Nutering a young male

[Erik_Arend]

Hi folks

I have people interested in buying one of my puppies and they plan on neutering him.
I don't oppose to this but was wondering witch age would be best to do so?
You sometimes read it's best to wait until he has met a female in season but I'm not sure this is correct. The neutering of dogs is not very often done in our part of the world.
Can anyone please advise me?
Thanks.

Erik

[WBL]

The average time is about 6 months. I don't know about letting him meet a female in season, never heard of that before. I'd think it's better to do it before then that way he doesn't have the expereince of it and want to persue it more, and I don't even meen actual mating, just being around it.

[Quercus]

@WBL:

The average time is about 6 months. I don't know about letting him meet a female in season, never heard of that before. I'd think it's better to do it before then that way he doesn't have the expereince of it and want to persue it more, and I don't even meen actual mating, just being around it.

I agree 6 mos would be the earliest I would do it….but before he starts lifting his leg, or looking for girls.

[basi]

Yes I agree with WBL about the age. I can't say that I have ever heard of letting a male meet a bitch in season first either, I would think that that would make him more up for it.

Jenny

[lvoss]

No earlier than 6 months and some research into early neutering is showing it is better to wait until about 12 months so the growth plates have had a chance to close.

http://www.caninesports.com/SpayNeuter.html

[satieo]

I'm a vet tech and medically we advice to do it at 6 months. They do not need to breed first. I've heard those rumors before but the only difference it makes is behavioral. And as far as growth plates it won't make a huge difference. If you wait until 1 year you may get a bigger more built dog because of the testosterone but after 6-8 months they have a higher chance of developing bad habits such as mounting objects/people, marking territory, aggression, dominance, etc….Of course I'm generally speaking. I've met plenty of wonderful intact males but every dog is different.

[lvoss]

If you read the articles on early neutering then you would understand that neutering before the growth plates occur causes the long bones to grow longer then they would otherwise because sex hormones help with the closing of the growth plates. Neutered males end up taller than they would have if they had not been neutered before their growth plates closed. This is very well documented and is seen quite frequently in horses as well as dogs. Dogs neutered before their growth plates close that are canine athletes, ie, lure coursing and agility, are at higher risk of certain injuries. Again this is something that has been documented but only recently as the popularity of agility has increased and because of its being open to mixed breeds who are very frequently neutered the earliest.

[Duke]

I'm getting my B-mix puppy thru BCOSW. The whole litter was just spayed & neutered. I tried to halt mine from this . . . but rules are rules. I'll just hope for the best. She'll probably be bigger than Duke!!