[SamsMom]

Sam just went to her 4 month vet appointment. She got all of her shots and a clean bill of health from the vet. Yay! We discussed her small size with him (she weighs 18lbs) and he said that since she is healthy in every other way, it isn't a concern-some dogs are just smaller to mature. I asked him about when to spay, and he said it was really our decision, that there were several different opinions.

We're trying to decide how to go about the decision of when to spay. Should we wait to 6 months when she's matured some? Or will she heal quicker as a smaller dog? We once had a female anatolian shepherd with a severe incontinance problem. Our vet at the time told us that it was because she had been spayed too early and she had not retained enough hormones. So. . .we're concerned about spaying too early also.

Please help!

 

[thaliasmom]

There are a lot of threads about this common question, so you might do a search. My puppy was also very small due to an assortment of health issues, and my (first) vet said she was okay to spay.

I did a bunch of research and decided to wait until she was older, and we had her spayed at 7 months I think. In a perfect world, I'd wait even longer, but our life at the time was absolutely too chaotic to deal with an in-heat dog. Our second vet agreed that waiting was better.

 

[selzer]

Personally, I would wait until the bitch was at least 18 months old. But if you can wait 18 months, you can wait forever.

There is a study that discusses bitches' temperament whether spayed early or not, and that study suggested that spaying a bitch can make them more fearful and more aggressive. I have not encountered this ever.

I think that I would prefer the body to reach its full potential before stripping away the hormones.

Good luck.

 

[BowWowMeow]

I have had two female dogs and spayed both at 6 months. One did have spay incontinence but it was easily controlled with holistic meds. Neither had any other health problems resulting from the spay.

If you are willing to deal with your dog going into heat (meaning keeping her safe from intact males!) then you could let her mature more and spay her when she was about a year or so, just in case it might make a difference in her development. I know that people on here have said that spaying a dog earlier actually makes them get bigger but I have not noticed that myself. Anyway, if you do decide to wait please do not let her go outside by herself while in heat!