When to alter?

At what age do you prefer a dog to be altered?

I've been researching alot about this. I'm leaning towards getting him (my future pup :) ) neutered early.

I've already called some vets around the area, and the one vet that seems to be wonderful and that I'm sure to settle on neuters pups at atleast 8 weeks as long as the testicles are distended.

I've read that since vets have been spaying and neutering before 6 months like they usually did before, there has been a decrease in the amount of cancer victim dogs.

Also, the testostrone closes the growth plates, and if you neuter early, the plates will stay open longer and your pup will become longer in the legs. And I love tall dogs.


But what I'm worried about is putting a puppy through anesthesia. What are the chances of problems arising from this? Should I wait the average 6 months, or go ahead and neuter as soon as the testicles are distended? (usually can be as early as two months) What did you do?

Thanks in advance! :)

My vet doesn't recommend getting dogs spayed/neutered until they reach about 6 months of age. I personally, think 8 weeks old is way to young to put a pup through anesthesia and get him altered. Daisy was spayed at 6 and a half months, and Molly was spayed at 6 months. Both good ages to do it because they didn't reach their first heat cycle.

Good Luck deciding! I think waiting until 6 months would be best. :)

I'm not sure. Nala was 'altered' before we got her, which was at 8 weeks old. The Humane Society did it.

I had this discussion with my Vet when it came
to neutering Rocky.
My vet also does not recommend spay/neuter till
the age of 6 months of age (before 1st heat.)
He feels their is not enough long term evidence
on the effects of early spay/neutering.

He does make an exception to early spay/neuter
for shelter animals before they are adopted out.

Rocky is 4 years old now, so maybe his opinion has changed. :confused:

Nebo was neutered at 4 months. I, personally, think that's a good age to have it done. I think it's better before they hit kinda "doggy puberty" lol at around 6 months.

Thanks for your input. :) I'm still not sure though...I also read that the earlier you do it, the faster it heals and the less chance of infection. It's just the anesthesia aspect of it that bothers me lol. People avoid putting an adult dog under; what would it do to a puppy?

Also, I read that you don't even need to put a dog under to neuter. I defintaly want to put him under, because it will be a painful procedure..but is laser neutering painful? I'm assuming it is, I'm just not sure lol. :o I read that laser neutering is safer than using a scalpel (sp?).

Hehe, I'm not even gettign the pup for another couple years. I just can't wait! I'm doing all the research possible!

There's a lot of controversy on the subject of early sapying and neutering. Personally I think the only reason to do it really early is in the case of a puppy being adopted out from somewhere. It's really hard to check up on every single pup a spca or rescue has placed and the only way to be sure that it was done is for it to be done before the pup leaves the shelter.
Many reports say that the young pups bounce back from anesthetic much faster than older pups.

I tend to go with the school of thought that dogs need their hormones to properly develop. So this would mean letting a female dog go through her first heat, and letting a male dog fully mature. (I would say around 9 months depending on the breed).
While it may be true that early nuetering leads to slower closing of the growth plates thus resulting in a "taller" dog, I question how healthy that is. I wouldn't let that be the deciding factor of whether to alter early or not.

Oh one other thing. A reason many vets suggest spaying before the first heat is that many pet owners don't realize how carefully a female in heat has to be watched over. They don't think their perfectly obedient dog will stray, but the desire to reproduce at that time is so strong that many dogs will go over under or through a fence to get out. So that would mean the dog would have to be kept on leash every single time it went out for a month. Many owners don't want to go to that trouble so they alter before the first heat.

In the end it comes down to what you and your vet are most comfortable with.

Actually, vets recommend spaying/neutering before 6 months because for females, it reduces the risks highly of cancers. Same thing goes for males. :) If you let the female go through her first heat, she has a higher risk of developing mammory cancer, etc...

JMHO.

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Originally posted by GoldenRetrLuver
Actually, vets recommend spaying/neutering before 6 months because for females, it reduces the risks highly of cancers. Same thing goes for males. :) If you let the female go through her first heat, she has a higher risk of developing mammory cancer, etc...

JMHO.

