When to get a bitch spayed

[Excitedannie]

Just that really - so much contradictory advice out there but when is the best time and why?

It's very breed/size of dog dependent. There's not a single answer.

I thought it was after the first or second season… never had a girl.
Have boys, so wait for the growth plates to close- 18 months ish.

As @TheShiningPup says, breed/size of dog dependent. I personally would go on the advice of your vet.

It's the same for girls - for larger breeds (lab size upwards) wait til 18 months until growth plates close. Smaller breeds can be done sooner

I would do 3 months after 1st season for a small/medium breed and after 2nd season for a medium/large dog.

It depends on the breed.
This paper www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fvets.2020.00388/full gives you information and advice for 35 breeds regarding the health implications.

It also depends on your dog and what you want. I own a breed that is notoriously late to mature mentally, so although it would probably physically okay to spay after two or three seasons, at about 2, I want my dogs to reach social maturity before I start messing with their hormones, so I wait until longer.

Thanks - she's a cocker spaniel. I've spoken to two vets and both had differing opinions so I started to read up on it, and got even more confused!

My WCS has just had her 2nd season so we've booked her in for spay at end March. She will be 23 months old, I wanted her to physically and mentally mature before she was spayed.

Funnily enough, I've just looked at that study that a poster posted and that said 23 months as well!

I think as well you have to consider the individual dog. I know a couple of people who ended up spaying earlier than planned (at 18 months rather than 2ish) because their bitches had very distressing phantom pregnancies.

I agree there's lots of contradictory advice. We had our lab spayed at 19 months after two seasons but I went back and forth as to whether I should let her have a 3rd season for a long time as she still seemed so young.