Breeders: Advantages/Disadvantages of spaying early/later?
 

I started a thread earlier about when is it a good time to spay a puppy and was hoping to get input from breeders as to what they thought was advantages/disadvantages to spay early or waiting until 2 heats.

http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/bre...est-puppy.html


The reason I am asking is because the breeder that I got Maggie from has told me that I should wait at least 15 mos before her spay. Her reasoning is due to growth plates closing and other health benefits. I have heard that there are many benefits to doing it prior to a first heat, one of which is zero percent of mammary cancer. I am not looking to breed and my male has been neutered.

As breeders, what do you think? Is it better to wait or is it better to do it before a first heat? Thanks for your input.

I would be taking care of any baby teeth and microchipping at time of spay.

I'm not a breeder, and I would be interested to hear what they have to say about this, but I haven't ever heard of waiting that long. Will you be allowed to register your dog before you spay it?

I was given her registration papers and they are signed off by the breeders.

So that means you can register he before she is spayed?

I had my Chelsey spayed at 6 months old before she went into heat once. It has kept her acting like a puppy and she turned 2 Feb 23rd. I think it was a good move.

I think so since I have her paperwork. All info is filled out and all I need to do is figure out her registered name.

I can understand some of the information on why to wait, but I think that overall it is better to spay early. I have heard some stories about dogs in heat and since I am not interested in breeding, I am not so sure there are an benefits to waiting.

My vet has told me that even though Hot Rod is fixed, he still may very well be able to do things...I really do not want to go through any type of false pregnancy or issues with a male that thinks he may be a stud. Am I way out there in thinking this way?

I have all of my puppies spayed or neutered before they leave me. The criteria is that they have to be 12 weeks old and 2 lbs. I did lots of research and lots of talking with my vet. This article pretty much sums up what we found: Early Spaying & Neutering of Puppies

I commend you for being such a responsible breeder and am thrilled that more and more breeders are spaying/neutering before placing pets in homes. Your criteria for s/n is essentially the same as my breeder uses, upon the advice of her vets.

I'm not a breeder either but have done research on both sides of this subject. The very tiny advantage of waiting for growth plates to mature, etc. is far outweighed by the many benefits of early spay/neutering.

This is off of a vets website..he highly recommends having them spayed around 4-6 mos. and this is the reason why..

All my puppies are spayed or neutered before leaving my home . This way I am sure that new owners will never have the ¨genious idea ¨ to breed them .

I'm just curious as to why a breeder would insist on waiting for 15 months, and feels so strongly about it, she has this written in her contract. Do you have any ideas?

This article explains the pros and cons of early spaying and neutering:
http://www.naiaonline.org/pdfs/LongT...uterInDogs.pdf

I"m not a fan of spaying/neutering at 12 weeks, I think it's too early "but" I wouldn't want anyone to breed something I sold as a pet. I still recommend 6 months and before first heat if going to a pet home. I, however, if need be will hold on to a pet until 6 months if I have too to ensure the yorkie isn't used for breeding. I possibly will look into spaying and neutering at an early age. I've just been fortunate so far that all the one's I've placed are all spayed and neutered. I've been lucky.

Donna Bird
Brooklynn's Yorkshire Terriers

I agree with you..I have said before, I have no use for any vet that would spay a puppy before the 5 or 6 mos. I know mine hates it that they have to spay/neuter the animal shelters dogs at such a young age..I know when I bought my last yorkie, I signed a contract saying I would spay, which I did, and then I sent the breeder a copy of the spay papers once she was spayed...

For those breeders who spay before they leave your home, that is great. As an owner, I probably would choose to wait til 6 mos or so. If for a pet only and from what all has been discussed (not just in this thread) to me it seems that the benefits are far more better to spay prior to 15 mos. Understanding that if you wait longer that there may be developmental things but as an owner, not a breeder, and seeing and hearing about all the healthy dogs who have been spayed at the 6 mo or so age is it really harmful to do it at 6 mos (or so)?

