Interesting article about neutering and the effects on cancer rates/joint disorders

[Ginny Nightingale]

This article is addressing the age of or even occurrence of neutering (or spaying) and the effect it has on the rate of cancer or joint disorders in both Labrador retrievers and Golden retrievers--since most of our doodles have one of these breeds as a parent or grandparent, this is probably relevant to our doodles as well.

It has long been suspected that the early spay/ neuter preferred by breeders is not in the best interest of the dog--this article might add weight to argument that postponing that neutering until the dog is older is preferable. The effect is MUCH greater on Goldens than labs which might be why Goldendoodles are experiencing such high cancer rates as well. I would not argue that dogs should not be neutered at all--that would be insane--but that 6 months to a year is better than 8 weeks for neutering.

I am not an expert on this by any means, but the article is backed up by data from UCDavis--a very reputable source. 

http://news.ucdavis.edu/search/news_detail.lasso?id=10977

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I agree completely that 6 months to a year is far, far better than doing it at 8 weeks. But in honesty, the only breeders I've ever heard of who do ESN are some of the doodle breeders, particularly the ALD breeders. I hope this research will change some of their minds about continuing this practice.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Thanks for posting this, perhaps it will be read and heeded by those who are still doing  ESN.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Someone else recently posted a discussion on this study here. Here's a link to that discussion, from 2 weeks ago:

http://www.doodlekisses.com/forum/topics/health-effects-of-neuter-a...

[Ginny Nightingale]

Thanks Karen--I have not been on the DK site much lately due to summer vacations and did not see that. MANY doodle breeders in the Northeast do ESN and I have always had a  gut feeling against it--not sure about Golden retriever breeders though.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

The Golden Retriever Club of America (of which one would hope any reputable GR breeder is a member) has strong recommendations against ESN: http://www.grca.org/health/index.html

[Emily, Bentley, & Maserati]

Great article. I hope the word continues to spread and that breeders and vets who promote it. 

One of our personal requirements was not going with breeders who participated in ESN. 

[Adrienne]

Thx for sharing this article.  My ALD breeder neutered Dougie at 8 weeks, as did most other ALD breeders that I was researching at the time.  This was, and is my fear, but all that I can do at this point is hope and pray for the best.  Hopefully breeders will do away with ESN.

[Leslie J]

I have many concerns about ESN. Cocoa was spayed at 8 weeks and has some of the classic concerns- long skinny legs and weak joints (CCL tear at 5 years old). I think labradoodles are spayed early because breeders are afraid that people will breed their pets. Unlike the case with a purebred dog, there are no AKC papers to withhold until the pet has been neutered, so the breeder does it before allowing the pet to be adopted. I certainly don't think it is in the best interest of the puppy.