i've heard 6 months and some say sooner. from the people that i've heard sooner are those that also say it's better for female dogs cuz this way there won't be any complications after the surgery when she's younger. perhaps what they meant was they'll recover easier?
we've starting to see some aggression from chloe. sometimes she'll just start snapping at her mommy. but then sometimes it's fine. and now whenever she is in her crate.. if my wife puts her in the crate so she can sweep the floors.. she'll start to cry and bark like crazy.
we don't know where all of this is coming from.. and she's only 10 weeks old.
Very young puppies taken from their Mom and littermates need to be taught appropriate behavior...by you, because they haven't yet been taught by Mom. Your pup is young, and please don't mistake this as aggression, because I don't think it is. Exercise patience, and do some research with the links provided to the left. When your pup is old enough, consider puppy classes in obedience. It will help both of you....I promise.
I got Winnie as a 6 week puppy, and at one time wondered what I had gotten into. Now I know things would have been easier if her Mom had her a bit longer. Don't lose faith...with patience and love, things will work out. Winnie is 10, and a love!
haha.. thanks marty. we got chloe when she was 7 weeks old. yup.. i agree.. patience is a key. my wife just worries cuz chloe love to lick the floor and would always get dust on her nose.
those training classes is definitely what we're looking for. our local petsmart have a great instructor there.. so we'll bring her there soon. however, when would be the right age to bring her there? i read from www.hssv.org that between 12-16 weeks and no later than that. but then it said to register when they are 8 weeks. so perhaps it's a good time to go?
6 months is good for the spay. Little dogs often have retained baby teeth so if you wait until 6 months, they can be pulled at the same time.
She should receive a few more vaccines before attending a class.
It sounds like she is a pretty normal puppy.
For the crate, you can work on making it a positive experience to go in her crate. Start feeding her in there. Throw treats in the crate (with the door open). When you put her in, give her a kong or sterile hallow bone filled with goodies. Save a special safe chewie for only when she is in her crate. Work on sending her in the crate and then immediately letting her out.
With really young puppies, you have a lot more work as they don't have their litter mates and mom to teach them the ropes. When she uses her mouth inappropriately, yelp and then ignore her for a few minutes. Get her use to be handled, especially her feet and looking in her mouth. Be gentle, firm, and use lots of rewards. You can start at home teaching her how to walk on a leash and do basic things like sit, down, and come.
just another opinion...i think there is no perfect time other than what your vet feels comfortable with....they can be done anytime between two days old on up....i think the earlier the better...my opinion was when i felt thewere large enought to take the anesthesia....there is absolutly no reason to let them go into heat first....but again what ever time your individual feels safest with....statistacally it makes no difference in their maturity etc when done at an early age.....
>Incidental prebuertal neutering Short-term results and complications of
>prepubertal gonadectomy in cats and dogs.
>
>###############################################################
>
>Department of Small Animal Medicine and Surgery, College of Veterinary
>Medicine, Texas A&M University, College Station 77843-4474, USA.
>
>OBJECTIVE: To determine short-term results and complications of
>prepubertal gonadectomy in cats and dogs. DESIGN: Prospective
>randomized study.
>ANIMALS:
>775 cats and 1,213 dogs. PROCEDURE: Animals undergoing gonadectomy were
>allotted into 3 groups on the basis of estimated age (group 1, < 12 weeks
>old; group 2, 12 to 23 weeks old; group 3, > or = 24 weeks old).
>Complications during anesthesia, surgery, and the immediate postoperative
>period (7 days) were recorded. Complications were classified as major
>(required treatment and resulted in an increase in morbidity or mortality)
>or minor (required little or no treatment and caused a minimal increase in
>morbidity). An ANOVA was used to detect differences among groups in age,
>weight, body temperature, and duration of surgery. To detect differences in
>complication rates among groups, chi 2 analysis was used. RESULTS: Group 1
>consisted of 723 animals, group 2 consisted of 532, and group 3 consisted
>of
>733. Group-3 animals had a significantly higher overall complication rate
>(10.8%) than group-1 animals (6.5%), but did not differ from group-2
>animals
>(8.8%). Differences were not detected among the 3 groups regarding major
>complications (2.9, 3.2, and 3.0% for groups 1, 2, and 3, respectively),
>but
>group-3 animals had significantly more minor complications (7.8%) than
>group-1 animals (3.6%), but not group-2 animals (5.6%). CLINICAL
>IMPLICATIONS: In this study, prepubertal gonadectomy did not increase
>morbidity or mortality on a short-term basis, compared with gonadectomy
>performed on animals at the traditional age. These procedures may be
>performed safely in prepubertal animals, provided that appropriate
>attention
>is given to anesthetic and surgical
> **********************
Also with the puppy training classes- I've done a little research for my 5 month old too and just an fyi, they prefer your pet to have all their shots.
On our paper work-they say it's good to have them spayed/neutered between 3-9 months. I'll be making my appt very soon Good luck and keep us updated!
Good luck and keep us updated! 