Best age to spay

[Rosiepug]

From a Show point of view, Pugs do need the hormones to grow correctly. Without them, they grow leggier and the head doesn't develop to full potential i.e as large as it normally would as it matures.

When I've spayed I've done it after 2.5 years. In my opinion, the problem lies with irresponsible owners and not intact dogs. There are social benefits to spaying/neutering i.e. no mess and inconvenience during the menstrual cycle or male dogs on your doorstep... (back to irresponsible owners!) No or little marking from male dogs or temptation to wander. Easier to own both a male and female dog.
But there are health pros and cons too!! Here's a link to the debate:-

http://www.naiaonline.org/pdfs/LongT...uterInDogs.pdf

[crhpets]

IMO there is no reason to wait until after their first heat cycle to spay....I think that is an old wives tale. Six months old is the ideal age to spay if you are not planning on breeding. Better to spay before they go into heat as you will avoid attracting intact males and also the mess from her cycle. Why risk her accidentally getting bred by a loose dog and risking your dogs health from having an unplanned litter.

I was going to say the same thing. Waiting is an old wives tale that leads to unwanted puppies. Vets used to say wait til 6 months, so the dogs were big enough to do surgery on, but nowadays mpst vets are equipped to do surgery at younger ages. We use a pedeatric vet who spays once the pups are at a particular weight rather than age. Younger dogs tend to bounce back more quickly as well. I have had dogs who were done older (because I rescued them) and puppies done. The puppies healed quicker and in Male dogs, they have been less likely to pick up marking when fixed younger.

[Suri]

I have noticed that everyone seems to have a different opinion but I read that sometimes a female can leak urine if they haven't matured properly, but meds can fix the problem, and there was a study I had read about needed hormones for bone growth, if I can ever find the article I will post it, talked a lot about hip displasia and needed hormones. It comes down to the owner needs to be responsible to prevent pregnancies.

[Cheyenne]

Milo was already neutered when we adopted him, so I don't know at what age he was done. Suki was 2 weeks shy of 6 months when she was spayed. Our vet at the time said 6 months was the best age, prior to the first heat. However, Suki showed signs of being ready to go in heat at 5 1/2 months, so the vet did her a couple of weeks earlier than the appointment we had already had set up.