Should I change vet after this advice, or is this normal?

[shakinstevenslovechild]

I bought my puppy the other day, a gorgeous tiny little boy chihuahua.

I have been waiting for him for a long time. Chose a breeder before the pups were conceived, so put a lot of thought into the pup I wanted and we are over the moon that he is here.

He is stunning and has a great bloodline, health checks for his parents and grandparents, KC registered etc, however, that is because I wanted a great breeder, and a healthy, great natured pup for my family.

I took him to the vet for his injection today and asked about the best age for neutering him, there is a lot of conflicting advice online, and as far as I am aware the longer you leave it the more risk there is for various cancers.

The vet told me I should consider using him as a stud and didn't really advise me at all.

Is this normal advise from a vet? It seems really irresponsible to me, especially with so many back yard breeders just now and dog shelters full to bursting.

Should I change vets, or do they have to advise you of your options?

We got our girl pug (18 months old) a few weeks ago and when we took her for her to the vets for a check up and I asked about spaying her didn't say anything about not doing etc or letting her have puppies (actually she is endorsed on her papers as being too small to breed from but he didn't know that), he asked how soon we would like it doing.

This is our first time with a vet, but I think he should have given you the info you asked for.

Ours was certainly very helpful.

Thank you. It obviously isn't normal then.

I asked him 3 times what the best age would be and he just told me to think about it and that we could discuss it at the next appointment 'if my mind was still set' it was really weird.

He was more keen on getting me to discuss breeding than to answer my actual question, and I'm still non the wiser as to the best age to get him done.

It was all really bizarre.

That is strange , why would he be interested in your dog being a stud??

I have no idea

I suppose he might know someone interested in breeding or something, but if that were the case I assume he would have mentioned it.

It could have been awkward smalltalk I guess.

Either way I don't think I'll take pup back, I dont feel the vet has his best interests at heart really.

Maybe start another thread on here asking about the best age?

AFAIK the smaller the breed the earlier you can have it done. I have a big dog and all research points to not having him done before 18 months.

Advising you to breed him is odd.

Not advising you to neuter him is totally fine. It is incorrect to claim that there are health benefits to neutering male dogs - in fact there are more health risks. I discuss this with clients before they make a decision - sometimes it's the best thing for that individual, but often it's an unnecessary procedure which brings no benefits. This isn't true of female dogs, it is still best to neuter them.

I can't understand why he didn't just tell you that though.