Hearing about the chances for different cancers if a dog is not spayed seem be more of a possibility than the ones who are not spayed. Is this a responsible course of thinking for the dog's health?

Thanks everyone for their input.

A question that I have for those who do breed,

If you have a puppy that is placed as a pet, when do you want this puppy spayed? As early as 6 mos or would you insist on waiting at least 15 mos?

I am definitely NOT a breeder, but I do want to clear up some misconceptions about spaying.

To say that there is a zero percent chance for ovarian cancer (or any other related cancer) is simply untrue. People think that just because they had their ovaries and uterus removed, they can't get ovarian cancer too, but this is incorrect. It is IMPOSSIBLE for a surgeon to remove every ovarian cell, thus ovarian cancer is still possible, though it ABSOLUTELY reduces the chances incredibly! I only say this because as a Sonographer I have seen post-hysterectomy (including ovaries) patients end up with a pelvic mass that is later determined to be ovarian cancer. Every article I've read about pros/cons to spaying/neutering say "eliminates risk of ovarian cancer", as well as have heard my vet say this too. While the chances are VERY, VERY slim post spay, they are not "eliminated". I know for most that is just semantics, but I think it's good to know the whole truth.

Also, I have a question.....I have been told one other time (besides reading the post above) that spaying before the first heat keeps them acting like a puppy. Is that always true? I'm totally for spaying animals that are not ear-marked for breeding, but I just worry that a 6 mo. Yorkie is too small....is that an irrational worry?

this is off the vets website about spaying before coming in to heat.
This surgery means no unwanted puppies, no deadly uterine infections, no ovarian cancer, no mammary enlargement and no breast cancer.

Exactly! Everything I've ever read online about it, including what my vet has said, always says just that....NO ov. cancer and NO breast cancer. All the others are completely true, but there is still a slight chance of ov. cancer after the surgery--usually it's only one cell that is "corrupted" and that initiates the cancer to start growing, but what if that was the one cell that didn't get taken out (there is not way to be sure you got every single cell)?! Also, hormones play an integral role in the development of breast cancer in most cases, and so basically insuring that the puppy never matures (sex glands-wise) past adolescence would absolutey greatly reduce chances, BUT the mammary glands are still there (and there would be no way to remove every cell anyway, even in humans that have mastectomies), so you can't say there is no chance at all! I still think evidence very obviously points to benefits of spaying, but I think people should know when they aren't getting the whole truth. To say there is no chance of either of those after a pre-first heat spay is absolutely wrong....the chances are reduced VERY considerably but there is no way to absolutely eliminate them! I probably should be keeping this to myself, so I'm sorry if I'm offending anyone, I just can't stand when the very people we put our trust in to take care of our health (and our pet's health) spout off un-truths (I think saying "lies" is too harsh :rolleyes:) to us....we as consumer's and laypeople trust their knowledge is better than ours (after all they had a LOT of schooling and experience) and believe what they say at complete truth!
Also, I know this is off the OP's subject, so I won't say anymore about it....I only wanted to share what I know to be truth to the same YT'ers that I rely on getting invaluable information from. In my short time on here I have learned soooo much and have been introduced to questions I hadn't thought of yet, which spurred me to think more and research more. So, Thanks!!!

Certainly taking no offense here. I certainly am not an expert nor do I even consider myself to be an expert on the subject. The point of veiws from everyone is very welcome...that's why I asked the question. I agree that there are no guarantees to any surgeries. I can only go by the number of dogs that I have known personally as well as reading about everyone's dogs here. I don't know when most people's dogs were neutered but from what I am thinking, it was early on.

What is does a spay contract include? Is there a time frame in which the procedure needs to be performed? and if so, what sort of time frame...6 mos, 1 yr or 1+ plus yr?

Maggie's breeder is saying 15 mos minimum.