Anyone with a view on spaying at six months.
A friend of mine with 6 months old Rottie  her vet said it was ok as puppy was fully matured.
I told her I thought it was not something I would reccomend until at least 9 months.

Your views much appreciated.

I'm not an advocate of spaying before the first season, I'm afraid. The larger the breed, the later they finish growing.

Dogs & bitches are not fully mature until they have been through puberty & stopped growing & the long bone growth plates have closed. This doesn't happen until dogs well are over 6 months old, the bigger the dog the later puberty & growth plate closure occurs(at least that is what I have been told by a veterinary orthopaedic specializt)

Thanks jeanjeanie and moonmaiden just as I thought.
Just had Mail to say they have gone and done the terrible deed.
What the future holds for the little rottweiller I cant think about it.
Thanks for your infor mation on the subject.

> Just had Mail to say they have gone and done the terrible deed.
>

What a terrible shame.     Poor bitch.

one of my puppies was spayed at 6m after all the information I passed on etc etc: people unfortunately tend to think the vets are 'god' and no matter what you tell them they ignore it.

Fortunately  this little girl has come on leaps and bounds is adored, well groomed and in perfect health now 18m .You can only advise .

> Just had Mail to say they have gone and done the terrible deed.
> What the future holds for the little rottweiller I cant think about it.
>

a slightly harsh reaction. it may not be ideal, but they certainly havent done anything wrong. i would much rather see a bitch spayed at 6months than be used for several litters in quick succession. please do not judge your friend too harshly, i see many bitches who have been spayed as young as 6months and i have to say, i dont see a difference in those who are done after a year. i know many will be on to shoot me down, but certainly in my experience, there isnt a difference seen.

>What the future holds for the little rottweiller I cant think about it.

I'm sure it won't be anything like as bad as you imagine; not ideal, maybe, but far from disastrous.

> Just had Mail to say they have gone and done the terrible deed.
> What the future holds for the little rottweiller I cant think about it.
> Thanks for your infor mation on the subject.

poor thing, for a breed like a rottie i wouldn't say before the age of about 2

A large breed like a rottie i would put them off having her spayed so young a puppy i sold, i said to them best leave it untill at least a year if not longer if they could took the advice of their vet and had her spayed at 6 months now at 2 years old she is incontinent the vet has said this was due to being spayed so young and it can happen but it was the same vet that pushed for them to have it done so young and never told them of the risk. Luckly they have now changed their vet.

I was sent this from a cd'er when i was being bagdered by a vets to get my boy done at 7 months, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2045340
maybe worth a read and
id say google everything you can on the subject before putting the girl thought this at such a young age,

I have 2 Rottie bitches both spayed. My first was spayed after her first season at around 16 months, the other at 6 months (on the vets advice). My 2nd girl is quite leggy with a rather small head, she has a Rottie body, but almost a Dobes head. Now this could be down to breeding, or the early spay I couldn't say for certain which. Other than that, she doesn't appear to have suffered any harm from being spayed at 6 months, although any future beasties will be left to fully mature before neutering.

2 dogs that I know of (Large breeds) who were neutered pre-6 months and just on 6 months are both very poorly boned for the breeds they are.

Ditto with ones in my breed including two bitches I have bred with litter sisters winning CC's or being champions.  Both pups were as well boned as the ones I kept.  The main thing I have noticed in my slow to mature mentally breed that the ones spayed young do not have that maturity and self confidence of adults.  They still exhibit in social interactions those slightly apologetic characteristics of pups.

The lack of head development and legginess is soemthign I ahve seen in the males especially, as an Elkhound male continues to develop in head until 4 years of age, and looks very male compared to teh bitches.  The Adult early neutered males look puppy or bitch like, even at 6.

I know a year old Staff male that looks like a -uppy bitch, now maybe his parents ahd poor heads, but he looks like a standard fitting Staff other than this very puppy head.