# Neutering



## chesneygirl007 (Nov 5, 2007)

When is the perfect age to get a dog neutered? My breeder had told me when I got him at least a year when hes fully mature. Shes not around anymore as she passed away back in July so I dont want to bother her fiancee with the questions. So what do you guys think? Hes 7 months now he was born on 4/11/08. Should I wait til April to get him neutered? I called my vet they wanted $677 to neuter him. I guess I will be taking him to a spay and neuter clinic thats only $180 for the same thing the vet does.

Kim
NJ


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## amy22 (May 11, 2008)

Does it cost that uch to neuter a dog??? It cost me $524 to have my girl MIsty spayed and I have heard its more involved to spay...That sounds like an awful lot to spay....but I dont know. My son need to have his dog neutered and I thought it would be around $100 I cant believe I told him I would pay for it!! :doh:


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## amy22 (May 11, 2008)

woops I meant that sound like aot to neuter...


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## Lucky's mom (Nov 4, 2005)

I've found that the price of nuetering or spaying is varied beyond belief. $75 for Lucky...at 18 months. If he was a puppy it would have been 50.00. Whether a vet does blood tests makes a huge difference in price.

I nuetered Lucky at 18 months to make sure all was grown as it should be. But if I had problems I wouldn't have hesitated at a year.


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## spruce (Mar 13, 2008)

OMG!! I don't know the exact cost of Bridger's neutering this spring, but safe to say under $100.00. Plus, we (hysterical parents) took him in a couple times & called several more cuz we were worried that "things weren't right" -- no charge for these visits, which were psych sessions for us (I usually will buy some Frontline or something just to spend some $$)


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## MurphyTeller (Sep 28, 2008)

I don't think there's one "perfect" age for neutering. I'm not a big fan of early neuter (and 7 months in my mind is an early neuter) unless there's a physical or behavioral problem that can't be resolved without a neuter. As someone who competes in agility and obedience I really don't like to see dogs neutered before 18 months...BUT...there are a lot of variables. If the owner isn't willing to manage an intact male or take responsibility for his actions then a neuter is probably the way to go. If there are behavorial issues (aggression, dominance, humping, etc) that can't be resolved another way (and they've tried) - or if there's a pack problem where an existing dog isn't accepting an intact male. If there's a retained or malformed testicle that is causing or could cause some physical issues...all of these I think are valid reasons someone might choose to neuter earlier than 18 months.

If you aren't having any of these issues and you can manage your boy through 12 months (or 15 or 18 months) I think you should wait.

That neuter sounds like a lot of money, but I'd caution you against going to the "low cost spay/neuter clinic" without further research and knowing who is operating on your dog - some (not all) clinics have vet techs or even just vet assistants (no formal training/certification) doing the neuters on high volume days - if someone is putting my dog under and then cutting him open I want to have 100% faith in their ability to do the job properly, I've heard WAY too many stories of life-long complications...

Best, 
Erica


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## boomers mom (Sep 17, 2008)

wow!!!! Thats really expensive! we paid a little over 200 for boomers neutering at 7 months old...and he also stayed there for a few days afterwards while we were out of town. only cost us a total for surgery and the boarding a little under 400! i would look around, because that seems awfully high. 7 months was the perfect age for him. he didnt mess with his stitches at all stayed pretty calm during the 2 week ordeal


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## chesneygirl007 (Nov 5, 2007)

Well I wouldnt be comfortable going to another vet. That is the price of the neutering from my vet. As for checking out the spay and neuter clinic for the cheaper price I dont need to. I have taken 2 dogs and a cat there before and never had problems. Its just a clinic that does everything at low cost. Kinda like taking him to the humane socity to get him neutered. The vet gave me the estimate price for the dog over 50 lbs under 50 lbs was $100 less but I hadnt planned to neuter him until he was at least a year. This summer would probably be the best time since I wont be sending him to any training lessons in the summer. He just finished puppy kindergarten and now he goes into begginner obedience for the next 6 weeks. Then I put him into advanced and if he passes I will be putting him into a therapy dog training. After therapy dog training and woudl like to get him into an introduction of agility. I will probably not do any training in the summer so that will probably be when I get him fixed which he will be a year in april so that will sound about right.

Kim


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