When Should I Get Her Spayed?

she can bve spayed anytime you want it done and it will make no difference in her personality...Howeveer if you want her to have pups, before you do that make sure you have homes for these pups...can be any number  of pups between two and twelve.Be sure you have homes because there are literally millions of unwanted pups born each year..unless you have guarantees, spaying is your and your dogs best option...

REALLY do your research before you decide to have a litter of puppies. Its very expensive and a lot of hard work to have puppies. Do you really want your puppies going to the kind of homes that aren't willing to pay for a puppy (dogs are inherently expensive, more than just the initial purchase price) or who aren't willing to wait for an appropriate dog to come through the shelter?

Are you willing to put your dog at increased risk for things like mammary cancer just to have a litter of puppies? Are you prepared to pay over 1000 dollars for surgery if something goes wrong?

The best time to spay a dog is before or shortly after their first heat. Before the first heat greatly reduces the chances of getting mammary cancer, which is very common in dogs. There are a couple of articles out that say spaying after the first heat is best for overall long-term preventative health...

ORIGINAL: Misskiwi67

REALLY do your research before you decide to have a litter of puppies. Its very expensive and a lot of hard work to have puppies. Do you really want your puppies going to the kind of homes that aren't willing to pay for a puppy (dogs are inherently expensive, more than just the initial purchase price) or who aren't willing to wait for an appropriate dog to come through the shelter?

Are you willing to put your dog at increased risk for things like mammary cancer just to have a litter of puppies? Are you prepared to pay over 1000 dollars for surgery if something goes wrong?

The best time to spay a dog is before or shortly after their first heat. Before the first heat greatly reduces the chances of getting mammary cancer, which is very common in dogs. There are a couple of articles out that say spaying after the first heat is best for overall long-term preventative health...

Thank you for your responses.  Those are very good things to think about.  Well, the puppies would be going to people like me and there are constantly dozens of families looking for one (a small dog).  I couldn't afford to pay $350 for a small dog either.  And after looking for three years I finally got lucky enough to find Tasha and adopted her from a private party for $100.  And I know that I will take care of her so I think others who can pay that much would also be able to care for a puppy.  I would not give them away free.  I would be willing to pay any amount of money to keep her healthy.  If you are wondering why I would be able to spend $350 plus to keep her healthy but couldnt afford that amount up front to pay for he, well, it's just different after you already have and love the animal. 

Regardless if there are "dozens of families" out there looking for pups, a good breeder is going to screen those families, to make certain that they are going to go to forever homes...and not end up in shelters b/c said families didn't realize the work that goes into raising a pup, or that said dogs actually grow up (seen so many who get rid of their dogs right around adolescence)...

Isn't your dog a mix?

Pug Shihzu (sp, late). I'm sure your dog is a very nice pet but at six months old it will be a year and a half before you know whether she's healthy enough to have puppies. You have no standard by which to measure her quality as she is a mix. Essentially breeding her will be an entirely self-serving act, which potentially would endanger her life and the life of her pups (pugs do NOT breed naturally very well), plus you'll end up with a litter of pug/zhu/whatevers. What WOULD you breed to, oh I know, a POODLE, for yet another of the wonderful "Poos" that the market is FLOODED with right now.

It is in NO WAY true that small dogs are hard to find, expensive, and somehow responsible breeders are ripping people off so that you need to be a hero and provide cheap backyard bred mixed breeds to a longing and breathlessly awaiting public. Have you looked in the "American Classifieds", "Thrifty Nickle", or even your local paper classifieds lately? Mine were simply filled with "poos" and "PugXs" which they can't even GIVE away.

In a few weeks the shelters will be filled with all the Christmas pups that people couldn't sell, or bought and couldn't deal with - check then if you think small breeds are rare in the shelters.[] I'm helping a friend who had a Christmas pup dumped on her after exactly 24 hours with the new owner. Six weeks old and the poor pup already has known three homes and will go to a fourth soon. That is a purebred Chinese Crested with papers. Free to good home after less than a day as a Christmas gift. Do you really want to add to this madness?

You are deceiving yourself to justify what YOU want to do, which is have cutesy wootsy little puppies in a few months, and maybe make a buck or several hundred.

cheap backyard bred mixed breeds

LMBO!!! THAT is the best joke I've heard this week!!!

FWIW, my purebred, poorly thought out dogs have cost me THOUSANDS in vet bills, private training, and special food. Nevermind the hundreds of hours I've spent agonizing over what to do. Poorly bred dogs are NOT cheap, and a bitch with no known history is a poorly bred dog. My next dog will probably cost me $2000-5000, up front (that's about what the breed runs, for a show puppy co ownership), and will probably end up costing me far less than ONE of my current pair costs for upkeep, even though he'll over double their weights combined. A well bred, healthy, sound puppy is WORTH the money.

If the OP would like to PM me, I'd be glad to share details of what has gone wrong with my lovely, typey Dachshund and my beautiful JRT who was born in the shelter, because of their breeding. I can tell her about the years of hell my Dachshund lived through, because of a poorly chosen home (and Teenie looks like she could have come from show lines....she's a beautiful Dachshund), and the horrible congenital issues that my JRT lives with, because of lack of genetic testing and knowledge of breeding.

Here are some questions you should think about before breeding...no looking them up!  You have to know these by heart before you ever consider breeding!
Do you know what Brucellosis is?
How about OFA, BAER, CERF?
Do you know the exact number of days of a dogs gestation?
What about the nutrition aspects?
When should you start increasing food?
Also, by breeding and selling the pups cheaply, you are taking away potential homes for dogs already in shelters waiting to either go home or go to that room where they never come back.  Are you willing to send 4-10 of those poor dogs to that room?  That room where the dogs watch them go and never return?  By bringing more mixed breeds into the world so that people can afford a cute small dog, that is exactly what you are doing.  Another thing to consider...you don't know the parents of your dog, they may have been plagued with genetic problems that may not be apparent in your dog, but bred to a dog with the same recessive genes, they can really be awful for the dog and very expensive to fix.  These are all things to consider before you ever breed a dog.   

deleted:  posted in wrong thread

ORIGINAL: jennie_c_d

Isn't your dog a mix?

