I have a 8 week old male. Our breeder said to wait a year and a half to neuter him. Our vet said we should have him neutered between 6 and 9 months. Does anyone have an opinion on this. The breeder says it will help him develop ie, larger head, fuller chest. Vet says her will develop just fine.

HELP

I am also wondering same thing. I have a 10 week old male. My mother also heard that and my vet also disagrees.

I have had the same discussions recently with breeder and vet. Vet said any time after 6 months, breeder suggests 9-12 months. She made a good point, the breeder did : If he's still a good boy with good behaviour then why rush?

I think it is personal preference. Any time after 6 months is safe. The later you wait, the bigger he will get and the more it will cost. I know a few breeders and they all have different opinions. We are going to wait until about 8-9 months as long as he isn't starting any bad habits that can be brought on by increased hormone levels. I've heard about neutering stunting growth, etc but I think it's all rumours because many people will say their males are still big, and I've heard many breeders say that they have never experienced this.

I would suggest the "why rush" approach. That's what we have decided with our boy, he is 18 weeks old today!

I too have the same question about our baby girl. She will be 4 mos old on June 1, 09 and I cant get a decent answer from anybody about when to get her spayed. (by the way, when should I expect her first cycle???) We also have a 2 year old male Dobbie and I live in fear of "accidents" Any suggestions???

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Nubia's Mom
Athens, Greece

I've heard from a few people that you won't have to worry about "accidents" from males until up to a year old. Our friends have a lab that is the same age as our berner (8 months) and the lab marks every 10 feet it seems! lol But Toa hasn't marked once yet.

Not sure about females. You would think that around 6 months or so they may start their cycles.

I still follow what I said above. Why rush if they aren't getting into any bad behaviour? Like I said, Toa is just over 8 months old and we've had no aggression, no dominance, no marking, and not even a single lift of the leg. My husband wants to wait until he lifts his leg to pee.

I'm thinking of waiting until around a year old, or when he lifts his leg. At this point it's whichever comes first... Some kennels won't let you board them if they are not spayed/neutered.

I agree with the no need to rush... Riley was neutered at about 8 months. But we had a male chow years ago that wasnt neutered until he was almost 7 years old. He was an inside dog and never, not once lifted his leg on anything in the house. I think it all depends on the dog..

Ok, I need to rephrase what I meant. Its not the marking accidents I am worried about, its the boy meets girl accidents that concern me. Our 2 yr old Dobbie is already trying to put our baby girl "in the position". I want to have Nubia spayed since the Dobbie comes from a "royal" blood line and his "services" have been requested for two females in the near future.

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Nubia's Mom
Athens, Greece

Ah yes, I see your point... "accidents" "getting into michief" etc. lol

I'm not sure about females... I know that males are ready at about 1 year. I would assume that by the time the female has her first heat you are going to have your hands full trying to keep them apart! You should probably ask your vet/breeder what they suggest, but since you have an intact male in the home that you aren't going to neuter, you will have to keep the female and male separate and then consider spaying perhaps after her first heat cycle which will probably be around the 6month mark. I'm not an expert, but that's what I would do...

Keep in mind, too that mounting or attempting to mount is not always a sexual behaviour... it may also be his attempt to show his dominance. I would stop him from doing that right away so that he doesn't learn that it's ok. But he won't be able to help it once she goes into heat....

Its funny you should mention that since dominance and acceptance of the new pup where issues I was really worried up. Not only is our boy not trying to play boss with her but he actually lets her take on a dominant role!!! She is only half his size and he will wait for her to get the first treat or lets her steal his food, or bones... She actually snapped at him once over HIS stolen treat!!! Time will tell how the order of the little pack works out but the Dobbie seems to be fine with his new friend being alpha. And I do stop him from mounting her, mostly because it sort of freaks me out since she still just a baby

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Nubia's Mom
Athens, Greece