We recommend you never spay or neuter your puppy. If you feel it is necessary to spay or neuter your puppy, please wait until they are fully grown at about 2.5 years of age. Please remember to make sure the veterinarian you are using is a great surgeon, and has dealt with spaying and neutering older dogs. Doing a simple Google search on your veterinarian and looking for reviews will give you ample information regarding if they had had any issues with surgery on dogs.

For Males:

• Please do not feel that neutering your puppy will lead to him marking your home, displaying aggressive or hyper behaviors, or humping. If your dog is displaying any of those tendenceies, simply correcting the behavior with propier training will resolve the issue. Neutering will not resolve these behaviors but simoply put him at risk for all kinds of health issues. 
• Please remember that neutering your dog at a young age will lead to critical health issues for your pup. Different forms of cancer, hip dysplasia, tears in the cruciate ligament, and more have been shown to be the result of early neutering.
• Please remember that if your dog fights with another dog, it is related to pack order and has nothing to do with the fact that your dog has testicles. People have been very misinformed on this subject. Simply state to the other owner that you are thinking about showing your dog, if you are looking for a way out of a difficult conversation with someone who is uninformed about neutering. Show dogs are not allowed to have their testicles removed, and that will end the discussion.

For Females:

• Please remember that when a female dog goes into heat, it is nothing like when a human female menstruates. When a female pup goes into heat, it will last approximately 14 days. She will release tiny drops of blood for another 7 days, and then it will go clear. During this time she will clean herself, and you might not even know your dog is in heat. If you are concerned about the tiny droplets of blood in your home, we suggest you get doggie diapers and diaper liners. Some diapers are reusable and washable, and they also have disposable versions.
• Please remember that it is a very short period of time for your pup to get pregnant, when she is in heat. It is also a long drawn out affair before a female will give a male permission to mate with her. Don’t worry – your girl is in charge. When your dog is in heat, she will smell very different from other dogs during this time. Do not take your dog to a dog park during this timeframe. Keep her at home and in the backyard. If you live in the city, try and take her out walking in the early or late hours when other dogs will be inside.
• Please remember that female dogs can go into heat at 9 months but it is more likely it will be around a year or later. If you feel it is necessary for your dog to be spayed, please wait until they have gone through 2.5 heat cycles before you bring them to get spayed. Female dogs’ heat around every 6 months and often it is a longer time between heats. So let’s say you dog heats around a year. Then her next heat may be around 18 or 19 months. Then wait another 5 months as to avoid the next heat and then spay her. She will be almost 2.5 years old and be full grown or close enough. Studies have shown that waiting until a dog is grown makes a huge difference in their long-term health risks.