Hi everyone,

I have been reading the forums about early neutering and have decided to wait, against my vets advice, till the pups are older. They are just 5 months now and the bitch is definately turnng into a stroppy teenager. My concern obviously as they are brother and sister so what age will the bitch likely come into her first season and are there any signs I can look out for to give me early warning?

Should I go ahead and have the bitch spayed?

My old retriever was spayed at a very young age and lived to 14. Bless him.

Thanks everyone

Ponge

The age a bitch comes into season for the first time can vary widely.  My young medium sized breed bitch just came in for the first time at 13mths.  Signs that she is coming in can also vary a bit and can be difficult to recognise first time round.  Generally, my girls tend to get a bit moody/grumpy with each other, go off their food a bit and want to be left alone.

Personally, I would wait until they were fully mature before spaying, certainly after the first season, and would consider boarding the dog when they bitch comes into season.

Good luck with whatever you decide :-)

You should be able to spot the signs of the season before the bitch becomes capable of being mated.

Extra urine marking and enlarging of the prepubescent vulva are the first signs that  a season is going to come soon, though with a few the first signs are a few spots of blood on the floor in the morning.

When I am waiting on a season every morning I dab the vulva with  white tissue so I can spot the first day of bleeding.  This would give you a day or two to arrange to board your boy, which is better than trying to keep them in the same house separated for around 4 weeks.

RE who to neuter there are more pro's than cons in eventually neutering the bitch, so that would be my choice assuming she has had time to physically and mentally mature. 

If the season does not come until close to a year of age then 3 months after the first season starts would be the best time.  Though is she comes in early at 6 - 8 months say, it may be better to wait until midway between her second and third season.  the advantage to the latter is that it is easier to determine the midway point between seasons if there have already been at least two.