As to euthanizing the puppies, I am confused... I thought the previous comment was intended to mean that if you have an interest in continuing a breeding program for all the right reasons, then you should spay after the first litter of purebred, etc. puppies.

I had also heard a local wives' tale that said spaying before the first heat causes fat dogs later on, and that after the first heat was the best time to spay if you had no intentions of breeding your dog. I have not seen that to be the case, but there's been a lot of good discussion on spaying after the first heat that has convinced me.

We had Maggie spayed at about 9 months (the soonest appointment we could get to the time we adopted her and signed the spay agreement with the shelter), and Belle was done on the same day (she was closer to 11 months old). We decided on this because we didn't want one to be trying to play with the other during recovery and then causing stitches to come out or anything messy like that. We did not realize it, but Belle was actually in heat at the time the operation was performed (we did not know all the symptoms of the heat cycle). The vet told me when I picked the girls up that evening.

It is not (supposedly) a problem to do, but it does require more supervision after surgery. It is imperative to not let any male dogs near her since she still smells like she is ready for breeding...it can kill the poor girl if a male tries to breed her after the surgery. We kept her inside for recovery and only went out for supervised potty trips, and never had a problem.