4 month puppy - good age to neuter?

[texas34]

Originally Posted by chiroptera

What size?

Or, not ever neutering. It's not mandatory, you know.

I live in San Antonio TX & while neutering is not mandatory, when you get your city license for your pet every year, the cost is more if your dog is not spayed or neutered. It's $5 for a dog that is fixed & $50 for one that is not.

[jimboburnsy]

Originally Posted by texas34

I live in San Antonio TX & while neutering is not mandatory, when you get your city license for your pet every year, the cost is more if your dog is not spayed or neutered. It's $5 for a dog that is fixed & $50 for one that is not.

Same in Houston and I imagine similar in most cities.

I've kept my dog intact for a variety of reasons but if I were adopting a companion I wouldn't have the slightest problem with pediatric castration/hystorectomy. If I had the option I would probably wait until the dog was physically mature, but I wouldn't bat an eye over an adoption contingent on castration/hysterectomy. An intact dog can be responsibly managed but it's like parenting; not everyone falls on the right side of the bell curve (fewer realize which side they're on) and there are canine capacities and purposes that simply do not justify the logistic, societal and behavioral risks of an intact dog.

[djshinodalp]

Originally Posted by foxywench

side note...
would love to see pics of your little schnauzer mix...i love shcnauzer faces :P

Sure, I'll upload them soon.

Originally Posted by texas34

I live in San Antonio TX & while neutering is not mandatory, when you get your city license for your pet every year, the cost is more if your dog is not spayed or neutered. It's $5 for a dog that is fixed & $50 for one that is not.

Oh! That's a good point as well - I did read on having to license my pet yearly, but forgot. Thanks.

chiroptera, I appreciate your well informed suggestions and think we're on the same page. I wasn't really hinting that neutering him will solve his nipping/snapping issue, I just meant that I didn't want his sexual frustration to add to his aggressiveness if we happen to not train him properly to cut it out. As for snapping at vet, it was right after my puppy received an injection and vet played with his hands/fingers right in front of the pup... poor fella just growled & acted like he wanted to nip and backed up to me.

I think I'll wait till about 6 months of age so he can develop fully.

[luvmycat]

I think waiting until around six months is the best way to go...and be sure to have a pre-anesthetic blood panel done, just to be on the safe side!

[latetotheparty]

Originally Posted by Poised

Unfortunately, that's not the case. She was spayed without my choice. They told me I had to spay her to adopt her, which is the night before I was able to take her home. So she was already spayed at 8 weeks of age and 4 pounds.

both of my dogs were speutered while still very young ... bailey spayed at 4 months and Dave neutered at 8 weeks.... not a choice I would have made myself, but that said, I do understand the shelter's reasoning behind not letting unaltered puppies go out the door for adoption. I had to wait a couple of days to bring Bailey home so they could spay her.... dave was neutered LONG before i ever even laid eyes on him when he was 10 months old. I guess they wanted the puppies to be ready to go if an adopter came through for them..... in retrospect, given what bailey has gone through over the last few months, i REALLY wish they had waited to neuter Dave until he was more mature...... it is no problem at all to wait a couple of days to bring your new puppy home......

Originally Posted by subject2change

An "oops" litter is a lot more than an inconvenience for the owner. There are 10,000 or so animals euthanized every day in this country. The average person (not referring to the OP) has a pretty casual attitude about how easily an "oops" can happen, even if their dog is in a fenced yard when outside. Hence the early spay/neuters by shelters. They just can't rely on people to follow through on it later, and keep their dogs away from the opposite sex in the meantime. And thus the insistence by most of us that all pets should be spayed or neutered at some point, unless they are purebred dogs belonging to responsible breeders. There are risks and benefits to health either way, I think most people being reasonable will agree to that.

Yes^^^ reps owed!

Originally Posted by texas34

I live in San Antonio TX & while neutering is not mandatory, when you get your city license for your pet every year, the cost is more if your dog is not spayed or neutered. It's $5 for a dog that is fixed & $50 for one that is not.

as it should be.....

[luvmycat]

Originally Posted by latetotheparty

.... dave was neutered LONG before i ever even laid eyes on him when he was 10 months old. I guess they wanted the puppies to be ready to go if an adopter came through for them..... in retrospect, given what bailey has gone through over the last few months, i REALLY wish they had waited to neuter Dave until he was more mature...... it is no problem at all to wait a couple of days to bring your new puppy home...........

I agree...I certainly wouldn't mind waiting a couple of days, I would rather the dog be fixed as close to physical maturity as possible. TBH, the early S/N policy at the HS here is what made me decide not to volunteer...I would have been working directly with the on-site vet for these procedures, and in my heart I couldn't justify participating in something I consider to be dangerous...I do understand the reasoning behind it, but I don't want to be part of it.

[LingLing]

Excellent advice and information!!! I wish I asked the same question here six years ago.

[StarlaJane]

Originally Posted by stan4

I have always heard (from vets) that 6 months or before a female dog's first menses.

In female dogs, it's called a heat cycle. We're not all *******

[jimboburnsy]

Originally Posted by StarlaJane

In female dogs, it's called a heat cycle. We're not all *******

I was thinking the same thing. Estrus and menses are distinct.