Spaying or Neutering your dog......... best for both of you!Are you thinking about spaying or neutering your dog? If so, you're making the right choice - for both you, and your dog. In the US alone, between 4 and 6 million unwanted dogs are euthanized every year. That's a HUGE tragedy - and sterilized (not neutered or spayed) dogs are adding to this heartbreaking situation every, single day.
Why Spaying & Neutering Is ImportantThere are two main reasons why spaying or neutering your pup or dog is so important...
Did you know that an unspayed female dog, and her descendants, can produce around 4,372 puppies within 7 generations? Staggering! You can do your part to help win the war against this horrible situation simply by making sure little Fido or Fifi doesn't make it worse - in other words by spaying or neutering your dog! Unless your dog is a purebred, of show-quality and lives up to the appropriate breed standard he or she shouldn't be bred, because it's not only mixed breed dogs that end up in animal shelters, or being euthanized. It's been estimated that up to 40% of dogs surrendered to animal shelters are pure breeds. Breeding dogs ethically and conscientiously is a serious, difficult and sometimes heartbreaking business, not a quick and easy road to profit. It's definitely not something you want to enter into lightly. Spaying our neutering your dog is one very real way in which you can help reduce the number of unwanted puppies and abandoned dogs, that sit sadly in city pounds and rescue centers all over the country. Then there are the health benefits to your dog.... Spaying or neutering your pooch can increase his/her life expectancy by between 1 and 3 years! And pets who have been 'altered' or 'sterilized' (to use other common terms) have a minimal risk of reproductive order cancers and tumors. What better reason could you ask for?
Spaying your dogIf you have a female puppy, you should plan to have her spayed before her first heat cycle. This is the optimum time in terms of preventing future reproductive diseases and an unwanted pregnancy, but there's no hard-and-fast rule about the exact age it should be done.Depending on what size/breed of puppy you have, this can be anywhere between 4 and 18 months of age. But it's most often done around the 6 month mark. Early spaying is often performed by animal rescue organizations before puppies go to their forever homes. Find out everything you need to know about the surgery, plus what to expect after spaying your dog, on my Dog Spaying page. Neutering your dogAs for neutering your male puppy, this should also be done at around 6 months of age, and neutering a male puppy is often done much earlier if it is in a rescue center or pound.One of the effects of neutering male dogs is that it helps to reduce the problems caused by marking/spraying (which can be very difficult to handle in an indoor dog). In order for it to have any effect on this though, neutering your dog should be done before this trait gets started. Dog neutering also often helps to reduce the male tendency to 'wander' the neighborhood in search of a female dog in season. My Dog Neutering page is full of advice and information on neutering your dog, so check it out right now. Click on the image below to find a low cost spay/neuter service near you  Puppy Health
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