Conflicting advice: When should I spay my Saint Bernard puppy?

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.

There is some evidence that waiting until an adult has reached skeletal maturity, which for a female dog occurs around the same time as the first heat cycle, is beneficial for bone and joint development and could decrease the risk for orthopedic disease in the future. This is relatively new research however, and if you have reasons to want to schedule the surgery now it should be fine too - many shelter animals are spayed when they are 8 weeks old prior to adoption.

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.

Hello, thank you for your question. This is a very complex topic in veterinary medicine and you will hear/read about a variety of different opinions regarding this matter. In my opinion, if you have a male Labrador puppy, recent studies have shown that leaving them intact until roughly 1 year of age helps with bone growth/development and has been shown to help decrease the risk of arthritis developing down the line. Some veterinarians even suggest leaving male dogs intact for as long as possible. However, as intact dogs age they are prone to developing problems with their prostate (such as infections, enlargement) as well as some dogs exhibit problematic behaviors. In regards to female puppies, I recommend spaying them around (or before) 6 months of age, prior to their first heat cycle. The major reason for this recommendation is that the risk for mammary cancer goes up exponentially when a female dog is allowed to go through a heat cycle (i.e. the chance is <0.5%, after the first cycle and with subsequent cycles the risk increases to 26% or higher). Some veterinarians recommend leaving females intact as this helps to improve bone growth/decrease risk of arthritis. However, I feel that the risk far outweighs the benefit in female puppies. Mammary cancer is very serious in dogs and could mean additional surgeries/chemotherapy in their lifetime. I hope this helps! As mentioned, this is a very controversial topic in veterinary medicine. These are just my feelings on the topic, based on research in the topic.

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.

How cute is Bailey!!! I recommend spaying Bailey at 6 months of age. This will allow her to be spayed before her first heat cycle. The pros about spaying her at 6 months is decrease risk of breast cancer when she is older, decrease risk of pyometra ( pus filled uterus) and patients recover faster/ faster surgery due to smaller blood vessels and less fat. Some recent studies in the U.K. Recommend spaying at 1 year of age to decrease issues with bones but as a general practice I do not see this helping in most of my patients.

Hi there and thanks for posting on Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Typically, spay surgery is recommended around 6 months of age but current research has shown it is a little better to wait until 9 months to a year of age especially for large breed dogs to avoid certain orthopedic problems. I hope this helps!