I'm curious about your remark re: neutering at 6 months, & now, after research you wish you had waited. What age do you think is the right time? My friend and fellow-doxie owner, said to wait until Bree was a year old. Do you agree?
Oh wow, I totally missed this comment
When I looked further into spay/ neuter, I learned that doing it too early can actually cause growth problems. I knew this was a concern in big dogs (my Dobes) but never did it cross my mind with my little ones. Even though smaller breeds mature faster than the larger ones, they still need those hormones at puberty to tell their bones and other things to stop growing or function correctly otherwise you could end up with an over-sized dog (ie the Warlock Doberman or 'King' Shepherd) or thyroid dysfunction (yes, neutered males show a higher incidence of hypothyroidism as they get older)
If I knew where the link was...I know I posted it here some time ago, I could tell you which post to look under because we had a long discussion about it
Now looking back on it, I probably should have waited till now when Arelus is a year and a half before I had him neutered...but that's hindsight and it's probably for the better because my fosters have all been girls and one that we thought was spayed - vet thought he could feel a spay scar - turns out she wasn't and that would have been very bad if she came into heat and I didn't have Arelus fixed because she was a dapple too.
Fact of the matter is, if you feel you can wait longer (8 months - 1 year) to have the boys neutered, then go for it...if not, then have them neutered when your vet suggests
