I should also mention that any dog/cat adopted unaltered from my shelter (only puppies really, they alter any adults first if they are unaltered) you sign a contract and you have a deadline the dog has to be altered by. For Raven the deadline is March 12. They can reclaim the dog if you don't have it done by the date stated on the contract. So I had to have it done by 6 months no matter what, but I chose to get it over with after she turned 5 months.