Spaying or neutering your pets before they reach the age where they are able to reproduce is part of being a responsible pet owner. In every breed early spaying or neutering will decrease the risk of virtually all types of reproductive system cancers and can also help prevent behavioral changes and aggression related to hormonal changes in both males and females.
Spaying for females and neutering for males is a simply surgery that is performed by a vet under either general anesthesia. Since both male and female procedures are different, each will be discussed separately. Spaying and neutering can be done any time after the puppies are 12 weeks old, although most vets prefer to wait until the puppy is six months or older to allow them to fully mature and develop. There is conflicted research about the necessity of this delay, however until the female comes into heat she will not breed anyway, which very rarely occurs before seven to eight months of age, even in small breeds. Larger breeds the female may not come into heat until closer to one year of age.
