What age to Spay?

[Linda Flanders]

Can someone jog my memory...Sadie will be 4 months Sun but, my vet has to have very involved back surgery and I think she may be un-available for 2-4 months. 6 months seems to stick out in my mind but, I didn't know if it could be done earlier.I'll see the vet on Mon and ask but, just wanted input from folks here. We have dealt with her for 15 years and I really don't want a fill-in vet to do the surgery and Sadie also has an umbilical hernia that will be taken care of at the same time. Thoughts?
Advice? Any appreciated.

[Kathy Spyker]

Lilly just got spayed last monday. She is 8 1/2 months old. She is doing good. I know this was later then she should of been done, but every thing turned out ok

[Joni]

I called my vet and got an email with a few links to supporting data for postponing spay/neuter for larger more athletic dogs but we all know that there is always another research program out there with a different agenda and given enough time they can find supporting evidence for anything right? I think everyone has to make up their own mind about this based on their experience and comfort levels.

As I said in my first post - my vet's office has stood firmly at saying 4 to 6 months is ideal age to spay/neuter but they have recently decided to change that to 9 months to a year for dogs like ours. Here are a few links they provided to me and it appears this is not really NEW information! :

http://www.caninesports.com/SpayNeuter.html

http://www.mmilani.com/spay-neuter-references.html

Joni

[Debra Ference-Luongo]

I will be taking Edgar to the vet tomorrow evening so will also ask for data references. From what she said last time we saw her it sounded as if there was some more recent information. I'll let everyone know what I find out.

[Linda Flanders]

We saw our vet on Monday and I was happy to find out she is not having her surgery for a couple of months and will be able to spay Sadie. She still feels 6 months is the age to spay, so Sadie has her appt all lined up for Mar 19th. In regard to early spay/neuter, I had read it might affect growth of bones plates so your puppy might grow bigger than initially expected. I think the article was under the health section on the Goldendoodle.org.

[Debra Ference-Luongo]

Just wanted to let you all know - I asked Edgar's vet for data references on the health benefits on delaying spaying/neutering. Will forward the information after she sends it to me.
I would be really interested to hear from those who have delayed neutering theie dogs and what your experience has been. Are there behavioral issues that come up such as markings territory that don't with earlier neutering? I've not had a male dog before and have always spayed by 6 months so this whole area is all very new to me.

[22y8rmuouwttt]

I honestly think this is a personal decision - both from yours and your vet's perspective. You will probably find each vet/puppy owner has a different opinion and it is so confusing! We just had our 4 month old spayed 2 weeks ago and read that pups are safely spayed/neutered anywhere from 6 weeks to 1 year - that info didn't help! What did make sense was that younger pups would heal faster and with less complications than waiting until she was older and so we decided to get it over with at 4 months. It was explained by our vet that anesthesia is the risky part and they do "optional" blood work for an added fee to make sure the pup will tolerate the anesthesia OK so that made us feel more comfortable. Also - we have 2 vets at our clinic and we prefer one over the other so I totally understand wanting your regular vet to be involved in the surgery! Good luck with your decision!