This topic will always be one that is in question and will be challenged for many years to come. Through my years as a breeder, a dane rescue, working with
vets, and many dogs through out the country, here is how I see it. It is a great decision to make to improve the lifespan of your animal.
You never want to spay or neuter a Great Dane too early. You will not allow the body to get the proper growth hormones it needs to keep the Danes body in balance. On the same token, You don't want to wait too long, for the misshapen of an oops litter, or the pain of a heat cycle.
So when do you do it? For males its pretty easy, as soon as you see them start to lift their leg when pottying. This means they are now sexually mature. You can safely have them neutered with out causing irregular growth problems from neutering too early.
Females are a bit tricky. Your breeder should be able to tell you when their females come into heat. If they say their females come into heat around a year of age, you should spay them around ten months. Its rare for a Dane to come into heat before nine months. But, it can happen. If you wait, or miss the chance, you must wait three months after they go into heat. Otherwise you can run into the risk of having them bleed out in the surgery. To give you an idea of the differences in my females, mine don't typically go into their first heat cycle until they are anywhere from 12 to 15 months. Other owners' females come into as early as seven months. Factors that effect this are genetics and especially nutrition.
Now what I feel the most crucial aspect of having your animal altered is the type of anesthesia that is used. This can mean the difference of LIFE or DEATH with your pet. This excerpt is directly from the information we give to our puppy buyers. This is information any Dane owner MUST have.
Anesthesia:
I had to dedicate a special section on proper anesthesia for Great Danes because too many dogs have suffered from "routine practices" of anesthesia "cocktails." Great Danes are sensitive to anesthesia not only because they are giant breeds, but because they are a lean breed with little fat so their bodies cannot metabolize many kinds of anesthesia. If your dog ever has to be "put under" for any kind of procedure there is always a minimum of 2 types of anesthesia use. There is the "induction drug(s)" which is what actually knocks the dog out and the "maintenance drug" which is a gas that keeps them asleep. It is the induction drugs you have to worry about. Many vets combine several together to get their desired affect but these drugs range from paralytics to muscle relaxers and stay on board for a long period of time. Unfortunately, some dogs never wake up from sedation with a cocktail. So, I will not allow any of my dogs to be induced with any cocktail!!! The only acceptable induction drug is called Diprivan. Its brand name is often known as Propofol. It only knocks the dog out for a few minutes - long enough for the veterinarian to place an endotracheal tube down the dog's throat so the vet can put him on gas anesthesia (the maintenance drug). Therefore, when the dog is done and taken off the gas anesthesia, he should be able to stand up and walk out of the clinic within minutes! The best gas anesthesia is Sevothane and the next best is Isoflurane.
Be prepared to request this anesthesia protocol when you make the surgery appointment. It is also very important that you enforce this and reiterate this when you drop your dog off. I always stay with my dogs to make sure things are done the way I want but if you don't have that option, ask to at least see the bottle. I usually suggest that owners ask to be present just for induction to help keep the dog relaxed. I also like for the veterinarian to induce and intubate the dog on the surgery table or at least in the surgery room instead of a prep room so your great big heavy dog doesn't have to be moved around. There is less chance of him being dropped or his head slung around that way. It is very hard to move a Great Dane under anesthesia safely so usually you can be a help by holding your dog's head.
If your veterinarian recommends or insists on using a different anesthesia protocol - go to another vet for the procedure! You are paying the vet to do what you want. Be educated about it and don't let them make decisions for you! Some vets will willingly use Propofol but want to add some sort of pain medicine in conjunction. I don't recommend this. Less is better in my opinion. Propofol and Sevothane period!
You can read about this and more at the GDCA website under the anesthesia guidelines here at this link: Surgery Guidelines however there are drugs that they are okay with, that I personally am not. But, it is an excellent resource nonetheless.
You never want to spay or neuter a Great Dane too early. You will not allow the body to get the proper growth hormones it needs to keep the Danes body in balance. On the same token, You don't want to wait too long, for the misshapen of an oops litter, or the pain of a heat cycle.
So when do you do it? For males its pretty easy, as soon as you see them start to lift their leg when pottying. This means they are now sexually mature. You can safely have them neutered with out causing irregular growth problems from neutering too early.
Females are a bit tricky. Your breeder should be able to tell you when their females come into heat. If they say their females come into heat around a year of age, you should spay them around ten months. Its rare for a Dane to come into heat before nine months. But, it can happen. If you wait, or miss the chance, you must wait three months after they go into heat. Otherwise you can run into the risk of having them bleed out in the surgery. To give you an idea of the differences in my females, mine don't typically go into their first heat cycle until they are anywhere from 12 to 15 months. Other owners' females come into as early as seven months. Factors that effect this are genetics and especially nutrition.
Now what I feel the most crucial aspect of having your animal altered is the type of anesthesia that is used. This can mean the difference of LIFE or DEATH with your pet. This excerpt is directly from the information we give to our puppy buyers. This is information any Dane owner MUST have.
Anesthesia:
I had to dedicate a special section on proper anesthesia for Great Danes because too many dogs have suffered from "routine practices" of anesthesia "cocktails." Great Danes are sensitive to anesthesia not only because they are giant breeds, but because they are a lean breed with little fat so their bodies cannot metabolize many kinds of anesthesia. If your dog ever has to be "put under" for any kind of procedure there is always a minimum of 2 types of anesthesia use. There is the "induction drug(s)" which is what actually knocks the dog out and the "maintenance drug" which is a gas that keeps them asleep. It is the induction drugs you have to worry about. Many vets combine several together to get their desired affect but these drugs range from paralytics to muscle relaxers and stay on board for a long period of time. Unfortunately, some dogs never wake up from sedation with a cocktail. So, I will not allow any of my dogs to be induced with any cocktail!!! The only acceptable induction drug is called Diprivan. Its brand name is often known as Propofol. It only knocks the dog out for a few minutes - long enough for the veterinarian to place an endotracheal tube down the dog's throat so the vet can put him on gas anesthesia (the maintenance drug). Therefore, when the dog is done and taken off the gas anesthesia, he should be able to stand up and walk out of the clinic within minutes! The best gas anesthesia is Sevothane and the next best is Isoflurane.
Be prepared to request this anesthesia protocol when you make the surgery appointment. It is also very important that you enforce this and reiterate this when you drop your dog off. I always stay with my dogs to make sure things are done the way I want but if you don't have that option, ask to at least see the bottle. I usually suggest that owners ask to be present just for induction to help keep the dog relaxed. I also like for the veterinarian to induce and intubate the dog on the surgery table or at least in the surgery room instead of a prep room so your great big heavy dog doesn't have to be moved around. There is less chance of him being dropped or his head slung around that way. It is very hard to move a Great Dane under anesthesia safely so usually you can be a help by holding your dog's head.
If your veterinarian recommends or insists on using a different anesthesia protocol - go to another vet for the procedure! You are paying the vet to do what you want. Be educated about it and don't let them make decisions for you! Some vets will willingly use Propofol but want to add some sort of pain medicine in conjunction. I don't recommend this. Less is better in my opinion. Propofol and Sevothane period!
You can read about this and more at the GDCA website under the anesthesia guidelines here at this link: Surgery Guidelines however there are drugs that they are okay with, that I personally am not. But, it is an excellent resource nonetheless.
