How young is too young to get a male dog neutered?

My youngest dog is 9 months and I have two vets arguing whether or not to neuter him, one wants to wait until he is 3years old and the other will do him in a week. I'm only asking but this is my first non-rescue dog and the RSPCA always neuters before they let you take the dog home.He's a whippet. I love my whippets.

Get him neutered next week. There's no reason to wait until he is 3 years old. If you wait until he's 3 he will likely develop testosterone driven behavoirs like marking.Some vets will neuter as young as 8 weeks if the pup is at least 2 pds.

i'm pretty sure anything under 6 months is too young.

3 years old? Wouldn't go to that vet again...he is 9 months old, just getting sexually mature he needs neutered now before his hormones kick in.

at least 6 months old

Neuter now. The vet that wants you wait three years views you as a money tree. Bet he works for a big practice (I use that term loosely) and gets you to have a doggie blood test every time you walk in, and then sends you out with anti-biotics when you leave. These charlatans should be struck off! Neuter now - or pay the vet huge amounts of money for the next few years!

I have always had any pups that come through here spayed & neutered at the age of 4 months. Never had a Vet tell me any different.

It depends on the breed. large and giant breed dogs should not be neutered until they are done growing, which is about 12-18 months old (or older in some breeds). Small and medium dogs can be neutered much earlier (5-6 months of age)

Its better to wait till a minimum of 18 months for a large breed dog and small breeds can be done at 6 months. Neutering shouldnt be done to help control the dog. Training is the only thing that can do that.

Generally Male dogs should normally be neutered from 6-9 months onwards. Leave it until about 9 months of age if you can since growth may slow down following the surgery, but by 9 months most dogs will have reached their adult size so this is not such an issue. If your male dog shows signs of behavioural problems developing, neutering earlier may help.

3 years old is way too old! You want to get him fixed before he is an adult. A dog is considered an adult at 2 I believe. We got our dogs fixed around 6-9 months I believe.

So the majority of people will say a male can be neutered at 6 months of age. That's fine, you can do that.However I disagree. I have read a number of reports and studies arguing the age of spaying/neutering a dog. It has been discovered, that neutering a dog before they are fully grown and developed, will affect them in the long run. Dogs neutered before they are fully grown, often become lanky and have weak bone structure. And if their hormones are not fully matured, this can lead to behavioural issues. I have recently made up the theory as to with my male mongrel became dog aggressive. My dog was neutered at 6 months of age, having been an RSPCA rescue dog. By about 3years, for no obvious reason, he became aggressive towards other dogs. I discovered the other day, that dogs with hormonal issues get a lot of attention from other dogs, who will show curiosity to their genital areas. My dog, will almost always have at least two dogs show interest in his genital areas while we are out. He instantly gets snappy and defencive when dogs 'sniff' his backside. To me, the dog aggression (which became quite severe- and I have now controlled and resolved) and the attention from other dogs, could all be linked to his hormone levels which could potentially be due to him being neutered before he was fully developed. Now this is a theory that I have thought up myself and I could be completely wrong, however it all makes sense.It is entirely up to you when you decided to have him neutered. However after extensive research I have done on early neutering, I would never have a dogs spayed/neutered at 6 months. I would wait until the dog was fully developed both in size and in hormones/mentally. Which is around 12-18 months of age.

Do it now. I have my males neutered at 4 months (or whenever they come home with me, whichever is sooner)...never had an issue of any sort. Vets in the UK may feel differently, but the American Veterinary Medical Association supports spay/neuter when the dog is at least 2 pounds and 2 months of age, provided there are no medical reasons not to proceed.

Its important to allow time for the dogs character to develop before neutering otherwise you could end up with a timid dog. Not less than six months but before the dog has the inclination to go looking for a mating opportunity.

Up to you when you have your dog castrated but bear in mind that sex hormones affect much more than the desire to mate. They affect bone development and structure - dogs done too early can be much taller and weedier than their entire counterparts, they also never make the muscle mass of an unaltered male. There is evidence that dogs castrated before maturity are more susceptible to some cancers, including bone cancer and more liable to have hip dysplasia. It can also seriously alter coat texture and both the quality and quantity of coat.Read this before you make up your mind:http://www.naiaonline.org/pdfs/LongTermHealthEffectsOfSpayNeuterInDogs.pdfUnlike spaying b1tches, there is very little benefit to the dog itself, true he won't get testicular cancer but that is rare in the dog and even more rarely fatal.Edit: Herbie is not wrong! A common "side-effect" of neutering is that male dogs take a more than usual interested in castrated dogs and this can often lead to fights.