The vet did not say to breed her at 12 months but advised that if I wanted to breed her then I could due to the size of her but I have no intention of breeding. Just I was taken back by this now just need to decide when to have her spayed some people say 6 month some say 9 months some say 12 months. Think i'll need to go back to the vets with some questions. When I go back think'll i'll be asking to speak to our regular vet rather than the one I spoke to yesterday

I would be very careful about the vets advice....vets are there to make money.Now I'm not saying that they would do any animal harm to make money but they will advise in the direction of what is beneficial to their pockets...
The choice of when is up to you.It is always advisable that a bitch has a first season before speying.It is also always advisable that the bitch is speyed half way between seasons(to do with hormone levels)...and so 6 months is too early.After that it is your choice.

Agree 100% archer this was my point, if vets didnt spay animals there pockets would become very light indeed, i dont trust the majority of vets advice, luckily my OH's Brother is a vet.

If I were to take your statement to the logical conclusion, then I'd be well advised to speak to the baker regarding my meat requirements, obviously the butchers no good, he's only set up to make money out of meat, on the other hand, he's the perfect man to speak to about my bread and milk.

Of course the vet is there to make money, and he, as it happens is the best qualified to offer advice on surgical procedures, whether you take that advice is entirely up to you, you are of course free to ask Joe Bloggs who has heard of, who told him, who knows some one, who read somewhere, who saw on the internet that, etc etc.

Every one of course is free to take any ones advice, but if its alright with you I'll go with the proffessional every time.

IMHO of course.

I wish I could believe that all professionals were competent and expert at everything that they are asked about; IMO, a good vet will refer to an "experienced amateur" rather than hide behind their qualification.

Obviously, in this case the vet which has advised spaying at 6 months has also implied that in his opinion it is acceptable to breed this particualr dog at 12 months old; something that experts (all be it not veterinary qualified but with years of experience) consider is unwise and which certainly prevents the recommended health screening to be carried out.

I think it is very sensible to seek the opinion of another vet and as many people with experience as possible - and then, once armed with as much information as possible, make a decision. Everyone:vets, breeders, behaviourists, show people and pet owners will all have their own "agenda" when they give advise - the trick is to get as many different opinions as possible so you know the full story, not just one side of it

My sister is a vetinary nurse....I have heard many stories of things that you wouldn't believe of vets.
Maybe you can explain why vets insist on yearly vaccination when vaccines have been proved to be effectine for 3-5 years if its not to line pockets? Any vet who adviss that it is ok to breed from a 12 month old dog is not worth listening to....I would rather listen to experienced DOG people who advise me without payment...they have nothing to gain except the satisfaction of knowing the dog is being treated right.(and I'm on about speying here not serious medical problems)
I would like to give one example....
When I took my last pup to the vets for his shots the vet told me he had come from a puppy farm(he astually came from one of the top breeders in the country),that he had mange and that all 4 of my dogs would need injections and regular baths...the total cost was to end up in the £100's!!!! I spoke to my pups breeder who told me he had walking scurf and how to treat
it...I followed her advise and it was sorted within a few days! Now tell me why the vet wanted me to treat my dogs for mange????

I am very very lucky to have a great vet.......who also is happy to admit if he got it wrong............

In answer to the original question;
Kim spayed after first season aged 9months
Micha spayed at 6 months before 1st season as we wanted them both done at same time. (even though our boys were already neutered) I too was advised not to spay before they had had the first season by people, but since Micha has Hip Dysplacia, I didn't want the risk of an unwanted, unplanned and unhealthy litter. Both girls had the test for anesthetic prior to op.

hi,
you should not breed any bitch untill it is two years old, if your german shepherd is pedigree then you should get her hips x rayed and sent away to the b.v.s. for hip scoring befor you breed her her hips should be 20 total or under then you can breed her. as for spaying you can get her done at 6 months old my mum had her collie done at 6 months old and she was ok lived till 12 years old

foxy lady

I too have a great vet whom I trust implicity, maybe the problem is you don't have vets you can trust.

My point is that advice from an amateur is just that, amateurish advice, we've all heard stories of bad vets, we've also all heard stories of amateurs armed with bad advice getting it wrong, for every amateur giving bad advice there are 10 vets giving good advice.

I've said before on other subjects, we can all find some kind of evidence to back our arguement, the key to success is having an open mind to see through all the mis-information being passed around, not very long ago it was acceptable practice to rub a puppies nose in its own mess, many experianced dog owners saw no other way to toilet train a puppy, smacking on the nose was acceptable, we all cling to what we know, who knows what lies in the future for dog owners, and how many people will poo poo the new ideas, because of what they've been told in the past.