spaying question

[constantlyconfused]

My pup is 6 months old. I was advised to wait for her first season but i've since been told it's fine to do before?!
Have others had it done before? I will wait if health implications met our first in season bitch today who was being harassed by a string of males.The owner said it lasts weeks and taking her out was a nightmare.

[Focusfocus]

We got ours done before first season, has recovered brilliantly. It's more common to wait for a season, but we made the decision to do it per season after weight out the pros and cons thoroughly. For our breed we were told the only potential con could be urinary incontinence which is a con potentially anyway and easily corrected. On forums etc I have heard owners say that they are more emotioa lly mature after a season or two, but to be honest I have not understood what that means, our reasons for pre first season spaying was - to absolutely minimise to minimum most possible the risk of gynaecological cancers, to ensure we are around for the post operative period, so coordinating with work and vactions meant this was best time, otherwise after second season.

[Focusfocus]

Ours was/is younger than yours by the way.

[constantlyconfused]

How long did she take to recover and go on normal walks etc? thanks

[SirVixofVixHall]

The risks are mainly incontinence, and that is more likely if your pup has had puppy vaginitis, mine has, so we are waiting until she is 18m on the advice of the vet. She is in season now, I have a thread about it currently. The other issue is bone growth, and so I would get your vet's advice on this. We haven't found that our pup has been horribly harrassed, but we live in a rural area and walk her on beaches, where there are other dogs but maybe not so cramped together as in a city park.

[Focusfocus]

She was released day of surgery, was quiet but very attuned to the fact that toilet means garden. Next morning back to normal. We tried making her wear the collar,mshe refused, but didn't really lick at it. Didn't take her out till 4th day post op and when we did was just fine. Sounds really boring but it was nothing really. She was her bouncy self the next day (!) and we just checked stitches to see all was ok. Post operative check also fine. No probs.

[Focusfocus]

My advice is to ask thorough questions about -

Short term issues - recovery post op and any pros to waiting longer.

Longer term issues - incontinence, bone and joint growth, gynaecological cancers - pros and cons of doing it sooner or later - remember to have a breed specific discussion and a pup specific discussion as the cons and pros are weighted differently by breed etc.

[constantlyconfused]

Thanks guys.I had decided to wait till after her first season till i saw this poor lady today trying to get dogs off hers its swayed me somewhat. She wouldn't cope with road walks she gets quite depressed/stir crazy/bloody annoying without long walks and we aren't rural so always busy.

[EvenBetter]

We had ours done after her first season, she went out for walks in quiet places, or very early in the morning when there's no one about and you could see well in advance. Boy dogs will go to great lengths if they smell a girl in season so you either need to keep her on a lead, or long line, don't leave her outside alone and play games with her indoors to tire her out, too. You may find that she doesn't want as much exercise during a season anyway, they can have a temporary personality change and become moody/needy/clingy/tired.
This was my first experience of a dog in season and it wasn't bad at all, I was dreading it! If the worst does happen, your vet can give her a 'morning after' pill, or end the pregnancy. Ours did go on to have a phantom pregnancy, as soon as that was over she was spayed and was back to normal within days.