What age should i neuter my golden retriever

Correctly picking the perfect age to spay or neuter your dog has been discussed in the veterinary literature for decades. In more recent years shelter and animal rescue groups have advocated for early-age, 6 months of age and even younger, spay and neuter with the goal of preventing unwanted litters. As an added incentive the surgery is quicker and less complicated prior to sexual maturity in these immature puppies. The recommendations are now changing and recent studies suggest some benefits to waiting until your dog is a bit older to have the surgery performed, especially for larger dogs.

For male dogs:

The signs of sexual maturity in male dogs include lifting their leg to urine mark (even in the house), humping, and overprotectiveness. Some of these behaviours can start at an early age and intensify as they continue to mature until 12 months, or even older for large breeds. During this time they build more muscle as their growth plates close. This maturation of their musculoskeletal system can help prevent certain orthopedic injuries later in life, especially in large breeds. There is also some evidence that certain cancers may be less likely if they are allowed to have some time to reach sexually maturity. Male dogs that are left intact through adulthood and into their senior years can encounter prostate disease, perineal hernias, perianal tumors, and testicular tumors.

When should I neuter my male dog?

Small dogs do not have as many orthopedic issues, therefore it is fine to neuter them on the younger side at 6-12 months of age. For large dogs that are very prone to orthopedic injury/diseases we now recommend waiting to neuter until 9-18 months of age.

For female dogs:

The signs of sexual maturity in female dogs can have some similarity to the males, but they also will come into their first heat (estrous). This may mean up to two weeks of dripping blood, accompanied by moodiness and unwanted attention from male dogs from miles away. For most female dogs, this will happen around 9-10 months of age or older. Once in while we will see a smaller-breed dog show signs of their first heat around 6 months of age. We also see large breed dogs that do not develop their first heat until closer to, or beyond, 12 months of age. There is a significantly higher risk of performing a spay surgery when a dog is in heat due to fragility of blood vessels and propensity for them to bleed internally. Given that, we avoid performing spay surgery while a dog is in heat unless it is an emergency situation. By about a month after the heat cycle, the blood vessels are more stable and the spay surgery can be performed safely. However, after the first heat the uterus and blood vessels have changed irreversibly to a mature state and spay surgery is more challenging than in an immature dog. Benefits that female dogs can see from having spay surgery when they are closer to maturity include lower risk of orthopedic issues, a reduced risk of cancers (especially breast cancer), and a reduced risk of urinary incontinence.

When should I spay my female dog?

We recommend waiting until your dog is at least over 6 months and likely even older for larger dogs. The benefits are much more pronounced in larger dogs, but there is not a lot of difference for lap dogs. Studies have shown that large dogs spayed before 6 months of age experience some higher risk of orthopedic problems and certain cancers and that risk is statistically reduced at 12 months. What happens statistically at each age in between still needs more study. We do know that with each heat cycle there is an increased risk of mammary adenocarcinoma (breast cancer) and risk of pyometra (a life-threatening uterine infection requiring emergency surgery and intensive care). If we are able to allow female dogs to get as old as possible, but manage to spay them just before their first heat, this would seem like the ideal situation, but it is tricky to predict when that first heat will be. Knowing the family history can be helpful, but is still not an exact way to know when the first heat will occur.

Labrador retrievers are less vulnerable than golden retrievers to the long-term health effects of neutering, as evidenced by higher rates of certain joint disorders and devastating cancers, according to a new study by researchers at the University of California, Davis, School of Veterinary Medicine.

Results of the study now appear online in the open-access journal PLOS ONE.

“We found in both breeds that neutering before the age of 6 months, which is common practice in the United States, significantly increased the occurrence of joint disorders – especially in the golden retrievers,” said lead investigator Benjamin Hart, a distinguished professor emeritus in the School of Veterinary Medicine.

“The data, however, showed that the incidence rates of both joint disorders and cancers at various neuter ages were much more pronounced in golden retrievers than in the Labrador retrievers,” he said.

He noted that the findings not only offer insights for researchers in both human and veterinary medicine, but are also important for breeders and dog owners contemplating when, and if, to neuter their dogs. Dog owners in the United States are overwhelmingly choosing to neuter their dogs, in large part to prevent pet overpopulation or avoid unwanted behaviors.

This new comparison of the two breeds was prompted by the research team’s earlier study, reported in February 2013, which found a marked increase in the incidence of two joint disorders and three cancers in golden retrievers that had been neutered.

Health records of goldens and Labradors examined

The golden retriever and the Labrador retriever were selected for this study because both are popular breeds that have been widely accepted as family pets and service dogs. The two breeds also are similar in body size, conformation and behavioral characteristics.

The study was based on 13 years of health records from the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine for neutered and non-neutered male and female Labrador retrievers and golden retrievers between the ages of 1 and 8 years of age. These records included 1,015 golden retriever cases and 1,500 Labrador retriever cases.

The researchers compared the two breeds according to the incidence of three cancers: lymphosarcoma, hemangiosarcoma and mast cell tumor. They also calculated the incidence for each breed of three joint disorders: hip dysplasia, cranial cruciate ligament tear and elbow dysplasia.  

The researchers also noted in these cases whether the dogs had been neutered before the age of 6 months, between 6 and 11 months, between 12 and 24 months or between age 2 and 9 years of age.

Neutering and joint disorders

In terms of joint disorders, the researchers found that non-neutered males and females of both breeds experienced a five-percent rate of one or more joint disorders. Neutering before the age of 6 months was associated with a doubling of that rate to 10 percent in Labrador retrievers.

 In golden retrievers, however, the impact of neutering appeared to be much more severe.  Neutering before the age of 6 months in goldens increased the incidence of joint disorders to what Hart called an “alarming” four-to-five times that of non-neutered dogs of the same breed.

Male goldens experienced the greatest increase in joint disorders in the form of hip dysplasia and cranial cruciate ligament tear, while the increase for Labrador males occurred in the form of cranial cruciate ligament tear and elbow dysplasia.

“The effects of neutering during the first year of a dog’s life, especially in larger breeds, undoubtedly reflects the vulnerability of their joints to the delayed closure of long-bone growth plates, when neutering removes the gonadal, or sex, hormones,” Hart said.

Neutering and cancers

The data also revealed important differences between the breeds in relation to the occurrence of cancers. In non-neutered dogs of both breeds, the incidence of one or more cancers ranged from 3 to 5 percent, except in male goldens, where cancer occurred at an 11-percent rate.

Neutering appeared to have little effect on the cancer rate of male goldens. However, in female goldens, neutering at any point beyond 6 months elevated the risk of one or more cancers to three to four times the level of non-neutered females.

Neutering in female Labradors increased the cancer incidence rate only slightly.

“The striking effect of neutering in female golden retrievers, compared to male and female Labradors and male goldens, suggests that in female goldens the sex hormones have a protective effect against cancers throughout most of the dog’s life,” Hart said.

Funding for the study was provided by the American Kennel Club Canine Health Foundation and the Center for Companion Animal Health at UC Davis.

Other members of this UC Davis research team are Lynette Hart and Abigail Thigpen, both of the School of Veterinary Medicine, and Neil Willits of the Department of Statistics.

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