[tobyrichfield]

My golden is now 6 months old and was wondering when the best time to neuter him was. Neither of his boys dropped and I have heard anywhere from 6 to 12 months.

 

[missmarstar]

I am a firm believer in waiting until the dog has reached maturity before neutering. 18-24 months old is ideal IMO.

 

[jwemt81]

I very strongly believe in waiting until at least 18-24 months. It gives the dog plenty of time to physically mature. You can usually easily tell the difference between a dog that was neutered at around 6 months from a dog who wasn't neutered until he was at least 18 months just by looking at them. The ones who aren't neutered until later in life usually have much blockier heads and fill out more physically, while the ones who were neutered around 6 months usually have a much narrower head and tend to be lankier. I would wait. I firmly believe that 6 months is way too early.

Also, does your breeder have a contract on when to neuter?

 

[tobyrichfield]

I very strongly believe in waiting until at least 18-24 months. It gives the dog plenty of time to physically mature. You can usually easily tell the difference between a dog that was neutered at around 6 months from a dog who wasn't neutered until he was at least 18 months just by looking at them. The ones who aren't neutered until later in life usually have much blockier heads and fill out more physically, while the ones who were neutered around 6 months usually have a much narrower head and tend to be lankier. I would wait. I firmly believe that 6 months is way too early.

Also, does your breeder have a contract on when to neuter?

Our breeder said wait at least a year, do you think there will be any negative effects seeing neither of his balls dropped?

 

[Evil Eagle]

Sam got neutered at 7 months. But his had dropped at 5 months.

 

[jwemt81]

Have you seen your vet about his testicles not descending? By 6 months, they definitely should have already dropped. There is a condition called cryptorchidism, which is when the testicles do not descend. One of our dogs when I was a kid had this.

 

[tobyrichfield]

Have you seen your vet about his testicles not descending? By 6 months, they definitely should have already dropped. There is a condition called cryptorchidism, which is when the testicles do not descend. One of our dogs when I was a kid had this.

Our vet said they would have dropped by now, one seems like it is on the way down. I didnt know since neither of his balls dropped would we be at risk of anything if we waited 18 months

 

[Willow52]

Neither of his boys dropped and I have heard anywhere from 6 to 12 months.

At Hank's last vet visit, the vet mentioned his had dropped (10 weeks old). I ask when is normal, he said usually by 8 weeks.

I'm not having Hank neutered until 18+ months, unless some behavior issues arise, for the reason stated already in this thread. I'm not really sure when early neutering came in vogue, since I haven't owned a male since the '70s and it wasn't done then.

 

[BeauShel]

bumping up

 

[Lucky's mom]

I did wait til Lucky was 20 months...but would have done it sooner if I felt it was necessary. But the neighbors with the unspade dog moved...so I waited.

 

[Willow52]

While at the vet's office today I picked up the recent WebMD Pets Guide.

Inside is says "It is best to spay and neuter early. Most Breeds are ready at 2 months, and puppies recover from surgery a lot faster than adult dogs."

Wow, 2 months I'm missing the push here. IMHO, those hormones circulate in the body for a reason. What is the reasoning for such early neutering/spaying other than the obvious, overpopulation? Or is that the only reason?

At Hank's visit today we discussed neutering, I told the vet I had decided not to neuter until 18+ months. He agreed with my reasons and dropped the subject.

Thanks to everyone on this forum for educating me on this subject.

 

[slip_kid]

we have to do it by 7months else he gets kicked out of doggie daycare.

this was the only place that let him go THAT long, the rest wanted him clipped by 6mo.

even though it's only twice a week, he has too much fun there to take him away for the next 11 months till the 18 month mark.

 

[AmbikaGR]

There is no clear cut answer as even the "experts" can't agree. Here are a few links to articles offering differing opinions on te sibject. Look them over and decide what makes sense to you.

http://www.caninesports.com/SpayNeuter.html

http://www.akcchf.org/pdfs/whitepape...iesArticle.pdf

http://www.naiaonline.org/pdfs/LongT...uterInDogs.pdf

http://www.vet.cornell.edu/maddiesfu...uter/young.htm

 

[luvgolds]

Funny, I came onto the forum today to search 'neutering' and look what I found! Our contract with the breeder states we don't get the AKC registration unless we neuter between 6 and 9 mths. Anyone else in the same boat? I'm going to wait as long as I can, although recently heard that it was best to neuter before they reach the age where they start to have 'sexual' instincts? Any thoughts on that? Anyone else hear that, too?

 

[timberwolf]

Timber's breeder has asked that we wait until he is between 14 and 16 months old before we neuter him and we are more than happy to wait.

As for them having blockier heads and filling out more the longer you wait, if his head gets any bigger, I don't think he'll be able to hold it up LOL

 

[Evil Eagle]

There are several ups and downs. I knew I was never going to breed Sam, so I opted for earlier neuter. My reasons were so he didn't start marking, and so there was no inappropriate mounting. I'm glad I did it when I did, but I am a firm believer its up to the owner on when it gets done.

 

[luvgolds]

As with most topics, this one is hot! I was just reading some other threads and it sounds like that part in our contract which states we don't get the AKC registration unless we neuter between 6-9 mths may not be binding if we followed up with AKC.

Interesting.

How about some other people who did neuter 'early' - in the 6-9 month range. What made you decide that route?

Up until my recent research, I never even thought to wait, it's always been one of those things I heard you just do at 6 mths.

 

[luvgolds]

Hey Tobyrichfield - sorry I killed your thread!

 

[goldengirls550]

I am a proponent of a mature neuter (18-24 months old). However, if certain circumstances make it unsafe or difficult to wait, sooner is better than never for pet Goldens. I would read over the articles that Hank linked. They are very informative.