What's the best age to spay a female Jack Russell puppy for health?

Having Poppy spayed does carry many health benefits, and I do recommend to have this done, but it may not stop the excitable urination. Very excitable dogs, young dogs and very submissive dogs will urinate. The best option is to ignore her when you come home until she calms down. Then give her calm attention. If you’re going to get her excited, make sure to do it in an area where it is OK if she urinates. If she is still a puppy, she would likely outgrow this. Best of luck and please feel free to post any additional questions.

Yes, Lily is too old to have another litter. It's never recommended to breed a dog older than six years of age due to the increased risk of dystocia and the effects it has on the dog. I would not breed her again, and I would recommend spaying her to prevent her from developing a pyometra in the future.

The veterinary world is still undecided upon the benefits of waiting until after a pet has had a heat cycle relating to the ligaments. For smaller breed dogs, there may not be benefit. We do know there is a benefit as far as cancer reduction in dogs spayed before their first heat cycle. It is true that spaying a pet will decrease the sex hormones and this affects the joint physis. This however tends to be more of a concern for large breed dogs. At only 6.5 kg at four months old, Luna is not very likely to be a big dog. For the most part, when waiting until later to spay or neuter a pet it is involving dogs who are expected to be 34kg or above. I recommend to discuss your concerns with your primary care veterinarian as they will be the best to advise you. In general, maintaining good health of the joints involves maintaining a healthy body weight and feeding an appropriate food. Luna should eat a puppy food until she is about a-year-old. I hope this answers your questions and please feel free to post any additional questions.

I am not aware of any specific proof that juvenile spay and neuter is any worse than doing so at 6 months of age if the veterinarian administering the anesthesia and performing the surgery is comfortable with it. The biggest risk is during anesthesia as juvenile pets have difficulty regulating their temperature and blood glucose. It is very commonly done in shelter environments as a measure of population control, which is desperately needed! There is nothing you need to watch for or prevent from Gemma's juvenile spay as compared to a spay at 6 months of age. As she ages, urinary incontinence is common because of the lack of estrogen, but this should occur when she is middle aged and can happen when any dog is spayed (even if they are already several years old). Here is a good article on juvenile spay and neuter: https://www.americanhumane.org/fact-sheet/juvenile-spayneuter/

Typically, the first heat cycle will occur between 6 and 9 months of age. It really depends on the individual dog and there is no way to determine when your dog will go into heat for the first time. You can have her spayed at 4 months, but you will likely need to take her somewhere else if your veterinarian won't do it. Waiting until 6 months should not pose an issue though. It's the age a large percentage of dogs are spayed or neutered.

Hi there. You're right that the question of when to spay a large breed dog isn't as simple as we might like! It sounds like you've done some research on the pros and cons of spaying at different ages, which is great. In general, for my large breed patients, I recommend spaying at around 10-12 months of age (as long as the owner doesn't mind dealing with a heat cycle, since most dogs will go into heat for the first time prior to this). This still gives us an extremely low risk of mammary cancer, but also minimizes the risk of orthopedic issues since she should be finished growing by then.

It is generally recommended to spay your dog before her first heat cycle at around 6-7 months of age. This can help avoid unwanted puppies, and can also decrease/remove the chances of certain cancers later in life. Having a litter does nothing to improve your dog or her health, and is actually very stressful on the body - you also bring more pets into the world which can lead to an increase in pet overpopulation.