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Our female BC be Six months old at the end of February. . We do not intend to have pups and are wondering when to have it done? Some say after her first cycle, our Lab we had done before.

Gina has turned into a pretty darn nice dog, perhaps its the training or maybe she is done teething?

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Every time I see the term fixed I want to say why - is your dog broken?!?

 

Anyways, Im a fan of waiting until maturity so probably 12-18 m/o. She may or may not go through a heat cycle by that time. If a heat cycle would be really difficult to manage then Id probably aim for 9-10 m/o so youre close to skeletal maturity

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Sorry I posted off my IPhone and its hard to get things right. Was not able to do a Search as I know this has been asked before.

One reason is the neighbor lady next to us not only has a untrained but unneutered male Aussie that can jump fences. We really do not want our 6 month old pup, having puppies! Thanks for the Reply.

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So Border Collies do not have their first heat at six months or it can vary?

 

Gina is tall lankly and might weigh 30 lbs or so by now, she has really turned into a wonderful young dog. She is working on AKC requirements to become a Therapy Dog with our trainer.

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It varies greatly by individual. At 6 m/o it could happen any time but it might not happen for another 6 months.

 

My pup is 9 m/o and hasnt yet come into heat. Others in her lines have been from 8 m/o to almost 2 y/o when they first cycled.

 

My SIL has a Dane (often large breeds come in a bit later) who cycled at 5 m/o the first time around.

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It can vary.

If I had your situation I would never let my dog be in the yard alone until she was spayed. I personally would opt to manage the situation in that way, however inconvenient it might be for me, until my dog was at least a year old before spaying her.

 

Now, that's just me. If it would be difficult for you for some reason to be 100% diligent about taking her out only under strict supervision, then you might want to spay her earlier. But no earlier than 9 months.

 

I wouldn't take any chances, because a dog can be in heat enough to attract a male a day or even two before a person notices that she is in heat.

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What D'Elle said!

 

When I was younger, not a single dog/bitch that I know of in our neighborhood was ever neutered, yet no one seemed to have expected pups - because people were diligent and did not allow their females to be alone at all when there was any possibility of being in heat.

 

I would prefer to let any dog finish bone growth until 12 to 18 months of age before neutering. It may not be as critical for bitches but with males, which will tend to grow their long bones differently if neutered young and therefore likely have different angulation in some critical joints, I think it is essential. JMO.

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So Border Collies do not have their first heat at six months or it can vary?

 

Gina is tall lankly and might weigh 30 lbs or so by now, she has really turned into a wonderful young dog. She is working on AKC requirements to become a Therapy Dog with our trainer.

 

It can vary tremendously when border collies have their first heat. My girl Nell was 22 months old and had not come into heat, when I finally got her spayed. I think previous bitches years ago came into heat about 10 or 11 months. My current youngest bitch is 1 year old and she has not yet come into heat. (Though I check her girlie parts almost daily, now, as I also have a 1 year old intact male!) :unsure:

 

So, it's really hard to predict! My preference is as Sue says, to let them get as much skeletal growth as possible. But you have to do what's best for you. It is possible to monitor a young bitch in heat, but it's 3 weeks of keeping her pretty much glued to your hip and on leash ... :P

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FWIW, I researched this quite a bit with my pup, and was frustrated to find just as many sources firmly in favor of spaying prior to the first heat cycle as waiting until after at least one cycle. I was leaning towards waiting, but in the end I took my vet's advice. She told me that they experienced considerably fewer cases of reproduction system related cancer in dogs spayed prior to first heat cycle. So I ended up getting her spayed at right around 8 months. All went well and my Mancer just turned 1 year old and is currently doing great. I'm not trying to give a definitive answer or persuade you in any direction. Its a tough call that you have to make on your own, but I just wanted to throw my two cents in.

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Are you going to be participating in any rigorous performance sports such as agility or flyball (or herding)? If so, I definitely recommend delaying the spay as long as possible to allow the growth plates to close. Otherwise, it probably would be a good idea to spay her by 8-9 months if you are not going to monitor her closely to prevent visits by male dogs - or if she decides to leave the yard.

 

I have heard some strange stories about how determined some dogs are once the hormones are raging. One male dog destroyed his crate, ate through a door, went up 2 flights of stairs to eat through another door and then destroy the crate holding the female.

 

BTW, my female had her first heat at 14 months.

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