Spaying questions!

If she is young, and in good health, there isn't much to worry about, but I know we do it anyway, lol!
 
I would recommend having a pre-op blood profile done.  With healthy dogs under the age of 7 at our clinic we do a basic profile before surgery which checks clotting time which is a biggie, the pack cell volume (PCV) which makes sure the animal isn't anemic, and we also check the total protein, which if it is abnormal would let us know to run more indepth tests.
 
I would recommend an IV drip during surgery.  It will cost more, but it will help keep her hydrated, it will help flush her system of the anesthetic, and if, God forbid, something happened while she was under, the catheter would allow for quicker administration of meds.
 
I'm not sure how your vet does.  Some keep them overnight, others send them home the same evening if everything is ok.  If no one is there to moniter her 24/7, I'd request to bring her home.  If she ripped her stitches out or something worse happened, most likey it would happen when no one was at the clinic, so who knows how long she would have to be in distress until they found her.  At home, you could keep an eye on her, and if something went wrong, the vet could be notified immediately.
 
So, I guess what I would ask is
 
Do you offer pre-op blood work, and what does it include?
Is it possible for JJ to have IV fluids during the surgery?
When can JJ come home?
If they say sometime the next day, be sure to ask if someone will be there to moniter her.
Are the stitches dissolveable stitches, or will they have to be removed?  It they have to be removed, when?
 
Thats all I can think of now.  I'd request a pain shot for after the surgery, but oral pain meds are not normally needed. 

I asked the vet about spaying and all he told me was that I can make appointment any time. I don't just want to make an appointment without knowing what is going to happen to JJ.   I needed information but felt as if he didn't have anything else to tell me about getting my dog spay.  Thanks for giving me an idea of what to ask the vet. 

One more question..... since I can get her spay at any time.  Is it really ok to get her spay during her first heating cycle?

I thought the spay should be done before the first heat...but I don't know how safe it is to do during...maybe someone else can answer that.  As for keeping them overnight, I agree, and the assistants at my vet's office agreed -- there really isn't usually anyone there overnight, so there's no point in keeping the dog for safety reasons because it only serves to stress them out more, and they're not even being supervised.  I got to bring dweezil home that night.  Be careful though, about feeding, even if she decides to eat, because Dweezil threw everything up 3 hours later...  so...feed VERY LITTLE.

My Roxy went into heat two weeks before her scheduled spay.  My vet suggested to wait until her heat was over to spay her (during heat things are swelled up and its easier/safer to spay when not in heat).  It was a pain to go through the heat (had to get a new bedspread and watch her like a hawk in the yard) but we did it.