Advice on spaying my boxer?

This is where it gets tricky. I've read articles stating that neutering at six months does not stunt the growth infact the growth plates are no longer inhibited by hormones allowing them to grow larger, and I've also read that spaying before sexual maturity (what age that is can vary) delays the closure of the growth plates in bones that are still growing, causing those bones to end up significantly longer than in intact dogs or those spay/neutered after maturity. Since the growth plates in various bones close at different times, spay/neuter that is done after some growth plates have closed but before other growth plates have closed might result in a dog with unnatural proportions, possibly impacting performance and long term durability of the joints.

This is a personal choice that you need to make, every article will state something different, I've read it's best to spay before the first heat to reduce or eliminate the possibilities of cancer in females and other articles that say spaying before 2.5 years is better for eliminating cancer and spaying before a year increases the risk for a number of issues.

If you want your dog spayed at six months then go head and have her spayed. I had my Weimaraner spayed at six months and she's fine, she did not grow to be a large Weimaraner (64lbs) but she's breed standard in regards to height and I'm perfectly happy with her size.

There are plenty of pros and cons in doing surgery, do what you want to do it's your dog.

It is best to let your dog fully mature before you spay her, it won't hurt to spay her early but it is better for her if you wait.

A large dog like your boxer will not fully mature until around 18 months old, if you insist on getting her spayed before this age then you should at least allow her to have a season first.

If you are a responsible dog owner then there is no reason why you cant allow her to go through a season without getting pregnant.

I have an 8 month old female jack russell terrier who is unspayed, reason being she has not developed fully yet nor has she had a season.

IMO it is best if you wait until around 18 months if you can, if not allow her a season.

Ok the sexual organs produce growth hormones, so having them removed is going to affect a dogs growth. Usually a dog that it prematurely spayed or neutered will not develop the thickness in their body typical of the breed, it also does have an affect on bone growth so I prefer to wait until growth plates are closed. It is truly your choice when to spay or not to spay. A big part of that is if you can keep her separate from males while she is in heat or not. Do not allow your young female to be bred as this will cause more damage then spaying or not spaying would.

Here is what I have found, some Vets will spay after rabies shots.

A lot of breeders say to wait until after her first and even 2nd heat

as part of the growing process, that a beneficial hormone thing comes

into play with allowing her to have a heat or two. I'm no expert but I can

understand the logic behind it. I am not having mine "fixed until her 2nd

heat. We have a fenced in yard and keep an eye out on her when she is

outside.

My dog was spayed at ~6 months. It might be the policy at that particular vet's office to not spay before 8 months, but it's not like...a nationwide law or anything.

My dog is a Lab and the AKC standard for females is 21-23" at the shoulder. She's about 27-28". From AKC-registered show-quality parents. She could've just been like...one of the eggs with a dent in the side...but I'm betting that being spayed didn't stunt her growth one bit.

Spaying her at 6 months isn't going to hurt her. People always debate over the growth thing though.

It's a personal choice to have your dog fixed. The dogs I had growing up were all fixed and with a well balanced diet and adequate exercise they were fine. On the other hand my boyfriend had a male boxer long before me. He got him fixed when he was 5 because his GF at the time wanted to get it done. He gained lots of weight and became lazy; however, they used to feed him table food as well as his own food and he got some exercise but not enough for a boxer. I now own two male boxers of my own. When we got out oldest one we decided that we weren't going to get him fixed; however, when I got my lil guy he was diagnosed with Chriptorchidism. (His testicles didn't drop) so we have no choice but to do the surgery unless we want to risk cancer do to the testicles being stuck in the abdomen. Owning boxers I would say if you give her adequate exercise and a well balanced diet. (No table food) I would say she will be fine. If your still unsure I would say consult your vet first.

The reason to spay or to neuter a medium, large and x-large breed dog is this ...

When one of the above sized dogs are spayed or neutered to young it can cause physical developmental problems resulting in uneven growth and joint problems it can also cause female urinary incontinence and in dogs urethral sphincter incontinence.

I usually advice people to not spay or neuter until the pups is 9-12 months old.

Your breeder if reputable should have explained this to you. For that matter the vet should have explained it to you as well.

Wait until your pups growth plates have closed before having her spayed.

Here is some of the recent thought on spay an neutering;

http://www.caninesports.com/SpayNeuter.html

Dr. Chris Zink

an animals rescue group is fine to do spaying and neutering.

it's probably just a personal vet policy of theirs..

ita with sheri..large breed dogs have to have proper bone growth time. same goes for English bulldogs and some of those flat faced breeds to allow time for the nasal passages to grow to proper size as well.