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Seems to me I read somewhere on your site Steve that you don't recommend spaying until the pup has had atleast 1 heat, maybe 2 and not before 18 months of age. Did I dream this or is this your recommendation? Thanks!! Kathy
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Actually you did read it, I don't reccomend spay or neuter before two years old. Females if spayed early can develop bladder control later in life, and males don't develop all of their secondary sex characteristics if neutered early. Naturally the vet will tell you to spay early to reduce the rik of ovarian cancer etc, but if you do it later there are no ovaries to get cancer. Vet's are in the business of selling surgry so I don't fault them, but mother nature didn't intend it to be that way.
Steve
Dobes are like potato chips, you really can't have just one...
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I was under the impression that it wasn't just ovarian cancer, but that the incidence of mammary cancer also rose sharply if a female was allowed to have a heat or two before being spayed? Perhaps I'm wrong about that one?
Chris
"If Timmy had a Doberman, he wouldn't have gotten stuck in the well to begin with."
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I've heard all of the arguments from the Vets office in favor of early spay/neutering. As I replied back to my vet " That's like saying if I cut off my breasts and remove my ovaries at a young age, then I won't get cancer in either of those as well! As a medical person I will never buy into that one. Rocket, my 7 yr old Brittany will be neutered tomorrow since I will be having a female in the house going into heat. He's very healthy and I don't think it is putting him at risk(surgery). I'll just be glad when he's back home tomorrow! Chris, I love your quote! Thanks Steve!
Kathy
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So, is it a matter of statistics being used in a misleading manner? What I mean is, for example, a disorder might have an incidence of 0.4% in intact dogs. Spaying or neutering could reduce that incidence to 0.2%, and it could be promoted by saying it reduces the chance of this disorder by 50%, which would technically be true; however, either way the chances are low that it would be a problem. On the other hand, if there were a 25% chance of a disorder, and spaying or neutering reduced that to 12.5%, it's the same recuction in incidence, but in reality probably makes a bigger difference. I think you'd have to also weigh in how serious the disorder is...if getting it is almost certainly fatal, there's more incentive to do whatever you can to prevent it, while something that can be easily treated doesn't seem so imperative. So, does anyone know what the actual numbers are?
I guess the only other thing I'd throw out is that there are other reasons for spaying/neutering to be promoted. There are an awful lot of unwanted, accidental dog pregnancies that result in puppies who end up in shelters, or worse, dumped in ditches. We do a lot of work with animal rescue in our area, and if more people would get their dogs neutered, there would be a lot less for us to do. There are way too many people who simply allow their dogs to do what they do, and then think it's fine to wind up with six puppies uf unknown origin...and I can tell you where many of them go. Of course, the individual litters aren't the only problem, but it's definitely a contributor.
I can understand why people who intend to breed, or are considering breeding, in a responsible manner, would not want to neuter their dogs. And I can certainly understand delaying neutering; aside from the reasons given, as an owner of sport dogs I've read articles that suggest later neutering reduces risk of joint injury because of the ways the dogs grow and develop. But for the average person who owns dogs, I personally think neutering makes sense. For what it's worth, I have no intentions of breeding my newest Doberman, and plan to have him neutered, but will wait until he is older, as Steve suggests.
All of this is, of course, just my opinion!
Chris
"If Timmy had a Doberman, he wouldn't have gotten stuck in the well to begin with."
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I don't know the actual numbers, but in my life time, I never had a dog suffer from any of the mentioned maladies that Vets try to use. I am a believer that spay/neuter is a good way to do some population control and probably ought to be practiced on some people I know as well! However I do believe that having intact dogs is better for drive, personality and overall health, it is what nature intended, just too many people can't be trusted to leave the dogs intact and manage their behavior, so those folks ought to spay/neuter. It becomes a responsibility issue in my mind, not a health issue. It also has some convenience to it as well which is a powerful argument, but all boils down to what the dogs purpose is and whether or not the spay/neuter will enhance that or detract from that.
Steve
Dobes are like potato chips, you really can't have just one...
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I had been trying to get my husband to agree to have Rocket neutered for several years. We had no intentions of breeding and it became a real battle with one of our other intact males (alpha dog) when his health began to decline at 13 yrs. old. Rocket wanted that alpha position and Bandit was going to die defending it!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Luckily, health reasons put a stop to that competition. It was pretty upsetting to say the least. Mike uses both of our Brittany's for upland game bird hunting. Maybe I'm naive but I don't think the neutering will interfere with his natural instinct to hunt. Kathy
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Has anyone read the article by C. Zink DVM You can find them on the internet. She has many other studies supporting her views on waiting to spay/neuter. The average dobe in my house sees it's 12 - 14 year and mine are not spayed until 6 years old due to being breeding and show dogs. I've only lost 2 young girls one was 4 years she had a brain tumor and her full sister had bowel cancer i hardly think a spay would have helped either dog. By the way their mother is 11 years old and very healthy she was spayed at 6.
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