to implement training to offset some of the bad behaviors that develop with intact males. With females, it is safe to spay early and she will continue to develop normally. I liked his explanation and now believe I will go ahead and have Kaiya spayed before her first cycle. The question I forgot to ask though is, at what age do the females usually go into their first heat?

[Quiksilver]

Thanks for sharing!

[mjbgsd]

Look at the mother, grand mother, etc, they are a good source to know approx. when your dog will have her heat. Though it's not exact but it's still good to know. Some females can start as early as 6 months.

Isa had her first heat the same time her mother and grand mother had.

[georgiapeach717]

Thank you for this info! I used to think the earlier the better and had no idea about all this, then I was going to wait til 6 months, now I plan on keeping Clover intact til he is 1- 1/2 (around the time we will be looking into GSD #2)

[MaggieRoseLee]

Originally Posted by Tihannah

This is what he told me. Neutering at an early age has adverse affects on males as it alters their development due to the lack of testosterone. Testosterone contributes greatly to the growth of males and muscle development, which in turn usually results in the less muscled, lanky males. However, in females, this does not have the same affect. He explained that a females development is only altered during heat cycles, and that spaying early has no effect on their growth whatsoever. He explained about their growth being contributed to their pituitary gland (sorry, I don't have a great short term memory for conversation so I don't have specifics of what all he said). But that spaying before the first heat will also greatly reduce the risk of mammary cancer, which I'd already read.

So his recommendation: for males, it is best to wait until full development, but necessary to implement training to offset some of the bad behaviors that develop with intact males. With females, it is safe to spay early and she will continue to develop normally. I liked his explanation and now believe I will go ahead and have Kaiya spayed before her first cycle. The question I forgot to ask though is, at what age do the females usually go into their first heat?

While I agree on his recommendation for males, I've also heard that hormones effect our females too. So if they aren't full grown when you have them spayed, you are changing how 'normal' growth would have occured. I've even heard it may be a reason for how common spay incontinence is in many bitches, and this almost always starts up within a month or so of the spay (so coincidence? think not).

As long as I KNOW my bitches won't get pregnant cause I've got no intact males in the house and can control what dogs they do meet, I decided long ago to wait after the first heat cycle for sure, and the second is even better.

Did you find the article online by Chris Zink about early spay/neuter and what her recommendations are? Early Spay-Neuter Considerations for the Canine Athlete, by Chris Zink, DVM, PHd, courtesy of Canine Sports Productions

[Vinnie]

I agree with MRL on this one. I would agree with your vet regarding males but I disagree with him/her regarding females.

Think of it this way (and yes I know dogs are not human) but what would happen to a young girl (human) if she had a hysterectomy? Would this effect her growth, development or maturing?

[FuryanGoddess]

You know.. this would be a lot easier if they came up w/ some kind of birth control for dogs... other than altering. Some kind of birth control pill or shot for the bitches?

[georgiapeach717]

i thought about birth control on the male's side...but that just seemed wrmed and unneccessary, LMAO!!! Puppy trojens! hahahahaha!!!!

[Tihannah]

My only negative with waiting to spay is dealing with the heat cycles and bleeding really. Both my other girls are still intact and I've never had any problems keeping them "safe" during cycles. But they're both tiny, so the bleeding is barely noticeable. Not sure this is going to be the case with Kaiya. Whats the easiest way to deal with this? And just a quick vent on the new forum~ I only just received the first response and last response of the total seven posted in this thread. Really miss the old forum...

[georgiapeach717]

they make puppy diapers i know for incontinent seniors...that may help?