When to neuter our female puppy border terriee

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frances.curran

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Hello. Our local vet has suggested neutering our 9 month very healthy and lovely female border terrier soon (in order to avoid accidents). We do not plan to breed her. I have read that waiting until after her first season is better for her. I would rather take extra care for a few more months, to avoid accidents, than take steps which may not be in her best interests longer term. I am grateful for advice on this matter. Thanks.
 
Accidents are easy enough to avoid, if you are a responsible owner you keep an in season bitch on a lead when walking and if you have a male dog you keep them apart for the time the bitch is in season, I would prefer to wait until after the first season and take care until then.
 
Is there any proper evidence as to why it’s better to wait until after the first season?

I’ve just seen this on a friends FB:

Going to copy what the Blue Cross say about getting your dogs neutered. When should I get my dog neutered?
Female dogs can be spayed from around six months old and there’s no benefit to waiting until they’ve had their first season. Some of the health benefits of spaying are actually reduced if you wait until your dog has had a season, however some larger breeds can develop other problems if they are neutered too early, so you should discuss this with your vet.
Male dogs can be neutered from six to seven months old although the exact age varies depending on their breed, so speak to your vet – but don’t leave it too late otherwise the benefits associated with castration start to reduce. Also. For male dogs:
Neutered male dogs are less likely to roam, which means they’re less likely to go missing, get hit by a car, get in a fight and get hurt.
Unneutered dogs can become frustrated and may try to escape.
Castration significantly reduces the chance of them getting prostate disease and reduces the risk of some cancers.
An unneutered dog is more likely to show aggression to other dogs, whether they’re on or off the lead.
An unneutered dog is more likely to be the target of aggression from another dog.
For female dogs:
Neutering greatly reduces the risk of them getting breast cancer, particularly if carried out before the first season, and infection of the womb (called pyometra). Both of these are seen quite often in older, unneutered dogs and they can be fatal.
Pregnancy and birth can be risky to the mum.
Many unneutered female dogs have a false pregnancy after a season and, although this is natural, it can cause behavioural and even medical problems.
For you:
An unneutered dog is much more likely to direct their amorous intentions towards your favourite sofa – or your visiting auntie.
When a female dog is in season she attracts a stream of hopeful male dogs to the front door. In fact, male dogs have even been known to break down doors and fences trying to reach a potential mate.
If a female gets pregnant you’ve got the responsibility of having to care for her during her pregnancy, birth and looking after her litter – and that’s before the challenge of trying to find good homes for the puppies. Some breeds of dog can have as many as 12 puppies in just one litter. That’s a lot of mouths to feed and the costs will soon add up.
Female dogs in heat can be messy – they produce a bloody discharge for three weeks or more.
 
I love the way places like the Blue Cross think pregnancy is inevitable with an unspayed bitch!
Yes, seasons are a nuisance but so are lifelong incontinence which can be caused by early spaying. As has been said, let her have one season and get her done 3 months after that.
Be strong, your vet is out of date, all the local vets here now say after 1 season for a small breed and maybe 2 for a larger one.
 
Luna is booked in to be spayed on the 15th October. She will be 16 months then, and has had 2 seasons. She had her first at 6 months, and we personally didn’t want to get her done before she was a year old, so have let her have a 2nd. She is always walked on lead anyway, but we had no issues stopping her from getting pregnant, and certainly didn’t have queues of dogs at the front door!
 
Well done TW, that sounds perfect. Sonnet is 16 months, just had her 2nd season, and will be spayed midway to the next. I live in a very rural area so it is easy to look after a bitch in season. Many years ago, living in a village, there was a very nice but very randy labrador who was brilliant at eascaping to find in season bitches. Unbeknown to us he would get into our garden, goodness knows how, sit leaning quietly against the back door, then fall into the kitchen when you opened the door!
 
meleeka said:
Is there any proper evidence as to why it’s better to wait until after the first season?
.
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neutering affects every aspect of a dog's maturity (male or female) from behaviour to the immune system to growth. Because bitches are susceptible to pyo and mammary tumours it is probably (I say probably because other countries do not spay as routine eg Scandinavian countries) wise to get them neutered.

I have two adult entire males who have never humped anyone, roamed anywhere or fought anything. Early castration in one of those breeds is strongly correlated to the major health problems found in the breed such as cancer. And ethically/ideally I don't believe we should be carrying out such a major procedure which has such ongoing repercussions mostly for our convenience If you can't look after a dog the way it needs to be, don't have one.
 
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The older I get the more I wonder why we routinely remove parts of a puppy's anatomy rather than train and monitor it.
I have neutered before for health reasons and will probably always neuter older females and dogs which have no business being bred from, but removing very important parts from very young dogs does not sit well with me and I have seen some large breed males neutered way too young who are massively over height and incredibly babyish.
 
Willow will probably be heading towards her third birthday by the time she's booked in for spaying and my reasons for this are:-

Early spaying in females most definitely contributes to spay incontinence and I don't want this for her. I've already got one that's on a shed load of medication for this because she was neutered at a very young age.

I have a male dog but he's neutered and I don't believe I will have a queue of male dogs battering down my door when she is in season - where are they all suddenly going to come from I wonder! I'm referencing the Blue Cross quote and picturing the queue of rampant males :D

She will definitely be spayed but not until she's fully grown up. I've also had two bitches with pyometra and mammary tumours and that's not a pleasant experience either. Both survived the pyometra but not the tumours - they're usually always malignant.
 
My little dog was spayed by the rescue at just short of 7 months, she has a tiny tiny vulva and is prone to urine infections. Vets opinion is the early spay and she could develop incontinence as she gets older. I can totally understand the rescue neutering before rehoming though.
 
frances.curran said:
Hello. Our local vet has suggested neutering our 9 month very healthy and lovely female border terrier soon (in order to avoid accidents). We do not plan to breed her. I have read that waiting until after her first season is better for her. I would rather take extra care for a few more months, to avoid accidents, than take steps which may not be in her best interests longer term. I am grateful for advice on this matter. Thanks.
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The last info I received from my vets was that every season the bitch had prior to neutering increases the risk of mammary tumours.
 
Blazingsaddles said:
The last info I received from my vets was that every season the bitch had prior to neutering increases the risk of mammary tumours.
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And my vets said that but felt that one season had more benefits in growth and development as to balance the miniscule increased risk of mammary tumors.
 
Personally I would wait for a dog or bitch to be sexually and physically mature before neutering , if I were to neuter at all. So at least one season for bitches, but more likely after two or even three.
 
My Lancashire Heeler would be roughly the same size as a Border Terrier and she had her 1st season at 9months and our vet recommended having her spayed halfway to her next season so she was spayed at roughly 15months old and she was very mature at that age both physically and mentally.
 
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