I've got a 4 month old female golden retriever. At our last vet appointment, the vet said we should schedule the spay surgery soon (ie at about 5 1/2 months), as they want to make sure to spay before the first heat. We were going to wait, if spay at all (she's got the full AKC registration so technically her offspring could be AKC registered too).
One study noted that the prevelance of hip dysplasia is much higher in dogs spayed/neutered before one year (and even higher in spays before 6 months). But another study noted that the occurance of hemangiosarcoma was much higher in late-spayed females. (link to article)
How do I decide what to do? This is my first dog and I want to reduce the chances that she'll get hip dysplasia or some cancers. I want what's best for my dog, even if it is inconvenient (i.e. keeping her separated from the neighborhood while in heat), but it's so hard to figure out what that is.
Any help/thoughts would be appreciated!
Edit: Thanks for all the great comments. There's a lot to think about - when or if to spay, what type of spay to do, etc, and I haven't made my decision just yet. But I'm a lot more informed now on why people chose different options, and I have more research to do, so thank you all!
One study noted that the prevelance of hip dysplasia is much higher in dogs spayed/neutered before one year (and even higher in spays before 6 months). But another study noted that the occurance of hemangiosarcoma was much higher in late-spayed females. (link to article)
How do I decide what to do? This is my first dog and I want to reduce the chances that she'll get hip dysplasia or some cancers. I want what's best for my dog, even if it is inconvenient (i.e. keeping her separated from the neighborhood while in heat), but it's so hard to figure out what that is.
Any help/thoughts would be appreciated!
Edit: Thanks for all the great comments. There's a lot to think about - when or if to spay, what type of spay to do, etc, and I haven't made my decision just yet. But I'm a lot more informed now on why people chose different options, and I have more research to do, so thank you all!