 
Yes.  I don't see anything wrong with mixed dogs.

ORIGINAL: brookcove

Pug Shihzu (sp, late). I'm sure your dog is a very nice pet but at six months old it will be a year and a half before you know whether she's healthy enough to have puppies. You have no standard by which to measure her quality as she is a mix. Essentially breeding her will be an entirely self-serving act, which potentially would endanger her life and the life of her pups (pugs do NOT breed naturally very well), plus you'll end up with a litter of pug/zhu/whatevers. What WOULD you breed to, oh I know, a POODLE, for yet another of the wonderful "Poos" that the market is FLOODED with right now.

It is in NO WAY true that small dogs are hard to find, expensive, and somehow responsible breeders are ripping people off so that you need to be a hero and provide cheap backyard bred mixed breeds to a longing and breathlessly awaiting public. Have you looked in the "American Classifieds", "Thrifty Nickle", or even your local paper classifieds lately? Mine were simply filled with "poos" and "PugXs" which they can't even GIVE away.

In a few weeks the shelters will be filled with all the Christmas pups that people couldn't sell, or bought and couldn't deal with - check then if you think small breeds are rare in the shelters.[] I'm helping a friend who had a Christmas pup dumped on her after exactly 24 hours with the new owner. Six weeks old and the poor pup already has known three homes and will go to a fourth soon. That is a purebred Chinese Crested with papers. Free to good home after less than a day as a Christmas gift. Do you really want to add to this madness?

You are deceiving yourself to justify what YOU want to do, which is have cutesy wootsy little puppies in a few months, and maybe make a buck or several hundred.

 
I don't believe there is anything wrong with mixed breed dogs.
 
I would be breeding her with a Pomeranian.
 
Although I would still be prepared for it, she would not likely have the birthing difficulties that purebred ugs have due to their large heads being too big to fit through the birth canal. 
 
It is very true that small dogs are hard to find.  Maybe it is not that way where you live but it definately is here.  I searched every rescue, petfinder, shelter, newspaper, little nickle, freecycle, etc.  And yes it still took me three years to find a little dog that i could afford, so yes I do believe I would be helping others out who I think deserve to have a dog too even though they don't have excessive amounts of money.  The ONE small free dog I did find was a little chihuahua that had been abused and neglected and was so fearful I couldn't get near her.  I have small kids so that just would not work.  I visit my local humane society on a regular basis throughout the year and even right after christmas there are no little dogs.
 
I am not deceiving myself to justify what I want to do.  I know the problem with have with unwanted dogs in shelters.  I am not aspiring to become a puppy mill.  I do know for a fact that if I were to let Tasha have one litter that all the puppies would go to good responsible homes.

ORIGINAL: ColleenC

Here are some questions you should think about before breeding...no looking them up!  You have to know these by heart before you ever consider breeding!
Do you know what Brucellosis is?
How about OFA, BAER, CERF?
Do you know the exact number of days of a dogs gestation?
What about the nutrition aspects?
When should you start increasing food?
Also, by breeding and selling the pups cheaply, you are taking away potential homes for dogs already in shelters waiting to either go home or go to that room where they never come back.  Are you willing to send 4-10 of those poor dogs to that room?  That room where the dogs watch them go and never return?  By bringing more mixed breeds into the world so that people can afford a cute small dog, that is exactly what you are doing.  Another thing to consider...you don't know the parents of your dog, they may have been plagued with genetic problems that may not be apparent in your dog, but bred to a dog with the same recessive genes, they can really be awful for the dog and very expensive to fix.  These are all things to consider before you ever breed a dog.   

Thank you Colleen.  I would not be taking away any homes for other dogs who are in shelters.  As I have already stated there are many people who cannot have larger dogs because of where they live and their lifestyles, and there are no small dogs ever in the shelter here.  Whenever I do see one which is so extremely rare, it has a sign on it that says it is already adopted.
No, I do not know the answers to the things you mentioned but I disagree that I have to know all of that right this second.  I do think it is perfectly fine for me to find out things.

ORIGINAL: Misskiwi67

REALLY do your research before you decide to have a litter of puppies. Its very expensive and a lot of hard work to have puppies. Do you really want your puppies going to the kind of homes that aren't willing to pay for a puppy (dogs are inherently expensive, more than just the initial purchase price) or who aren't willing to wait for an appropriate dog to come through the shelter?

Are you willing to put your dog at increased risk for things like mammary cancer just to have a litter of puppies? Are you prepared to pay over 1000 dollars for surgery if something goes wrong?

The best time to spay a dog is before or shortly after their first heat. Before the first heat greatly reduces the chances of getting mammary cancer, which is very common in dogs. There are a couple of articles out that say spaying after the first heat is best for overall long-term preventative health...

 
I have decided to go ahead and get Tasha spayed as soon as possible.  Misskiwi, could you possbily provide me with links to information that states it is better for the dogs overall health to wait and get her spayed after the first heat?  I am still unsure if I should get her spayed now or after the first heat.  Thank you everyone for your responses

ORIGINAL: brookcove
You are deceiving yourself to justify what YOU want to do, which is have cutesy wootsy little puppies in a few months, and maybe make a buck or several hundred.

Hmm, well after all the health exams and initial vaccines and dewormings, etc, I really doubt I would wind up making any profit by selling the puppies for $100.00 each.  I would probably spend more on them than that.