Veterinarians? (BJ?...others?)

[Chillwell]

We have a 5-month old Lab, male.

We know we have to get him neutered. However, we've read different things as to the best age. Originally, we thought 6-months was the time to do it. Now, my wife has been reading articles that state, we should wait until 12-18 months.

Any opinions?

 

[purkey]

Little laby say no neuter...please.

 

[blbronco]

The short answer for me is, whenever you want. One study (a poorly done retrospective study) looked at medical records from several golden retrievers assessing early desexing (6 months of age) and osteosarcoma (while completely ignoring all of the other cancers that are gonad-dependant) and concluded that osteosarcoma was more likely in younger desexed dogs compared to those that were either not desexed at all or desexed later in life. The exact likelihood was not that strong (aka, scientific significance versus clinical significance was blurred massively). This is a study that is frequently overstated in Facebook and blogs.

We still typically recommend 6 months of age or later. I may recommend more strongly for females to be spayed before 8 months than I am males, but that is more due to the associations of heats and mammary cancers.

 

[Been Jammin]

Agree with the above. IMO, more important to spay early than to neuter early.

With male dogs, the best reasons for an earlier surgery have to do more with behavioral issues than health issues (such as urine marking territory, increased likelihood to run off looking for a female if he gets out of the house/yard).

If you want him to be a big/muscular looking lab, as opposed to a small/sleek looking lab, you should wait a while.

 

[Cowguy]

Agree with the above. IMO, more important to spay early than to neuter early.

With male dogs, the best reasons for an earlier surgery have to do more with behavioral issues than health issues (such as urine marking territory, increased likelihood to run off looking for a female if he gets out of the house/yard).

If you want him to be a big/muscular looking lab, as opposed to a small/sleek looking lab, you should wait a while.

So I now understand why @Renegade Bullet is built the way he’s built

 

[Dally1up]

Hate seeing dogs neutered . But then again, my dogs don't lay around on a lap, couch etc.