age to desex

[Eunice Marott]

I have a 6 month old puppy. We plan to have her desexed. Can you tell me if it causes problems with their coat. Hers is absolutely wonderful at the moment.

 

[Eunice Marott]

it certainly has given me food for thought.... Any tips when they come into season?

[Elizabeth Ball]

Thanks for this info Viv, I have a 9 month old Bitch and I am a bit paranoid about her first season as she is my first so I check her daily before we go out for walks. I think it stems from her being mounted a few weeks ago by a massive black lab whose owner was nowhere to be found as I rushed to hoik him off. His owner trundled along 5 mins later and when I told her what had happened she just chuckled and said he was a randy old boy who would have a go at anything.... like that was ok. I had her on a lead at the time so was able to respond quickly but it can be tricky when there is only one of you trying to manage two dogs, one of which you have never met before and don't know how he is going to react to you pulling him away. I have no intention of having her neutered but I also don't want to breed (and certainly not a lab x setter!!) so I really am hoping that the swelling is obvious and I know when to go into house arrest.

[Elizabeth Ball]

That's what was so concerning as I shoo-ed him off Bella was wriggling around and trying to get after him, don't think she was rejecting his advances.... naughty girl, I mean at least go on a date first before you give it away!

[Sue and Cash]

Hi Eunice I have Cash who was just neutered 11 days ago and is about 7 1/2 months old now. We will have to wait a while but I will post pictures of him often to see if he seems too leggy or wooly coated!

[Eunice Marott]

thankyou all so much. I am going to wait and think about it.

[Eunice Marott]

just in closing we are travelling to Europe in July and our pup will be boarding in kennels. We will miss her and will make the decision on our return. I will be looking for Irish Setters out and about on our travels to help with withdrawals from our puppy. Thankyou all again.

[Ilona & Gina]

Had our two, a boy and a girl, desexed. The girl has a wonderful coat, but the boy has fuzzy fluff around the waist and the legs, which doesn't bother me. I love him the way he is.
However, I personally don't believe in de-sexing. We only did it because Anton and Gina are littermates, and afterwards, I read a study that made me think hard.
Get more info, but not from your vet. It's not just the coat. There are longterm health issues, as well. Vet's won't tell you the whole story.

[Eunice Marott]

our last setter was desexed around 9 months. She became incontenient and the vet denied that desexing had anything to do with it. I have cancelled our puppy's appointment to have it done and pretty well decided to have her left alone to develop as a normal dog. The breed is one in a million, so good with children and our cats. I think the large cat comes off the better with our pup.

[Eunice Marott]

i spent so much money and time trying to get our last setter right and the sad thing was we lost her so young to cancer 9 years. Anyway on a positive side we have our lovely Molly, a sheer delight.

[Jennifer Martin]

Rio is a year old and still 'intact' at the moment I don't feel the need to have him 'desexed' although my neighbour who's a vet keeps trying to convince me that I should have him 'done'! - her reason being that males can get rather smelly!.
I had Jinty desexed when she was over a year old, have to say she went very fluffy and wooly and it stayed like that until she got 'cushings' and started to lose her hair - her coat did came back and stayed in great condition for the rest of her life.
Desexing at too young an age can result in the animal growing taller, this can put strain on muscles and ligaments as they are elongated and 'weakened' to some extent and can cause problems in older age, they tend to be narrower chested as well and males can become a bit 'girly'!.
In some breeds owners have their dog's 'desexed' to improve the dog's coats for showing but in setters this just does not work.
I discussed it with a friend who owns horses and she said that she has noticed the same growth, narrow chest, - if a horse has been 'desexed' at a young age, also 'girly' mannerisms in males.
There is plenty of information online, I agree that vets push desexing - I think this is still associated with the time when irresponsible people opened their door's in the morning to let their dog's out to roam all day.

[Louise Perry]

Yes sue, I think you must be! And i only know of one other dog (slightly older than Reuben) in the whole of our town who isn't castrated. Everyone I meet always says 'but when you get him done' , blah, blah ...

[Louise Perry]

Yes sue, I think you must be! And i only know of one other dog (slightly older than Reuben) in the whole of our town who isn't castrated. Everyone I meet always says 'but when you get him done' , blah, blah ...