when should i get my 6month old puppy spayed?

[Hayley and Roxy]

The vet told me to get her spayed ASAP because she is 6 months. I've also read that I should wait until her first season. What should I do? This is Roxy

[Laura and Angus]

What an adorable fluffball! Oh my goodness. From what I understand, there seem to be differing schools of thought. Many breeders have requirements about when they want you to have the dog spayed/neutered by, but if that's not the case it may just be up to you. We got our pup neutered at 6 months. I'd definitely be interested in seeing what others have to say on the matter.

[Judith and Addie]

What a beautiful pup! And such a nicely groomed ball of fluff!

By way of my doodle's history, she was spayed when she was 8 months old. My girl is a 30 lb double doodle. I discussed it with my vet who said that she normally recommends spaying at around 6 months, but said that a later spay for my girl would be appropriate. I was concerned because she had had a few bouts of puppy vaginitis, and also for her muscular/skeletal development. The latter was not a primary concern because she is a small medium doodle. I had wanted to wait for her first heat, and the vet had agreed but I ended up having the procedure before Addie's first heat. I had sold my house and wanted to have the spay done before I moved.

[Tara Daukas]

following... mine is five months and have wondered the same thing...

[Judith and Addie]

I want to also add that I think the best time to neuter is really dependent upon the individual dog. Thinking a bit more about it, my doodle girl is reactive - she is leash fear reactive and at other times a off-the wall excited about people and dogs that she knows. I have read that in the case of reactive dogs, neutering later rather than sooner is often recommended.

It is a balancing act. Concerns about mammary tumor incidence vs. skeletal growth (hip and joint problems etc) vs. excitability and reactivity vs I am sure a whole host of other concerns. I would talk with a vet about your specific dog and steer away from ones that makes blanket statements that neutering must be done by a certain age, regardless of circumstances.

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

That's interesting because I also have a reactive Doodle and my Vet believed that it was better for him to be neutered as soon as he started really exhibiting the behavior which was at six months.  We have managed the reactivity through extensive training and so I can't really say whether or not neutering helped.  We also took him to a Vet Behaviorist and the first question she asked was "has he been neutered", so apparently she held the same opinion.  I'm not sure if the advice would be different for a female versus a male, but I wanted to share our experience.

[Judith and Addie]

I was intrigues by your answer and , being me, I had to explore. There have been studies done, albeit not many nor large, that suggest there is a difference between male and female and reactivity. It may also be more dependent on the type of reactivity. My doodle is fear reactive and from what I have read, the idea of a late spay (or in males, leaving them intact) is that the hormones help to the dogs' confidence. Here is an article by Sophia Yin that indicates that the results may be gender related. There are references listed at the end of the article for anyone interested in pursuing this further. . http://drsophiayin.com/blog/entry/can_spaying_make_dog_behavior_worse

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

Very interesting.....thanks for sharing.

[Kamela & Beckett]

I will second the comments that she is an adorable pup! We had our Aussiedoodle, Beckett, neutered right at 6 mos. He is expected to be 28-30 lbs and was about 25 lbs at the time of his surgery, so we were not concerned too much about skeletal issues. He was VERY active. Even with walks, play sessions, day care, food puzzles, and training classes there were many days we just couldn't wear him out enough for him to be calm and bearable to be around. One month after his neuter, he was a different dog. Still happy, outgoing, affectionate, and energetic but at a way more reasonable level. I'm not sure how much longer we could have lived with him like that, so 6 months was perfect for him (and us)! I will add Beckett has never been anything but happy go lucky and fearful of very little, so we didn't have any of those issues to contend with.

[Karen C]

How old is Beckett now? We are having the same issues with our Eli being VERY active and at times unbearable! He is being neutered on Monday on his 6 month birthday. I am hoping it makes a difference for him like it did for your precious Beckett! He is wearing us out for sure. I have to admit it's encouraging hearing you say it made a difference.

[Kamela & Beckett]

Beckett will be 8 months old at the end of the month. We still send him to day care 3-4 days a week, most of his meals he gets in puzzle feeders, my husband does short training sessions and walks him daily, and he's in a training class on Saturday mornings. So it still takes a lot of working with him, but we can eat dinner and he will play with a toy or lay quietly on floor and he will settle down in living room in evening if we want to watch tv or read. One thing that helps is if it's 7 or 8 in the evening and he's had his walk but still won't settle down, we leash him and give him a toy. He didn't like it at first ,but now knows oh ok time to quiet down and he does. It'll get better- hang in there!

[Laura and Angus]

I just want to say that this was exactly our experience with our very active dog. It was hard for me to tell whether the neutering helped, the extensive training we did (and continue to do), the increase in age, or the increase in daycare activities (aka more exercise). Just know that it gets better! Hard work pays off. Our Angus is still a crazy man, but he's much better behaved, has calmed down greatly, and calms down much faster with visitors (within 10 minutes on a leash). Stick with the training and exercise!

[Dawn and Molly]

I am also following.  Roxy is beautiful!  I originally thought it would be around 6mths for Molly, but our vet is recommending around a year.  I am interested to hear what other Doodle owners think.  I should add that Molly is expected to grow to 65 pounds.