DS: Early or late spaying? *Please help*?
I am planning to buy a female German Shepherd and I have heard lots of stuff from lots of websites and forums.
I’ve heard that dogs spayed at 6 months grow way taller then normal and have more brittle bones because they needed their hormones. So because of that, Hip Dysplasia chances are increased and that’s like a doubly whammy to a GSD.
But if they are spayed before their first/second heat, the chances of mammary cancer is reduced significantly.
I’ve also hears that dogs that are spayed around 1-2 years old are better physically and emotionally.
Though the chance of mammary cancer is 1 in 4.
SO, what would you guys do and recommend?
Crap, another source says that when spayed, the growth hormones are slowed so bones get stronger?
Tagged with: brittle bones • cancer • crap • dogs • female german shepherd • growth hormones • gsd • hip dysplasia • whammy
Filed under: How To Grow Taller
Susan Yarrawonga (280)
If you wait to spay her -Mammary cancer IF They get it is one of the most treatable forms of cancer.
If you spay her young the chances of BONE CANCER go way up as does Hermangionsarcoma- BOTH FATAL AND UNTREATABLE.
I say wait to spay her if you care about her long term health.
GOOD FOR YOU for doing your research!!!!!
I can tell you from years of experience and having made the mistake of early spay and neuter that I did indeed lose several of those dogs to Bone cancer (THREE DOGS) and Harmangiosarcoma (TWO DOGS)
My Collie is 6 years old next month and not spayed. (She is a show dog). She is happy, healthy oh and has no incontinence issues. Another lovely side effect you can look forward to with spaying.(I have had two dogs with that)
By the way the Collie has never accidentally or on purpose been bred/gotten pregnant. Owning an intact dog is not rocket science.
I’ve spayed my female morkie [maltese yorkie mix] right on her 6th month mark. before she started on her heat. She’s healthy and happy. My gf spayed her dog on her 3rd year and she has a maltese. So I don’t know. It is beneficial either way. So get your dog spayed. =]
I just had this discussion with my vet. I have a male GSD. What she said is that she doesn’t think much of that theory about growth hormones and plates. But she did think that, for health reasons, a female should always be spayed prior to its first heat (so around 5 or 6 months old). For a male, the health reasons are not as compelling.
I think at age 2 is more ideal for a German Shepherd. They are full grown and have hit sexual maturity by then.
Mammary cancer is not very deadly. It is easily detected and removed. So don’t worry about that too much.
I used to volunteer at a spay/neuter clinic and they always preferred that the dogs were around 6 months. It seemed like the complications DURING surgery always happened on the older females, especially if they were in heat. I have never heard about the Hip Dysplasia chances increasing. If you are buying from a breeder (I always support rescues but I don’t feel like getting into that right now) I would definitely recommend getting a German Shepard from a breeder that gets hips certified.
Edit: Don’t forget that once your dog starts going into heat there is also a chance that she could have a "false pregnancy". I have been at the clinic when they had to spay a dog going through that and the vet said its one of the worst things to do because it messes with their hormones. I just can’t really think of a good reason backed up with facts that would say wait until after they go through heat. It just makes it more difficult with all the hormones and trying to find a time between heat cycles.
The first couple of sentences are all not true. Hormones from her heat cycle do not affect her growth and development. Puppies can be spayed as early as eight weeks, millions of shelter animals are spayed and neutered by two months and nothing is ever wrong with them. My mutt was spayed at eight weeks, and she’s five now and still no complications at all.
I would not spay after the first heat. Spaying before GREATLY diminishes the chances of many cancers and complications. Plus, you would have to worry about having your six month old puppy getting pregnant! Let me tell you, you can’t walk her or take her out, boy dogs are absolutely crazy when females are in heat. My neighbor’s Golden Retriever isn’t altered and he escaped from his crate and home to go try to get at another female.
If you’re going to have it done eventually, why not now? It will not harm her physically/emotionally later in life or anything like that. Having her spayed earlier in life is the best way to go.
_______________***
Definitely before. This has been shown to give the highest chance of avoiding mammary cancer – something 1 in 4 unspayed dogs experience. The chance of avoiding it goes down by 25% after the first heat, and another 25% with subsequent heats.
