Neuter timing

[andrea shayegani]

My vet suggested neutering at 9 months but my breeder suggested waiting until a year to benefit his bone growth. My golden doodle has an average energy level but is frequently displaying "unwanted male attention" on other dogs and one of my kids. I would like to hold out as close to a year as possible but not sure if I will make it. any thoughts? Thanks! 

[Jennifer & Truffle]

Hi, Andrea. We have a 2 1/2 year old labradoodle. Our breeder contract stipulated that we couldn't neuter before 9 months, which is when we neutered Truffle. We used to call him the humpy puppy. And honestly, despite the neutering, he still humps from time to time, and he still gets red rockets, which shocked my husband! The humping is a way to show dominance, from what I understand, which is why the neuter surgery didn't entirely nip the behavior in the bud. Truffle was almost fully grown by 9 months - he's considered medium sized and weighs about 38 lbs - so we decided to go ahead with it as soon as we were contractually allowed to. Good luck to you!

[Dee & Chappie]

Hello Jennifer,  We have a 4-1/2 month old puppy ALD, and our breeder wanted us to neuter at 4 months, our vet said 5 or 6 months, and we are going to do it at 5 months.   WE waited with our large lab male until he was a year old, and he was too dominant with other dogs. 

[Diane D]

We waited for Roxy to have her first heat. She was finished with the heat cycle at the end of her 8th month so we had her spayed at the beginning of her 9th month. She went through it well, having to wear a cone for two weeks. We do see a slight settling-down six weeks after surgery.

[Cindy and Olive (Ollie)]

How big is Roxy, Chappie, and Truffle? I'm wondering because I remember reading about smaller sizes getting to maturity more quickly and wondering how this factors into the timing recommendations for spay/neuter. Thx!

[Dee & Chappie]

Hi Cindy,  Chappie is a mini.  He weighs about 15 pounds now at 4-1/2 months old.   His mom is 17 lbs at maturity and his dad is 21 lbs.  I'm guessing he will be between 18 and 23 pounds at maturity.   We just gave him his first "big" haircut.   Before he was a little fluff ball, now he is is curly and I can measure his waistline!  He gets neutered on April 5th.   Dee

[Cindy and Olive (Ollie)]

Aww he is so sweet. Thanks for lmk. Good luck on the fifth!
We will be picking up our new (boy?) on May 21st and we stipulated with the breeder that, this time, no ESN - our first boy Rippley was neutered at seven weeks and I believe it wasn't in his best interest. He passed in Sept due to lymphoma.
Since it will be our first neuter experience, I'm following these discussions for future. Keep me posted!
Thx!

[Dee & Chappie]

We will stay in touch.  May 21st is your lucky day!   I'll keep you posted on Chappie's neuter experience.   The vet loves our boy so she will take extra special care with him.   He is really a laid back easy puppy.  Not that he doesn't play, he does, but he is not hyper at all, no chewing and so far no barking.  

[Diane D]

Roxy is 57 pounds. She about 11 months.She should top out in the 60's range.

[Dee & Chappie]

All of our furry friends are in the same age range.   We must stay in touch!  Dee

[Missy]

we had a contract with our breeder to neuter by month 7.  And we did the surgery month 6 via our vet recommendations.

our first humping experience came at month 5, which we corrected with a sharp no and took the toy away.

post surgery, we still have from time to time the 'humping the pillow or toy' but we are always very quick to correct.  We don't just say no, but give the dog another task to do. like chase the ball, or hide and seek, etc.  This seems to work for us.

there are a lot of pros and cons concerning dates of neutering.  It is hard to sort out all the facts and such.

our hardest task post surgery, was keeping the pup calm and from biting out the stitches. I blocked out 3 days so I could be with the dog 24/7. that was really helpful to play with Kongs, dog puzzles and keep the dog from jumping.  

[Mary ann & Lincoln]

We were told not to neuter before 18 months .  to wait for his full bone growth and chest size.  He is about 65 lbs.   He does hump other dogs at the dog park sometimes, but not us or his toys.  Lincoln will be done next month