hello, i have a 6 month old female Bloodhound and im wondering when i should get her spayed. My vet initially wanted to get it done at 8 months but i read on another forum that they shouldnt get spayed before a year and a half (that seems way to long to wait) i dont want to hinder her growth at all and so i was hoping someone here has owned a Bloodhound could reassure me.
I was under the impression that with females, it’s better to spay them before their first heat cycle. I may be wrong, I got my female spayed at 6 months. Large breed male dogs I’ve been told to wait till they are done growing, as long as there are no signs of aggression or dominance, so around 1 1/2 -2 years. Again might be wrong but that’s what I was told.
I have never had large breed dogs, and only had females, not males, so I cannot advise, but the small female pets I have had were spayed three months after their first season. Both the last two had their first season at five months old. My current little one was spayed at six-months, before she had a first season, when she had reached 6kg in weight. That was because she could only go out in the front, on a tether, and it was too risky due to stray dogs around. This was on the advise of my vet.
The age for neutering is contentious, as there are advantages and disadvantages to whichever age you decide on. For most of my life, my bitches were expected to produce at least one litter for the next generation, so they were not spayed before 5 - 6 years. My rescue Terrier/Lurcher Tweed was spayed at about 15 months, which was when I judged her to be mature. I am not a fan of juvenile neutering because of the effect it can have on long bone development. There is a lot of evidence to show that it may not be beneficial to spay too soon. The best course might be to Google, Early spay and neuter considerations, and then arrive at your own decision. This is a typical article on the subject, www.dogsnaturallymagazine.com/three-reasons-to-reconsider-spayneuter/
Don't know the age of physical maturity of a bloodhound, but it would be after that, or when the growth platelets are done, and yes with a large breed dog it would most likely be after a first heat. Many times with giant breeds it is after the 2nd heat.
18 months minimum, 2 years or older is more ideal. If I ever got a bitch I would personally looking into ovary sparing spay (hysterectomy), or if I had to remove hormones I would do a keyhole spay (laparoscopic ovariectomy), rather than a traditional ovariohysterectomy spay.
