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Pros and Cons

8K views 43 replies 21 participants last post by  my boy diesel 
#1 ·
Hi, my puppy is 5 months and we were thinking of neutering her at 6 months.
This is my first dog so we were wondering what are the pros and cons of neutering a female dog.

Thanks in advance.
 
#2 ·
Males are neutered, females are spayed. Whether or not you do it at all is a very personal decision and there are lots of debates on this board as to which is better for health reasons- but it also comes down to if you're willing to deal with a bitch in heat, taking the proper safeguards, etc. I'd suggest doing some research on those threads and see how you feel.

Whichever way you decide to go, the common thread of thought is that six months is too early to do it. A lot of vets recommend this because many, many (many) pet owners don't know or care to be responsible for an intact female and they sexually mature before they're adults. You really should wait until she is older and done growing.
 
#3 ·
I've seen more and more choose to wait until after at least one heat cycle. I'd be inclined to follow the crowd on this particular issue. There are SO many variable in the equation, nothing really concrete can be nailed down as to the pros and cons of early/late spaying. I could conjure arguments for both with my limited knowledge. However my gut says that letting nature do "it's thing" and wrought a fully intact female before the snip-snip makes more sense than changing the plumbing before the build is done. That's me tho and I am not an expert on hormonal/structure/bio chem in the least.
 
#4 ·
A lot of people around here are going to tell you to wait. I disagree. I get my dogs spayed/neutered as soon as they are old enough for my vet to do it. I think they recover easier.

The ASPCA says, "Spayed dogs are less likely to develop breast cancer and will not be at risk for ovarian or uterine tumors."

The Humane Society says, "Spaying females prior to their first heat cycle nearly eliminates the risk of breast cancer and totally prevents uterine infections and uterine cancer. "

The rescue I volunteer at requires that their puppies be spayed and neutered at under 6 months. Both their vet and mine recommend 5 months.
 
#11 ·
neutering/spaying before a dog is mature can lower the risk of certain cancers but it also raises the risk of other health issues. just because you choose to do it early doesnt mean your dog is going to be healthy. imo god gave them these hormones for a reason. not sure if playing god and removing them is a good idea or not?
 
#10 ·
Discussion with my vet is that there can be a lot of skeletal/joint issues associated with spaying young dogs but that the link to cancer is less clear.
IF I spay a female it will not be until she is at least 18 months old. I'm considering spaying my 4+ yo. She's the oddity that has developed false pregnancies and the last one = one rather crabby dog for about a week to 10 days. (Just hard on the other dogs.)
I've had cancer take two dogs at what I consider prematurely (9 and 12 yo) Both of these dogs were neutered.

So - that's why not to spay before first heat. That's why to wait until they are mature at the earliest. Just know that intact females breed to get pregnant, know the signs of heat, be vigilant. Know that a heat cycle lasts for 3 weeks, not just the week of bleeding.
 
#32 ·
Discussion with my vet is that there can be a lot of skeletal/joint issues associated with spaying young dogs but that the link to cancer is less clear.
IF I spay a female it will not be until she is at least 18 months old. I'm considering spaying my 4+ yo. She's the oddity that has developed false pregnancies and the last one = one rather crabby dog for about a week to 10 days. (Just hard on the other dogs.)
I've had cancer take two dogs at what I consider prematurely (9 and 12 yo) Both of these dogs were neutered.

So - that's why not to spay before first heat. That's why to wait until they are mature at the earliest. Just know that intact females breed to get pregnant, know the signs of heat, be vigilant. Know that a heat cycle lasts for 3 weeks, not just the week of bleeding.
I was recently told this too. We had our dog spayed at 6 months, at her 3rd birthday she had a TPLO surgery due to torn ligament. So many people associate GSDs with bad hips, but the ones I'm hearing about lately have bad knees. So there may be something to this.
 
#15 ·
That video is extremely biased. And IMO leaves out important info plus at the end she contradicts virtually everyone here plus herself (in a way) by saying if dogs are going to have dominance issues especially males, neuter sooner than later. Everything is atradeoff in a nutshell.its perfectly legit to speuter early to make life easier for yourself and avoid oopsie litters!
 
#18 ·
What do you suppose her bias is? She makes less money by educating her customers.

What important information is left out?

IMHO, everything is a decision based on risk versus reward. I don't see this decision being any different.

David Winners
 
#19 ·
I'm always interested when people say that neutering their dog has had no long term effects. How could you know what the dog would have been like without neutering?

I'm not against it in certain situations. I understand why they neuter shelter dogs. Both of mine are neutered.

I choose to leave dogs intact when the decision is mine to make.

David Winners
 
#20 ·
I'm always interested when people say that neutering their dog has had no long term effects. How could you know what the dog would have been like without neutering?
I've got a healthy 12 year old shepherd. How could he be any better than that? After 30 years of owning dogs I can say without one single doubt there has been no long term effects in the health of any of my dogs. My dogs have had no incontinence and very few health problems and of those problems not a single one can be attributed to early spay or neuter. I'm sure other people will have different opinions but that is my opinion and my experience.

