Okay she is IN heat, or you are waiting til she GOES in heat and do it afterwards? You do know that for bitches, waiting til after a heat increases the risk of mammary cancer, so if she is not in heat, do it now.
I disagree on "fixing" a hernia not being necessary. Of course if it FEELS tied off and safe, you wouldn't do a surgery just for it. But if it doesn't feel right or if already having surgery, why on earth wouldn't you repair it? As pointed out, even ones that feel right CAN rupture so I don't get the folks saying don't bother.
She isn't in heat yet, I was told to wait until after.
I've never heard of letting a female have one heat cycle to be able to grow properly???
I have a friend who was told to wait to nueter her Rott because if she did it too early his head wouldn't get big? He's massive and it didn't matter.
My female bs hernia did hurt her. I was able to have her spayed before 6 months old because of it. She's now a happy & healthy 9 year old who didn't have a heat cycle. I wouldn't have wanted the mess anyway!
With females there is a very large benefit of reduced mammary cancer risk if they are spayed prior to ever having a first heat.
I don't know that there is an observed change in growth in females. There is an observed change in males whose long bones grow more than they would if not neutered.
Due to an accident this week where the 8 month old puppy staying with us managed to severely sprain her ankle, I did get to see that her growth plates on the x-ray are nearly closed already.
As for the hernia, it is not a big deal to have it repaired during the spay. It is very easily done then.
We had Watson's umbilical hernia repaired when he was neutered last month. It was very simple and the vet said it took her like 8 minutes 
He was not any worse for the wear.
I also have had a dog that lived well with his all of his little life.
The thing is if you want to have it done it is an easier and quicker surgery when done early. It is also easier on a young dog to have surgery than on an older dog.
I agree with Deb that if she is already going to be under anesthesia for her spay taking a bit of extra time to fix the hernia is not a bad idea.
I would get her spayed and the hernia fixed now before she goes in season. I had a hernia fixed on my first basenji nearly 30 years ago and it was a simple operation. She is fully grown now, whereas many other breeds are not fully grown at 8 months. We waited till one of our whippets was 3 before spaying her as she was a very slow grower and we wanted her to be more physically mature. Hormones have nothing to do with delaying a spay, its about having the growth plates finished which she would have completed by now.
I'd also get her hernia fixed when spayed, but personally I am not a fan of early spay/neuters. Mostly because there seems to be other problems linked to early spay neuters in relations to canine sports:
(this is one of the most referred to article on that, but if you look around, there are others)
http://www.caninesports.com/SpayNeuter.html
the Jan issue of CleanRun also has some good info on this topic.
I also know of a Jack Russel (about the same size or smaller than a basenji) whose growth plates did not close until 12-14 months. The only way to know for sure if they have closed is to get an xray.
Yes there is some risk in waiting to spay, so the only thing I can encourage you to do, is to research and figure out where your comfort zone is.
I actually think that this article is also very good, http://www.naiaonline.org/pdfs/longtermhealtheffectsofspayneuterindogs.pdf
It looked at many more studies and talks about both pros and cons.
Ive called my vet to make an appt. To get Oakley x-rayed before his neuter to make sure his growth plates have closed… The vet asked which growth plates I was referring to wanting to get xrayed... ?? He has a good part African in him and has been a slow grower so it's important to me to wait until he's fully mature..... Plus because I like and want to run with him I am concerned about doing the procedure too soon...
Thanks all for the suggestions and help. Sorry I didn't reply sooner, I've been studying for my MCAT that's on Friday… Not so much fun.
I, too, would have the umbilical hernia fixed when she is spayed. In fact, that's exactly what we did when Blaze was neutered last month at 6 months of age (we are not going to do any sports activities with him such as lure coursing, so waiting until his growth plates were closed wasn't a concern).
