did I neuter too early?

living in the northeast, from NJ up to MA, and working with rescues and shelters in all areas, i really must be in one of the OTHER areas, because we certainly are not seeing anywhere near 70-80% of the dogs already altered - we're at more like 30%, if that.

don't kid yourself - assuming that just because you're on an internet board and think most of the people on here are responsible, and assuming that it applies to the rest of the public (which is 99% of people out there) is a lot of assuming. many clients cant be bothered to feed anything but beneful and think nothing of leaving their intact animals wandering loose.

oh good. it's not just me thinking that. here i was thinking that our joe average client must be really sub-par. i get it that i'm in farm country, but still. i've never heard a client express concerns about the health effects of spaying/neutering at six months. if they don't do it, it's either because they're going to breed the dog, they don't want to pay that much money, or they don't want to take away the dog's manhood.

I find most people where I live spay and neuter becuase it's either socially acceptable and more convenient for them. And the people that don't neuter generally are just lazy and never take them in. Or the thought never crosses their mind that it might be a good thing to do. I never see health benefits brought up either way.

Thank you.

Well crap, I asked my friend for the info but she can't find it. She brought it up when it came across the pet-law list, so I know there was some backup for it. It was during the CA debacle, so maybe I'm confused (a possibility ) and the numbers were specific to that area.

I did find reference to the Pet Product Manufacturer's survey which found that 72% of owned dogs and 84% of owned cats are spayed/neutered
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/g/a/2007/07/24/petscol.DTL

Then here, in the National Council on Pet Population study showing 43% of dogs and 52% of cats relinquished to 12 US shelters were spayed/neutered

http://www.petpopulation.org/RELINQ207-223.pdf

BUT this is from 12 years ago; the PPM surveys have shown an increase in spay/neuter status of about 2% annually. Based on assumption, you could do a rough estimate and the the numbers would be more like 52% and 61%. Again this is totally assumed, but it's a far cry from the 10% spayed/neutered claimed by groups like the ASPCA!

Personally if you do it at all I would recommend 18 - 24 months

I have an intact female and an intact male living together. Saffie will be spayed after she has been in heat again, because the best time is, i've been told, three months after that period because the females hormones will be calm then. I will spay her because of her health, she has been in heat once (very late) and she wasn't happy and she was very bitchy during that period and the two months after. I'm still happy I waited because I noticed her becoming more calm and mature after she's been in heat once.

Boy will remain intact, I got him last year and he has been living happily with his balls for seven years, and he is very easy going. I see no need to neuter him.
If Saffie is in heat, Boy will stay at my parents house. If anyone doesn't want to bring more puppies in the world, it's me. But the main reason for me to have Saffie spayed is her health.

I do understand why vets in de US want to see dogs spayed at an early age, because I understand you have tons of more dogs in shelters then we have here. If that's the case, it's a good thing that more pet dogs get spayed or neutered. I probably depends a lot on where you live. It's not standard to neuter males here, it is to spay females.

You obviously don't have overpopulation issues where you live like we do down here. Our shelter got in about ten litters of puppies yesterday. We get an average of 30-50 dogs and cats a day. We have the second highest euthanasia rate in the country.

WOW! Pickle what state are you in? That is so sad............

Mississippi =(. We have it bad down here. Of course, it's even worse now that the flea market just passed. People are getting rid of their own dogs to make way for puppies. I have a feeling those puppies will be up there in a few months =(.

Baron was neutered between 6 and 8 months(its been awhile and I was a wee tike). Didn't affect him one bit. He's 32 inches at the shoulder.

I know all my cats where neutered at 6 months because our vet says thats the best time.

Why is "down South" so to speak so OVER whelmed with puppies? What is wrong with dog owners in the south? Don't they spay and neuter? Alot of the shelter dogs here in Massachusetts are from the southern states. So sad that they don't control dogs from breeding there.

That is sad to think about Pickle Isn't Mississippi one of the bigger puppy mill states?? (no offense meant)

I think if the owner is actually thinking and questioning the health issues of the animal, then THAT owner can probably handle a later spay/neuter. BUT.....it's the owner that doesn't want to fork over the $$ and/or throws the dog out in the backyard that are of concern to me.

Orson is NOT neutered, he is 16 months old. He will be neutered when I feel that he is done filling out as much as he's going to. Dobes have a rocky health history as it is, so anything I can do to help that out WILL be done.

Phoebe IS spayed, she was spayed the day we brought her home from the HS at approx. 8 months. She is a medium dog at 38 lbs and I feel that 8+months was plenty of time for her. She hasn't grown a hair taller, and she hasn't fluxed to much on weight. She has stayed between 37-41 lbs respectively.

I mean people NEED hormones, we know that.........why would one think dogs do not?

Julie...there is no use worrying about what is done, don't let the people on the other board get to you.

First of, there are VERY few, if any, reptuable breeders around here. Our shelter isn't very advertised, so when people want a puppy, they turn to mills and byb. We have about five puppy mills around where I live. The animal control can't do ANYTHING about it, either. You can't go on a walk without someone asking if you want to breed your mutt to their mutt, and if you have a purebred, you'll be harrassed and accused of animal cruely when you say it has been fixed. Our vet very rarely does spay/neuters. It is a very sad situation down here; we have many more puppies and kittens at our shelter than adults. Oh, and let's not even get started on the "Ol' Roy is the best food out there" and "big dogs belong outside!"

32 inches? :yikes:

That's one inch shorter than my dane, 6-8 inches over standard for G. Shepherd males.

Is the rest of his family that tall?

Shadowfacedanes...You took the words right out of my mouth....errrrr....off the tips of my fingers!

This is why I get so frazzled about this "early neuter" thing. YES it is a problem in the south! People wanna hang onto their dog's balls and then not keep an eye on them. Someone I work with told me her male dog was intact, and that she didn't have a fence. When I asked further she said "I don't care if he goes out there and makes puppies, as long as he doesn't bring them home."

We can't even stop the humans from breeding, much less the dogs. Every single one of my pet dogs has been neutered/spayed at 6 months. I own one intact bitch, shes intact for show purposes only. If I didn't have plans to show she would have been spayed long ago, and she's 18 months old.

I live in a town of 60,000 people and the animal shelter euthanizes around 500+ dogs and cats per month. Sometimes more, sometimes less.

Yes, Missisippi is a big puppy mill state. My shelter euthanizes about 800 a month =(.

I had a friend who had a lady ask to breed to her sheltie. She said, "I know they arent the same breed, but this dog's coloring would look so good if I could breed him to my "Corky" (as in corgi)." Needless to say, my friend said no.

At a dog show (in louisiana) one time we were outside walking dogs and a guy pulled up and was asking for any male dogs he could breed his girl to. He said, exact quote, "She's hot and ready in the van."

I have plenty of stories just like these.

:yikes: wow!
Then I will say again, in that case I think it's a good thing that people neuter and spay young dogs to prevent more unwanted litters.
Dogs don't get euthanised in shelters here, unless they are really not suitable to put up for adoption (like severe agression problems), and shelters rarely have litters.