Furthermore, there is absolutely no benefit to a dog to let them have a season or litter before being spayed. If they’re spayed when they’re young and healthy, I can promise you they never known any different. Dogs that have started cycling are difficult to catch at the right time, and it can mess up their hormones and make them pretty weird and depressed for a while. Remaining intact is also NOT linked to growth and development (people often have the weird idea that animals won’t grow properly after they’re neutered)
Here’s some decent papers on the pros and cons of neutering:
http://www.naiaonline.org/pdfs/LongTermH…
Basically the only significant factors to be taken into account are the major benefits of spaying female dogs. Pyometra and mammary cancer are far too common to be ignored, in my opinion. As for risks – only the anaesthetic really, but this is best done while the dog is young and healthier than later when it’s old and got a pyo and therefore the op is much riskier!
Think of it this way – something like 1 in 1000 in healthy dogs die in routine ops. 1 in 4 intact females get mammary cancer or pyometra at some stage in their lives.
-Y!A
From what I understand, any early spaying debates are only loosely backed up and many vets see no problem with it.
That being said, I had no say when my dog was spayed. I adopted her from a shelter and they had spayed her at 2 months old.
This is why I did research into early spaying…
Edit: Thanks for thumbs downing my answer assholes. Do you think I had a choice in my puppies spaying? No, I adopted (and saved a life) so you can take your BYB and breeder dogs and stick it. Fuck you all.
The sooner you spay your dog, the better. I am not one of those spay/neuter crazed advocates, but there are a lot of myths floating around about spay/neuter. Most of them are false or at least not proven. Before I switched to Boxer’s (due to smaller living quarters at the time), I had always owned German Shepherds. All of my dogs were spayed and none of them had any problems due to being spayed. None of my Shepherds had litters prior to spaying.
Several years ago I switched to the Boxer breed. I have stayed with the Boxer because they are simply easier to care for (grooming wise) than the Shepherd. My female did have one litter and shortly after weaning she did have a mammary growth on one of her teets.
I also have a Shih-Tzu who also had one litter of puppies and she also came down with a mammary gland tumor. None of my spayed Shepherds ever had this problem.
That’s not saying the Shih-Tzu and Boxer would not have had this problem had they been spayed.
It is also a myth that a female MUST be allowed to have one litter before spaying. Where does it say that? My spayed Shepherds did not act like they were missing out on anything by not having been allowed to have puppies. My Shih-Tzu and Boxer did not act like they were grateful to have been allowed to have a litter of puppies. Matter of fact, after 4 weeks of having to deal with 9 puppies, my Boxer was ready to move out.
So, if you don’t want to breed your dog (and, trust me, there is no money in it), have her spayed!
Good luck
What my vet told me was the females need to be spayed before first heat to decrease the risks of cancer. Each heat they have increases cancer risks. I was told that anytime between 3-6 months is when the will do it depending on their weight and medical history. Given that you are looking at a larger breed they recommend sometimes waiting because of development. I would make a consultation with the vet you plan to use and discuss this with them. It is best to have your vet picked out before you get the puppy anyways. You could also just adopt a puppy or adult GSD that is already spayed/neutered. Just like everything else there are pros and cons but after watching two of my female dogs suffer through cancer most likely because I didn’t have them spayed early I would prefer my females be spayed early on.
For the responsible dog owner, I recommend waiting until the b**** is done growing the long bones, which means she is an adolescent and is not getting any taller. That is usually after her first heat. The growth plates on the bones are "turned off" by a mixture of hormones that include the sex hormones. A juvenile sterilization will delay the end of growing and results in a greater risk of brittle bones and other skeletal deformities.
For the average American owner, many of whom couldn’t tell if their b**** was in heat or they think a dog is somehow emotionally incomplete without experiencing mating (puh-leez), I recommend spaying as early as possible. The average American owner is so irresponsible that we have thousands of unwanted animals destroyed in towns every day. A shortened life span is a small price to pay to keep more unwanted puppies and kittens from being born.