To Spay or not to spaY????

PLEASE HELP...i AM CONFUSED... i HAVE GOT AN EIGHT MONTH OLD BITCH DOBERMAN(SHES MY SECOND DOBE) and the breeder told me to have her spayed at around 7 or 8 months but she seems tooyoung..then others tell me its best to let them have a season then get her done...and then others say she should have at least one litter then have her done..as she is the first bitch i have owned i am very confused...any suggestions would be gratefully received....thanks

There'll be someone along shortly with more knowledge about this, but for now you can have my opinion!

It's generally thought that it's better to have a bitch spayed after having had a season, something to do with the hormones I think? And then your vet would advise you to wait until she was midway between seasons before carrying out the op. So for example if your bitch had a season at 6 months, then the next one would be roughly 12 months so the spay should be done at about 9 months old.

Hope this helps a bit.

Oh and someone saying that it would benefit your bitch by having a litter before getting spayed is a load of old twoddle IMO!

hi the vets i work for would reckommend that a large-breed dog like yours should be spayed between 12-18mths because she will be fully mature by then,hope this helps

I personally left my bitch to have her first season then had her speyed 3 months after the end of her season. The hormones are more settled at this point and the procedure is less prone to complications compared to before the season.

I don't believe in having a litter 'because it will do the bitch good'. Just my opinion.

I would agree that she should have her first season and then be spayed about 2/3 months later, for reasons already stated, I too think its rubbish to let her have a first litter before spaying but that is only My opinion.

Hi BooBoo, this might help you to decide what to do.

http://www.dogweb.co.uk/dog-articles.php?t=12202

Dawn R.

Hi booboo, Im getting my Dobermann bitch done at 6 months, before her first season. My vets told me it makes absolutely no difference. Hope this helps

I agree with others though, having a litter first is nonsense!

Hello ...to everyone that replied to this thank you very much for your responses.....xxxxxx

In my opinon i'd let her have a season first, and spay 2-3 months after this, reduces the risk of her being "trapped" in a phantom pregnancy.

And no no no no, a litter first is absolute garbage!

My vet told me recently that ideally they should be spayed before the first season as this rules out mammary tumours 100%! (not sure I'd ever do that tho'...)