# Best time to neuter?



## patk (Jun 13, 2013)

i'll jump in just to try to keep this thread visible. a bunch of people should be popping in with a lot of expertise to back up their advice. i have been reading many threads in the forum and the general consensus seems to be not to have it done while the pup is too young. be patient and others will chime in with the reasoning involved.


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## poodlecrazy#1 (Jul 2, 2013)

Yes you will get tons of advice soon, I am all for early spay and neuter but many people feel it causes health issues later on in life. I do think 3 months is a bit to early though. I wait until 8-9 months for TPoos to make sure all their puppy teeth come out and if not they can take them out while they are under for the spay/neuter. Plus it gives them a chance to get mostly full grown and I feel when they are bigger they can handle anesthesia better. 


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## KellyL (Apr 17, 2013)

I've read pros and cons for both young (5 or 6 months) and old (over a year) but I've decided 6 months was good for us. Cooper goes to be neutered in 3 weeks.


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## Mephistopheles (Jul 23, 2013)

We got our spoo done when he was 17 weeks. Tons of mixed reviews, my vet insisted on it being done at his age.


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## Oreo's Mommy (Dec 18, 2012)

Oreo was neutered in July....he was born last December.


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## Samba (Sep 14, 2012)

Generally its more acceptable to neuter a younger dog than to spay one. Neuter's are very quick, easy surgeries with no abdominal cut. General suggestion is 6 months (as mentioned by another poster, to assess if teeth are ok and no extractions are needed), however because there's very very few complictions with the actual neuter process its fairly safe at any age. 

Mentally, I think its easier on a younger dog (under a year), but we neuter retired police dogs and if those wimpy dogs can deal with it, so can a poodle 

Shelters neuter them as early as 8 weeks.

In dogs with short coats, like labs - I like them done later. The longer you wait, the bulkier/stockier they generally are. Poodles don't have to worry so much about this....at least the pet poodles don't 

Neutering now vs. a few years from now isn't going to change the risk of cancer much. Some say not neutering keeps them healthier, some think early neutering is key. I think its random. Generally neutered dogs are less affected by prostate related issues though, including prostate cancer. This is most often seen in geriatric dogs though.


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## grab (Jun 1, 2010)

We are waiting until a year. Hormones play such a part in development, particularly in the larger breeds. The vet I work for likes to do very young neuters (under 6 months) and I see so many disproportionate dogs..very lanky and tall. I'm sure a few are just poor breeding, but it seems to be a consistent trend.


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## dfwcarguy (May 12, 2013)

We asked the normal vet and the vet at the ER when Kolbi hurt his leg. They both said on a smaller indoor dog they would suggest no younger than 5 months and preferably before a year old, in their personal opinion. We are going to see how things are going at 6 months.


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## NYNIC715 (Oct 15, 2012)

grab said:


> We are waiting until a year. Hormones play such a part in development, particularly in the larger breeds. The vet I work for likes to do very young neuters (under 6 months) and I see so many disproportionate dogs..very lanky and tall. I'm sure a few are just poor breeding, but it seems to be a consistent trend.


I read up on this a while back. The tall lankiness while yes may be somewhat contributed to poor breeding - but that is not all. Early neutering causes the growth plates to close later than they normally would if neutering was delayed thus resulting in "taller" dogs.


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## Carrie-e (Oct 23, 2012)

Billy my standard was done at 11 months because he started getting a bit randy around people and other dogs! Also we have a 5 month old mini girl and she could come into season as early as 6 months,so as we were always going to neuter him it seemed sensible to get it done then. Wouldn't do it before 6 months, but that's just my personal opinion.


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## Spooluvr (Feb 5, 2012)

You will hear so many different opinions on this, we neutered Charlie at 9 months at the same time we did a prophylactic gastropexy for him. The most common answers you'll hear are 5-6 months or at over a year.


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