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Well in studies I've read it states that spaying before the first heat gives you something like a 98% chance of the dog not getting mammory cancer and after the first heat it drops to like 97% or 96%. The risk increases with each heat that the dog has.
I'll try and find actuall stats to back that up.

Also, for responsible people out there who breed their dogs (after health clearances and necessary titles and such) I don't think they'd do it if their dogs were always getting cancer. I know several breeders and their dogs are fine. After having a few litters they are retired and spayed, usually around the ages of 5-7. They go on to live long health lives.

There have been many studies done by veterinarians, veterinarian colleges, shelters, etc. that show there are no adverse effects to early alteration. Putting an 8 week old puppy under anesthetic is no different than putting an 8 month old puppy under anesthetic. There is nothing about the youth of the dog that makes anesthetic worse for its body. There are also many studies that have shown there is no difference in adult size, height, weight, coat, etc. between a dog altered before or after sexual maturity.

In a perfect world, you could alter your dog whenever you felt like it, because in a perfect world, accidents would never happen. But, we all know this is not the case. Some dogs come into heat earlier than others. One female may come into heat at seven months, and another at five months. Also, some dogs have what is called "silent heat", especially their first heat. This is heat with not outward noticable symptoms, i.e., bleeding, swelling, etc. So, trying to judge when to alter or when to be "extra careful" based on first heat is a crap shoot at best. Also, in a perfect world, dogs never jump over fences, dig under fences, slip their collars on walks, jump out of window screens, sneak out of open doors when the pizza guy comes, etc. But, we all know this happens, to even the best dog owners. If you have an unaltered, six month old dog that does this, you could quite possibly be looking at a litter of puppies. And what the world does not need is more puppies, when thousands of dogs die at shelters every day.

My opinion is, there is no medical or cosmetic reason not to alter puppies at a young age. Progressive veterinarians and shelters have been doing this for decades, with tens of thousands of dogs, and no ill-effects have ever been proven. The reasons to alter early, namely less dogs in an already far too overcrowded doggie world, make early alteration the smartest and most human solution.

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most human solution

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Oops, I meant humanE solution. :D

Thanks for that, Twisterdog. :) If there are no adverse affects, then why not?

Opinions are still open though. It's nice to hear what people think on a subject. :)

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Originally posted by Shelteez2
Well in studies I've read it states that spaying before the first heat gives you something like a 98% chance of the dog not getting mammory cancer and after the first heat it drops to like 97% or 96%. The risk increases with each heat that the dog has.
I'll try and find actuall stats to back that up.

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That's what I basically said. So, wouldn't you want to spay them BEFORE they go into their first heat cycle?

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Originally posted by Shelteez2 Also, for responsible people out there who breed their dogs (after health clearances and necessary titles and such) I don't think they'd do it if their dogs were always getting cancer. I know several breeders and their dogs are fine. After having a few litters they are retired and spayed, usually around the ages of 5-7. They go on to live long health lives. [/B]

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That's why there called "responsible breeders". They get the dog and dame all checked out before they breed them. Yes, it is true that dogs can go on to live perfectly, normal lives if they are spayed later in life, but there is always the chance they could develop cancer. Even if they don't, I just think it's best to get them spayed/neutered before they reach 6-7 months, and before the first heat cycle.

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Originally posted by GoldenRetrLuver
That's what I basically said. So, wouldn't you want to spay them BEFORE they go into their first heat cycle?



That's why there called "responsible breeders". They get the dog and dame all checked out before they breed them. Yes, it is true that dogs can go on to live perfectly, normal lives if they are spayed later in life, but there is always the chance they could develop cancer. Even if they don't, I just think it's best to get them spayed/neutered before they reach 6-7 months, and before the first heat cycle.

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What I was trying to point out was that the risk doesn't increase dramatically if you let the dog go through one heat cycle first, and that I personally believe that it is better for a dog not to get rid of it's hormones too quickly. That is why I myself would wait one heat cycle.

On the other hand I do agree with Twisterdog in that it is not a perfect world and there are very few pet owners out there that would be able to fully handle a dog in heat.

So there you are a complete circle in beliefs.

Well, you have your opinions and I have mine. :)