Best age for spay?

[Baileys Mom]

Bailey is my first dashie. At what age do the mini's typically have first heat? I want to make sure she is spayed prior to 1st heat. My vet doesn't spay until 6 months. One more question if you don't mind. I was told by a breeder to notlet her be given her rabies shot until she is at least 6 months old. The schedule set up with the vet has her completing all her shots by 20 weeks. What experience have any of you had with either spaying at certain ages, or shots? I find a wealth of information here and hoping you all can help me decide to push her rabies shot out until after 6 months of age if there's any possibility of danger to her.

[Mrs.F]

My Penny was 5 and 1/2 months before she had her rabies shot because my vet wanted her to weigh a little more....I'm embarressed to say I've forgotten how much she thought Penny should weigh.... http://dachsie.org/ubb/smilies/blushie.gif The vet COULD have given the shot although Penny was small - but she gave us the option of waiting because she felt Penny would be less likely to have an adverse reaction if she weighed a little more. We don't live in a high rabies area, so it was an easy choice for us to make.
Penny was spayed at 6 months and her remaining baby teeth were removed while she was under the anesthesia. She came through fine and dandy. Maggie was spayed at 3 months. (Her previous owner felt it would "calm her down" a little.) After the surgery she was still just as active and aggressive as ever - which is how I happened to get her. She came through the surgery fine, but they didn't remove any teeth - I assume because of her young age. At 8 months old she had to have some baby teeth removed because they hadn't come out and were causing problems. She came through fine but it was a second anesthesia and surgery, which I would have preferred to avoid. I would suggest that anyone who has their dog spayed younger than 6 months old, be sure to discuss the tooth issue with their vet beforehand!

[Baileys Mom]

Great advice, Thanks, I would never have thought of the teeth at the same time. This must be common with Dashie's? I have alot to learn http://dachsie.org/ubb/smilies/silly.gif this is the best place to do it.

[Kimberly]

Dear Bailey's mom, I would recommend waiting on the spay until 6 months. Our Abby was spayed at 4 months because our previous vet recommended it. We have since changed vets. She had some complications during surgery that our new vet thinks were due to immature organs and her being so small at 4 months. She came through okay, but is having some follow up surgery done in a couple of weeks (to remove 2 canine teeth and to "clean up" from the first surgery). She is 6 months now and weighs 7 lbs. Our new vet has told us that minis do not come into heat until 8-9 months, and if I had the chance to do it over again, I would have waited until now for all of the surgery. I guess that hindsight is 20/20!

As far as the rabies shots, Abby finished hers at 20 weeks and was fine (even being small). She began taking the heartworm meds and flea meds immediately after her last round of shots. You may want to look at the AMVA website of somewhere on the web that has timetables for treatments that are recommended. Congratulations on your puppy, we have only had Abby for 4 months and she is the light of our lives! Hope this helps!
Kimberly

[BaileysMom]

Knowing what age to expect her heat is a big help! Being so small brings it's own set of problems doesn't it? I like the idea of combining any teeth problems and surgery for spay. I've nearly always had a dog but this is my firt small dog.

Your Abby brings back many fond memories. Our last dog was a Basset and her name was Abbey :-). She was part of our family for nearly 12 years. I find many similarities but then some great differences too between the 2 breeds.

This is the first lap dog for me and I'm loving it and her. She's quite a character. I'm enjoying her puppyhood but will not worry quite so much once she grows up a bit. I am finding a wealth of information here.

I have looked at other websites but too often they are very general with little or no specifics for the small breeds.

[Penny's Aunt]

When a dog comes into heat can vary, mostly depending on when she was born. They USUALLY don't come into heat before 6 months. And they USUALLY don't come into heat in winter. So, if your girl is 6 months old in October or November, she may not come into heat until early spring. But there aren't any guarantees!

I don't like having a dog spayed before 6 months. That's like doing a hysterectomy on a little girl.

But having her spayed before she goes into heat can prevent other problems, like breast cancer.

Also, if she comes into heat just before your spay appointment, I would cancel the appointment until she is clearly out of heat (usually about 3 weeks). Some vets just brush it off, but once a bitch starts into heat, the odor remains. If she's spayed while she's in heat (which also raises the risk) & accidently gets bred by a male dog, he could tear her & she would bleed to death.

A human can bleed to death in as little as 1.5 minutes. That's why in first-aid training they say to stop the bleeding first, THEN start artificial respiration (your brain doesn't start to die until 3-5 minutes). I don't know how fast a dog can die from bleeding, but it's fast.