[Echo's mom]

I adopted a large breed puppy through the humane society when she was 7 weeks old. She's three months old now, and I've been struggling with this spay contract that I had to sign in order to adopt her.

The contract states that by law, I have until she is 7 months old to spay her. Also, included in the $75 I payed for her is the free spay (as long as I take her by 7 mo. old). I am able to choose the vet to perform this procedure from a fairly long list provided.

I fully intend upon having her spayed, but isn't 7 months old young to have a large breed dog spayed? At the rate she's growing, I anticipate her being pretty big. I've been researching the right age to have this done, and I've heard that larger dogs take longer to develop, and therefore shouldn't be altered until later to avoid health issues.

Thank you in advance for any info/advice you can give me.

 

[nikelodeon79]

You are lucky! I got Luna (also a large breed puppy) from a shelter and they spayed her at 10 weeks!!! DEFINITELY too early to be spayed.

IMO, 7 months is not too early to spay. The growth issue is mostly brought up when talking about neutering a male dog. Many people wait until a male dog is a year or so to neuter but will spay a female earlier.

 

[Willowy]

She's not a giant breed, so spaying at 7 months shouldn't be a problem. Just about the right age, IMO. Of course there will always be differing opinions, but spaying a large-breed female at 7 months shouldn't hurt her.

 

[Xie]

I'm with everyone else. Giant breeds (100+lbs) need to wait longer but she won't be that big so 7 months should be fine.

 

[chul3l3ies1126]

Exactly... she is not a Giant breed... and with that, she is a female... the biggest setbacks with fixing them too early occurs mostly in males, not in females.

I have two Great Danes, male and female... my female is already fixed... and my male will be fixed when he is 1 year 6-8 months old.

7 months is perfect... 6 months is perfect as well... for your girl. Good Luck!
Nessa

 

[trumpetjock]

7 is just fine.

Honestly, regardless of what any of us say, you signed a contract and got a puppy for 75$. Complaining that your free spay is too early for your dog is a bit much imo

 

[Echo's mom]

I do realize I'm lucky to have the spay for free (and to be able to adopt a wonderful companion like her for $75), and you must have misunderstood my intentions. I'm not complaining- in any way. I've just never owned a large dog before. She means a lot to me and I want her to have a good, long life. I just wanted to do all of my research before I go into this. I think I owe it to her to have at least looked into this before I make any appointments. In addition to other reading that I've done, this is a great place to research this because of the many large dog owners on the forum.

Thank you so much everyone for the input! I really appreciate it, and I feel much better about this now

 

[nikelodeon79]

I'm not complaining- in any way. I've just never owned a large dog before. She means a lot to me and I want her to have a good, long life. I just wanted to do all of my research before I go into this. I think I owe it to her to have at least looked into this before I make any appointments.

Yes, I wholeheartedly agree. I paid $81 for Luna at the shelter, but that doesn't mean I love her any less than I would a $1,500+ dog from a breeder! I commend you for wanting to do your research!

I was a nervous wreck when my kitties were neutered, and they were free! I paid the extra $$$ to have the test done beforehand to be sure they would be okay during anesthesia. It gave me some peace of mind, at least!

Good luck with your puppers, and let us know how everything goes!