What age to neuter a dog?
Landen Will
2025-06-23 05:39:47
Count answers: 16
For male dogs: The signs of sexual maturity in male dogs include lifting their leg to urine mark, humping, and overprotectiveness. Some of these behaviours can start at an early age and intensify as they continue to mature until 12 months, or even older for large breeds. Small dogs do not have as many orthopedic issues, therefore it is fine to neuter them on the younger side at 6-12 months of age. For large dogs that are very prone to orthopedic injury/diseases we now recommend waiting to neuter until 9-18 months of age.
For female dogs: We recommend waiting until your dog is at least over 6 months and likely even older for larger dogs. The benefits are much more pronounced in larger dogs, but there is not a lot of difference for lap dogs. Studies have shown that large dogs spayed before 6 months of age experience some higher risk of orthopedic problems and certain cancers and that risk is statistically reduced at 12 months.
Kara Schowalter
2025-06-23 04:10:07
Count answers: 7
Often, the spay and neuter take place at a very young age for pets, at four to six months. However, studies have shown that this may not be the best age to spay or neuter your dog. The wide margin of maturation of dogs varies considerably, as toy breed dogs mature sexually as early as six to nine months of age whereas large and giant breeds may mature as late as 16-18 months of age. An age of six to nine months of age may be appropriate for neutering or spaying a toy breed puppy or small breed puppy but a larger or giant breed may need to wait until they are near or over 12-18 months of age. Different breeds and different sized dogs mature at different ages, which means that early spay/neuter may not be bad for all dogs. The end conclusion is that generally, the larger breeds had possibly more to risk in future health conditions in than small or toy breeds of dogs due to early spaying or neutering since they mature at a later age. When considering whether to spay or neuter your dog, with today’s information about the possible effects of age at the time of surgery on their future health, it is ideal to have a detailed discussion with your veterinarian to determine what is best for your dog.
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