Peoples views on Spaying?

I was planning on getting my girl spayed asap to when she could be.The vet's i had researched all said they would aim to do her spaying before her first season.I was with one of my friends the other day who is also at my vets and she told me that her vet (our vet) refused to spay her Jackchi until it had HAD her first season.He believes that it was in their best intrest to wait until a bitch had had her first season and then do the chop,something about it being better for their hormones etc,and allowing them to fully mature...
what does everyone think?
I was hoping to avoid the whole "dog period" thing and get her spayed asap but not if its not good for her?Anyone else heard of this?

P.s Yes I do think periods are "gross" lol,I'm a girl I know their natural blah blah,but I don't like the idea,obviously if its in her best interest I'll be willing to go through it with her!

Heats are a lot different than a human having their period. Just throwing that out there!

Most lady dogs I'd do at 6 months. 18 months if it were a breed that I wanted to let finish growing first, like a GSD or something. I have no desire to breed, so I'd probably not keep an intact girl. However I have no problem with responsible people that can 100% avoid an oops keeping intact dogs.

I don't think it matters either way as far as before or after the first heat, there are arguments on both sides of the fence. SO if you want to skip that, I say go for it!

http://www.naiaonline.org/pdfs/longtermhealtheffectsofspayneuterindogs.pdf

It's all going to depend on who you talk to. Me personally? If I was even going to spay at all which is a big if, it wouldn't be done until the dog was at least two years old and fully mature. But you have to be able to be responsible about it and make sure she is never put in a position to be bred while in heat.

Whatever you decide just make sure it's an educated thought out decision.

Lol yeah..I know that I just didn't want people thinking I just didn't want her to have them cos the whole idea is icky and stuff!

With a dog that small, you'd be fine spaying her at 6 months from a structural standpoint. From a hormonal view, it's better to wait.

However, heats are messy and a huge hassle. You must be ABSOLUTELY sure no male dogs can get to her at any time during her heat and unlike us, the heat isn't over when she stops bleeding. That's actually her most fertile time. So think about the pros and cons and go with whatever what you feel is best. A lot of people spay their pets so they don't have to deal with heats.

Personally, I'd wait until she's had her first heat at least.

A lot is going to depend on you and what you think you can handle. Most breeders want them done before 6 months because most people aren't careful when they aren't used to having intact animal so it is more a safety net to ensure they aren't being bred (not saying this is you but there are some less than careful people out there).

We have mastiffs and they don't tend to mature or stop growing until they are 18 months to 2 years at least so it is best to wait until 18 months but again it will depend on your breeder and on if you think you can deal with a heat cycle or 2.

I'm going to just echo what Linds said.

I knew from the start that I did want to spay Quinn, she's not a breeding prospect, I CAN keep her from getting pregnant but the messy heats will take her out of training/trialling every six months and its just messy. She's 12 months old now, I was originally planning to desex her after she hit 12 months AND had her first heat. Now I'm likely going to wait till she's atleast 2 and then think about it again. She is yet to have her first heat so we'll see how we work around them as they happen.

Thanks everyone!I guess I'll just see what my vet has to say and roll with that.I don't plan to go into breeding and I do not want her getting knocked up,but it shouldn't be a problem to keep her inside.Won't she go mad from no exercise though?The thought makes me loooopppyy

You can take them out to exercise. Esp with a little dog that you can pick up. You just make sure your dog is on a leash. If loose dogs come up and seem a little to interested pick up your dog and head home.

I think you have to educate yourself then decide what works for you, your dog, and your situation. For us there was no question that our dane girl would not be having a heat. We are in the boonies, no fenced yard, lots of feral dogs, and young kids in the house who are used to leaving doors and gates open. Having a teenage dane tethered to me 24/7 for 3 weeks or boarding her for 3 weeks or more just wasn't in the cards.

Fortunately for me, we have a super vet who is actually the regional vet for a major GH rescue. I figure if she can spay GH in heat, she can handle a routine spay on a healthy dog.

That said, we did wait until she was 11 months to spay. She's 2.5 now and zero issues, no spay incontinence, no temperament issues... Obviously other things could crop up later on, but she's also from a BYB so who knows what issues are genetic and what are due to an early spay.

Honestly I think the risks outweigh the benefits -- however it's best that Joe Blow public doesn't know that. I do keep it in my contract that my puppies need to wait atleast 18 months before being altered to allow the growth plates to close etc (OR they can have a partial spay/neuter to keep the hormones intact).. At this point, a Belgian female will only have gone through one heat. I don't actually stipulate that it must be done, because I don't believe it's the healthiest choice for the dog and I can understand why others, like me, can believe in a more natural route; I allow the owner to decide. Hence why I only choose owners who I believe are VERY well educated and have a great deal of experience (so far the majority of my puppies go to other breeders anyways).

But, contradictory to what I believe in, I likely would spay the majority of my non-breeding/retired females. Sure I can deal with the hormones because I am forced to while they are breeding dogs, but I don't WANT to LOL. Visa is getting spayed next year because she has alot of annoying habits that I believe are related to her seasons.

There are some really good options out there though for people who want to keep the hormones intact for better health but don't want to risk pregnancy; A partial spay/neuter (removal of the uterus but not the ovaries, or visectomy without the removal of the testicles) are such a way of doing this. This is the 'normal' way of female spaying in Europe and always has been. It's been in Canada for many years now too, and only just becoming recognised in the US. Or if you want to avoid spay incontinence, you can remove the ovaries but actually leave in the uterus (that's what I'll be doing with Visa because I want her hormones bye-bye but I don't want to risk incontinence). Because pyometra is typically hormone-induced there is virtually no risk of pyo forming in the uterus when the ovaries (hormone producers) are gone.
And of course there are now shots you can give them, but I haven't bothered to do the research to see if those are safe (the idea sounds scary to me). I know a male Belgian that gets a yearly shot so that he won't breed; I don't know if it "turns off" the hormones (he's a SAR dog so I can see why they'd like that) for a certain amount of time (they did say he could be used for stud when the shot "wears off"). Not sure!

As long as you don't have an intact male at home and are willing and able to supervise your dog outside, it is best to wait until maturity before you spay your dog.

My understanding was that leaving the uterus does not decrease the risk of spay incontinence, as it is hormone related. It is simply a less invasive spay. The shot thing with the male sounds...weird!

My vet says that the uterus supports the bladder -- but you could be right too, I'm not sure.