I am proud to never have contributed to pet over population.
 
#22 ·
I neutered my male GSD at 15 months old.

He'll be 5 years old in early March, no major health issues yet and he didn't contribute to the pet over population either. :)

I won't be neutering my male Dal puppy until he is 18 months old. My breeder prefers her puppy owners to wait until they are older to spay/neuter if they can.
 
#24 ·
What my vet had to say when I presented her with some links was "It's not as cut and dried as we thought, is it?"

I just this fall had a dog I thought was quite healthy at 9 die of bone cancer. He was neutered before I got him, probably at 2 yo or younger. My 12 yo female spayed at 6 mos died of hemangio about 4 years ago. She had blown an ACL earlier but seemed robust and healthy.

Good luck with your "perfectly healthy" dogs that were spayed young. I'm going to wait.
 
#25 ·
I'm sorry you lost two so young. I lost my heart dog to DM in 2011. He was only 9. I still feel cheated and mad. I've been very lucky in that most of my dogs lived long lives.

So many dogs do well with spay and neuter. With all the animals I see, that need out of shelters, it's not worth it for me to take any chances. Especially since I'm not interested in breeding.


Sent from Petguide.com Free App
 
#26 ·
Newest article -I have never been responsible for an oops and owning an intact dog is a HUGE responsibility but there are correlations between spay/neuter and cancer aw well as orthopedic issues.

There are a LOT of discussions on this on the forum that link to other articles and studies. If someone is not prepared to manage an intact dog, I think the advice is to neuter because the risks of pregnancy, getting loose and hurt, etc. are probably higher than the cancer issue but I also think people should be aware of the "other side" of the story.


AVMA Article
 
#27 ·
You have to do what you think is best for your situation and home life. There will always be the side that says wait till closer to 2, then the side that says spay/neuter early. One side says there will be health issues if you do it too early, one said says there are no health issues.
Studies are done fairly, unfairly, one sided, etc.
I will say I have done both. To be perfectly honest the one dog and one bitch that I waited on to mature because I was showing them had major hip issues... Both had bad HD and health issues. The ones, which is the majority that I have spayed/neutered around 6 months have all had great hips and no health issues.
Holly, my 3 year old girl was spayed at 6 months... She has beautiful hips(done by xrays) no health issues, wonderful temperament... I prefer to spay/neuter early and have not had one dog with health problems because of it.
 
#28 ·
my preference on the subject is if you can manage an intact dog responsibly, wait until they're about 18 months -2 years old to get snipped. My current female was spayed at around 18 months old. I'm less concerned with the possibility of cancers because IMO, if she's fated to develop cancer, I couldn't have stopped it. However, hormones assist with appropriate growth and rate of growth. Taking those away/limiting them at critical growth stages, I believe can cause the most problems. It limits growth and in some cases with males especially, they can appear more feminine and take longer to fill out than they may originally have done.

My female will be 4 years old in May. She's never had a litter and since she's spayed now, she never will. She went through two heat cycles and I knew what to look for. She was never outside without myself or my husband and she was confined to the house when she wasn't out for potty breaks. She didn't get to go anywhere or for any rides. Luckily for me, she's also the laziest GSD I've ever known and was perfectly content to snore the day away.

My male is 10 months old and still intact. He will remain intact because of my firm belief that he needs those hormones to grow and fill out correctly. Also because I don't believe in unnecessary surgery when I can be diligent and prevent him from producing. He will never sire a litter unless his breeder and I both agree to it and unless he has some sort of working title.

If you can keep your dog intact and safe from an unwanted breeding, wait until 18 months. If not, 6 months is fine. Heat cycles are messy and can be a pain to deal with. Its a matter of what you want to deal with and your level of responsibility in preventing your dog from reproducing. Its that's not a task you're prepared for, snip.
 
#30 ·
How is it responsible if the act, as some believe, is detrimental to the development of the dog?
 
#37 ·
If you are going to leave your dog in unsupervised situations that expose her to the possibility of being bred, then by all means, spay as early as you can. However, if you can keep an eye on her and keep her away from males during heat cycles, then I see no reason to ever spay her. I don't believe for a moment that spayed/neutered dogs are healthier than dogs left intact. In fact, I believe the opposite is true.
 
#41 ·
Dang... I really hate saying :eek: this but I took my girl in for her rabies shot today. Had a long talk with my vet of 10 years. She wants me to wait 18 months to neuter Sargent. I don't know if the rescue will let me wait. If they do, will I be able to stand a butt head male for 18 months? But she says there are new studies out of California that are showing it is better for large dogs. So if I'm allowed to wait by the rescue & he doesn't get aggressive with my current dogs. I'll wait. *sigh*
 
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