That's a myth Ive had bitches and had them spade before their first season. If you have entire dogs then you need secure your bitch as soon as possible if your not intending to breed from her.

Yes - That's my main concern as I've no plans to breed.
If there's no major benefit to letting her have a first season then it makes sense to me to eliminate any accidents.

In total agreement with pre-first season spay.
Vets who are up to date with research agree, and sadly those vets who are lagging behind regarding facts are still suggesting after first season

So here is the science bit

http://www.peteducation.com/article....&articleid=926

http://www.peteducation.com/article....&articleid=909

**I was told I should let my dog go through one heat before I have her spayed. Is that what you recommend?

We recommend that dogs be spayed before they have a heat. There are several reasons for this:

*Spaying a dog before her first heat is the best way to significantly reduce the chance your dog will develop breast cancer, a common condition in female dogs. The risk of malignant mammary tumors in dogs spayed prior to their first heat is 0.05%. It is 8% for dog spayed after one heat, and 26% in dogs spayed after their second heat.

*Any heat brings with it a chance your dog could become pregnant. This would adversely affect the health of a young dog.

*A heat also brings with it the chance for accidents. Dogs in heat have been known to run through glass patio doors, jump out of moving cars, and be hit by cars as they attempt to find a mate.

http://www.peteducation.com/article....&articleid=918

http://www.peteducation.com/article....&articleid=903

Hope that helps :smt001

Personally, having had a *young* bitch, [ my Gemlin ], develop closed pyo which was not discovered until she was opened up for the routine spay I had her in for, [ I was told she was already spayed before I got her - this turned out to be untrue :smt021 ], no way would I risk any bitch going through that if I ever take on an pre-first season girly in the future - at five months, in she`ll go.

*There is ongoing research regarding Rotties in which there is an anomily via which early spay *may* trigger already present bone cancer in some Rotts, this is breed specific and affects those which already have the cancer cells present and should not be misread as affecting any other breeds as its not relevent to any others.

The Rottie research is still ongoing and unconclusive at this time, however, pro-neuter as I am, I would advise Rottie owners specifically to keep an eye on the research before making a decison regarding neutering younger dogs.

Hopefully mentioning that will make it clear that I am not blindly pro-neuter but that I have done my research on the subject at great length

Thanks Patch for taking the time to put all that together.

I'll read through all the links tomorrow.

Phil

Personally I wouldnt do it before she is a year old. However if you feel the need to then I wouldnt do it before 6-8 months.

i have got 5 dogs in my house 3 bitches and 2 males and 2 bitches in season it is a night mare here as the males want the females and they cant have them at this season.

my sister has bitch and she was spayed at 6mths she is fine nothing wrong with her no change just the sweet thing as she was before. Our vet does like to spay after 1 first season but as he was told with 2 full males there was no way i could stop them if they got her, so he agreed with us and did it.

i would say if you are not breeding then at about 6mths depending on the breed.

good luck with the new baby

Hmmn see i'm not fond of speying at young ages to be honest, Florrie was speyed last week and she is two now..I felt that i wanted to wait until she was fully mature before speying her, just my personal preference.

My vets prefer to spay prior to any seasons and my nans dog was done at an early age. She's had no problems whatsoever. I let my girl have one season before she was spayed and she has not had any problems since (problems with the spay itself but those are all sorted). I also have a male but he has been 'done' too so i was not worried about babies. However i would really have struggled trying to keep them apart and they would both have been miserable while she was in season, had my boy still been entire.

If you are not going to breed from them have you considered getting the boys done and then you could let her mature and have a season prior to spaying without the risk of accidental pregnancy?

Early neuter has absolutely no effect on a dogs maturity, either physical or mental, it really is just human feeling on that side of things. Spaying before a first season is without doubt the healthiest thing to do for disease prevention as well as unwanted litter prevention. It will not stunt growth nor turn dogs into giants, it will not keep them puppy like nor advance them into premature adulthood.

Fact : The hormones required for a bitch for adulthood, [ all aspects, mental and physical ], are in place by the age of five months, thats all breeds, all sizes. [ many smaller breeds get there sooner, some are even their full adult size by that age ].

All that will be achieved by later spay, from one season onward, is a higher risk of some very nasty and sometimes fatal health problems.
Younger spay [ five months onward ], is far safer an op to do as well, according to vets who routinely spay younger girls, as there is less fatty tissue involved and recovery is much faster and easier on the dog.

It took me a while to get past the kneejerk reaction to younger neutering as well but having seen so much research and spoken to so many highly experienced vets, as well as much personal experience of young neuters, [ five months plus ], in rescues over the years, my initial thoughts against it have been well and truly dispelled

I have had dogs and bitches of various breeds spayed and castrated at 6 months of age and I have to honestly say it has never changed thier character, thier coat, made them put on weight, become incontinent or anything else. But it has stopped them getting pyo, mammory tumours or testicular cancer.
I have friends and know many others who have also spayed and castrated at this age too and all thier dogs have also never had a problem. This spans over 30 odd years.
I have also kept bitches and dogs entire and had them spayed or castrated at 1,2 and 4 years. A bitch I waited till a year old to spay develped mamory tumours another bitch I did not spay died of a closed pyo and I have had two more bitches who developed open pyos and had to be spayed anyway and they were very sick. Again I've had friends and known people with bitches unspayed who have become incontinent at young ages, had coat changes etc as well as pyos.
The nicest ones I have ever owned temprement and personality wise especially in male dogs was the ones castrated at 6 months. They never developed the learned behaviour of hormone driven behaviours so were always kind gentle dogs with both humans and other dogs.
My little JRT I have now who is 2 years old was castrated at 6 months old and he is not a typical snappy JRT he is friendly with anyone and any dog.
I have to say I would reccomend spaying or castration to anyone at 6 months especially if there was a risk to a dog of the oppisite sex or a bitch getting caught. There is nothing to lose only health benefits to gain. If Any changes after spay or later in life occur, which is quite rare, I honestly believe would have happened anyway even if they were left entire. Just spaying or castration is an easy thing to blame.