[MyFairLacy]

I'm all for early spay and neutering. I think the idea of having to wait until 6 months is outdated. Many many vets are spaying and neutering earlier now. As soon as a dog reaches two pounds, it can be spayed or neutered. Of course, you need to do pre-op bloodwork first to make sure there are no underlying health issues. You also want to make sure your vet is comfortable with spaying tiny dogs and has experience with early spaying and neutering if that's the way you want to go. The earlier the better in my opinion, especially with neutering. The earlier you neuter, the less chance you have of them developing behavioral problems that might start before 6 months such as lifting the leg to pee, marking, humping, aggression, etc. Otherwise, whether or you do it earlier or later, the health benefits are basically the same - no chance of testicular cancer, enlarged prostate, etc. The only difference I've really seen in dogs altered earlier rather than post-puberty is that the growth plates close later...not really a big concern to me.