To spay now or wait

[crazycockerowner]

Join our free community today.

Connect with other like-minded dog lovers!

Login or Register

Pip is almost 6 months now, relieved a email from my vet about spaying her, I know some suggest letting them have 1 season and some not, my previous dogs were all male and neutered when I got them , the cats we had were all neutered.not noticed any extra attention towards her from male dogs we come across when out. My vets is a multi vet practise now so guess opinions will differ between them

 

[JoanneF]

It's a very difficult decision, there's a lot of conflicting information out there. I'd at least wait until she is skeletally mature.

This article may help.

Neutering Your Dog – Making an Informed Decision

In the UK many vets are now neutering dogs routinely before their first season. As a practice we refuse to do this and to answer why, it is useful to put some facts on record. But quite aside from these facts, our clinical experience suggests we see many more problems in neutered animals than...

wolftucker.co.uk

 

[Hemlock]

I'd say wait as long as you can, and despite the scare stories, not spaying at all is also an option. I have kept a number of unspayed bitches, and while extra care is needed, it isn't that difficult. I also had a stud dog, and he wasn't bred to any of them because he was related. We live in a small semi with an average garden, so it wasn't a case of having lots of land to keep them apart.

The first bitch I owned I had spayed and she became incontinent. That's a life sentence too, and the reason I never had any of the others spayed. BUT it is an individual choice and there is no hurry. I'd say at least wait until she is fully mature, which is usually 2 years old.

 

[excuseme]

We keep all of our girls entire and we have no problems. We once had a male dog who was entire (my daughter left him with us! ) we found that we could manage him when girls were in season
Of course I would spay if there were a medical reason, and I hate the idea of incontinence that can happen after spaying, as mentioned above by "Hemlock". That's no fun at all.
Take your time and don't let anyone pressure you into spaying too soon.
Let your puppy mature bodily and mentally (Fully mature) before making this irreversible decision.

The "Wolftucker" article in @JoanneF post is worth reading, it is written by an amazing vet "Mark Elliott"