[CertainlySpoiled]

At what age did you(if applies) spay or neuter your GSD? We haven't really decided if we are going to do this with Emma (GSD), but Elle(GSD mix) has been, and it made her lazy, and a bit overweight. We were thinking of breeding Emma, but no decisions have been made...What are your thoughts on this? Suggestions welcomed.

 

[CertainlySpoiled]

Originally Posted By: MaraThe other side of that coin

http://www.caninesports.com/SpayNeuter.html

My Var is going to be neutered when he is 2 ish.

Also Dogs don't make themselves overweight.

I know that dogs don't make themselves overweight, but her being spay at 2mnths (not my doing, she's a humane society dog, and could do nothing about it) has made her very lazy, meaning she doesn't like excercize, and wants to lounge around a lot. Don't get me wrong, we do walk her and try to run her daily, but it's a fight to get her to do so, and I really don't understand why she's overweight, cause she is on a diet (has been), but she's still chunky. What do I do? She's on the diet her vet suggested. She is only 1 and a half years old. I'm talking about Elle (GSD mix), maybe it's in her genes IDK!? Besides being chunky & lazy, she is very healthy.

 

[CertainlySpoiled]

Originally Posted By: BowWowMeowHere is Basu who was neutered between 6 months and one year old. He humped, lifted his leg and stuck his thingie out far more than I ever wanted to see it!!!!!! His look is very typical of his lines--W. German.

I wish I had a picture of my brother's gsd mix for contrast. He was never neutered, never humped people or other dogs (unless it was a female in heat but that's another story) and he was tall and leggy---because that's what he looked like!!!!!!!!

Wow, he is tall and leggy, but he's beautiful!!! I think Emma(GSD, 5 months old) is going to be petite, because she doesn't seem to be growing really fast, but then again who knows, she might go into a growth spurt, I do know niether her father or mother was very big, but then again...Emma was rescued because of being under-fed, and when we picked her up, her sister had just passed away minutes before arriving. We had to drive 450 miles to bring her home, and then whole way home I was giving her milk every 15 minutes or so, I thought for sure she was going to die in my arms...She was so pitiful, but now, she's on her way to being very healthy, and active, and has a pretty good appetite...I felt so bad for her.

 

[CertainlySpoiled]

Originally Posted By: CastlemaidKeeta was about a year old when I had her spayed. We do Schutzhund, so even spayed, she has the energy, stamina and strenght to be a working dog. If Emma is lazy, that could just be her temperament. I jokingly brag about how "buff" my girl is.

I do think that spaying at two months is too early, though I don't know what health effects that could have on a dog.

Are you feeding her weight-control kibble? To reduce the calories, these kibbles usually have a low-fat content, meaning that the fats are replaced by even more grains to make up the bulk. The high-amount of Carbs in these kibbles will often do the opposite, i.e., make the dog gain weight or keep them from loosing weight.

Has she been checked for her thyroid? Low thyroid function will cause fatigue.

"If Emma is lazy, that could just be her temperament."

Emma(5 months) is not the one lazy, if anything she's hyper and a bit aggressive, but that's still the pup in her, and she is not the one on the diet from the vet, she's on a normal puppy diet so far, if anything she's still trying to play catch-up on puppy weight, but she's getting there, I think her teething is in the way of that as she just lost a big back tooth and 3 k-9 teeth. Elle is the one chuncky or as I call her 'my chunky monkey'. I am up for spaying her, it's Del who wants to breed her, that's why I added this post to the forum, cause I'm not certain it's something I want to do in the future.