When to Neuter/Spay Your Puppy

The best time to spay or neuter will be different for every dog in every family.  IN GENERAL, the feeling now is that it is best to allow puppies to fully mature and have the benefit of their hormones to develop.  So the general advice seems to be to wait at least one year for boys, and at least one year AND until after the first heat for girls. I prefer my puppy owners to wait until 18 months if at all possible. But certain circumstances can mean that for an individual pup in the individual family, it is better to do it either sooner or later than that.  Here is a link to a booklet that looks at all the modern scientific literature on neuter and spay which can help you make the best decision for your puppy (this booklet is sent home with all our puppy buyers):

Puppy Culture Spay/Neuter Booklet

There are still a number of vets around who push for early spay/neuter.  There is NO scientific evidence to support this. The idea got started to prevent unwanted puppies. While that is a good cause, we make the assumption that anyone asking the question is a responsible owner who will not LET their puppy reproduce “by mistake”. We do not sell puppies to people who are likely to let their puppies to reproduce by mistake!  So do not let your vet push you into early spay/neuter without learning all the facts first. THEN, talk to your breeder and make the decision on what is right for YOUR puppy and YOUR family!