Once we make the wise decision to neuter our dog, we may be assailed by doubts about what is the best age to do it. Surely we have been given many versions, and we have heard all kinds of assumptions and experiences that can sometimes confuse us, instead of guiding us.
From our site we will try to expose, with pros and cons, what is the best age to neuter a dog, and what result we can expect depending on the moment in which it is submitted to the intervention.
The breed and the best age to neuter a dog
Given that reference is going to be made to castration before the first heat, we will try to limit that time interval, although as already you advance, race influences a lot.
At 6 months of age, in a very general way and without entering into breeds yet, there are still no preovulatory waves in bitches, since before ovulation there are always "attempts" that are gaining intensity in the case of females, until ovulation is triggered, when one of those attempts is successful.
In males it is somewhat more complicated to define it as there is no heat (we do not "see" when they produce viable spermatozoa), but the expression of sexual maturity is used, when it begins to be fertile. We deduce it from secondary behaviors such as marking territory with urine, lifting the leg to urinate, mounting females… We could agree that 6-9 months is a reasonable age for not yet having "puberty" in dogs.
How does the breed influence the ideal age to neuter a dog?
Although they are all of the same species, there is a lot of difference between a chihuahua, for example, and a Neapolitan mastiff. To continue with the comparison, if we have two females of these breeds, the first will, as a general rule, come into heat much earlier than the second. Everything is faster the smaller the size of the breed: heart rate, respiratory rate, metabolism, digestion…, and the start of reproductive life.
Thus, smaller breeds tend to be earlier in reaching sexual maturity. However, many other things besides the breed have an influence, such as the environment, genetics, diet, the presence of nearby stimuli such as a male dog, etc.
We can find female dogs of the Yorkshire breed with their first heat at 5 months, and female dogs of the Dogue de Bordeaux breed in which it does not appear until they reach one year of age, being much more complicated than upside down. That is why it is difficult to talk about what months the female dog will be in heat, or fertility in the case of male dogs, since each breed is different (there are even female dogs that only have an annual heat, and it is normal).) and each dog in particular, a continent. In mestizos, predicting the age at which heat will appear becomes an almost impossible mission.
The best age to neuter a bitch
To address it briefly, we are going to list the advantages and disadvantages of neutering our bitch before the first heat, and so we can compare them with those of doing it after several heats:
Advantage
- The risks of breast tumors in bitches, directly related to the sex hormones produced by the ovaries, is drastically reduced. Bitches castrated before the first heat have a practically zero incidence of mammary tumors in the future, just a percentage reserved for genetic possibilities. However, those that are castrated after several heats must continue to be checked periodically for the appearance of tumors in the future. The breasts have already undergone the action of hormones.
- The risks of suffering from pyometra (uterus infections), are completely eliminated, when the ovaries disappear, responsible for the cyclical stimulation of the uterus, and the uterus itself if the surgery performed is an Ovariohysterectomy.
- The thickness and vascularization (blood supply) to the reproductive organs before the first heat is much lower than once it starts to function. The tissues are not infiltrated with fat, and the surgical ligatures are much safer.
- There are usually no obesity problems in such young dogs. The presence of excess abdominal fat makes the intervention very difficult.
- Growth doesn't stop, contrary to what many people believe, it simply slows down, sustained over time, so our bitch will reach her final adult size a little later than unneutered bitches would.
- We prevent our bitch from going through unwanted pregnancies, or pseudopregnancies (psychological pregnancies) and pseudolactations, which can affect all bitches two months after heat, even from the first.
Disadvantages
Possible appearance of urinary incontinence: estrogens seem to be responsible for the correct functioning of the muscles of the urinary bladder and the sphincter urethral. When the ovaries disappear with surgery, there will be no estrogen and, therefore, urinary incontinence may appear after a few weeks or months. They are slight urine losses that occur while our dog is sleeping, or when doing some exercise.
And if she let him have several heats, won't she suffer from urinary incontinence?
Letting her go through one or two heats to operate on her, thinking that this way she won't suffer from urinary incontinence after the surgery, is a mistake. Urinary incontinence appears to the same in medium-breed female dogs neutered at 4 years of age, for example, than in the rest of the age range. And furthermore, it affects a low percentage of castrated females.
Although they are not neutered, over the years, the levels of hormones in the blood drop quite a bit (bitches are less fertile), and with this drop in estrogen urinary incontinence can also appear, of similar to what happens in humans.
And if it appears, is there treatment?
There are several drugs that can solve the problem of urinary incontinence, from small amounts of hormones, to drugs (phenylpropanolamine), which act at the level of the innervation of the bladder muscles, and which have shown to be effective only in castrated females to treat incontinence.
The best age to neuter a male dog
Here we will talk about the advantages and disadvantages of neutering our dog before reaching sexual maturity:
Advantage
- We will avoid escapes when smelling females in heat, since it often happens in dogs that are a few months old, which are still not very obedient, and on top of that they have revolutionized hormones.
- We will save the marking pattern that a dog begins to perform systematically, no matter where it is, when it reaches sexual maturity, the days without eating when they detect a female dog in heat in the neighborhood, and the anxiety and/or aggressiveness that may appear in that circumstance.
- You won't have the constant need to get into trouble at park meetings with other dogs, Your territoriality decreases or you don't get to develop and the desire to pick a fight, too, although his character remains the same.
- The prostate will not be influenced by testosterone, so it will not develop the hyperplasia that virtually all entire male dogs have at 3-4 years of age.
- The weight gain that we all associate with castration in dogs is less marked or goes unnoticed when the operation is done before 12 months of age.
- Does not acquire the mounting behavior, and that's important. Dogs that have learned by observing other males, or because they have been allowed to mount females, may continue this behavior even after being neutered. By having a bone in the penis, dogs do not need hormones to achieve intercourse. If they have acquired the habit, they can mount a female after castration, although, obviously, there will be no gestation. It is a shorter mount, but the risk of getting herpesvirus or suffering the wrath of other males or owners, will still be there.
Disadvantages
Practically none. Many people believe that their dog will not reach the size he could be as an adult if he had not been neutered at 8 months of age, for example. But if there is no genetic basis, no hormonal stimulation can make a dog measure or weigh what we expected. Muscle development is favored by testosterone, but genetics, combined with proper nutrition and physical exercise, give rise to sizes that are practically equal to those of males castrated at 3 years of age, to put a figure.
And the character…
Sometimes, after overcoming the fear of surgery, since there can always be complications in anesthesia, or the process, as in everything, even if they are minimal, and after having balanced the advantages and disadvantages, someone tells us that our dog will remain with a childish behavior, or that his character will change and will no longer be the same if he is neutered before the first heat.
We can hear the same if we decide to castrate him when he is several years old, but in the first case, some argue that we will not let the dog develop well if he does not receive the influence of sexual hormones. Given this, it must be taken into account that character is defined by genetics, socialization, time spent with your mother and siblings, environment, habits…, and what to receive a few waves of estrogen or testosterone in his life will not make our dog a more balanced animal or more or less grumpy. Hormones can influence, but not determine. We advise you to visit the article on our site that addresses the ideal age to separate puppies from their mother to understand how important this topic is.
We hope that the doubts about what is the best age to neuter a dog have been clarified, and as we always do, we recommend that you consult your veterinarian in each particular case, since we cannot always apply generalizations to our dog or bitch, despite the fact that they work in the rest of congeners. On the other hand, if you finally decide to neuter your dog, don't miss our advice on the best care for recently sterilized dogs.
