After doing a lot of reading last night, and reviewing all of the posts on this thread, I've decided to 'evaluate' Kipawa at 10 months. Depending on disposition and proper bone growth (plates) I feel I can then better make a proper decision rather than listening to my vet, who like most vets, probably has just seen too many stray, unwanted dogs and because of that, jumps on the 'spay/neuter' bandwagon at 6 months.
Thanks to all for your comments. They were exactly what I was looking for. Such a great resource you all are. 
Many vets just say to all their clients spay/nueter by 6 months because of what they see but even more so because now it is what they are taught. When my vet office added a new, young vet, straight out of vet school, she did not even try to hide her disapproval of my ownership of intact animals and even worse breeding. Now, 4 years later, she is very different having worked with enough animals and clients to see that there is a difference between responsible owners and breeders and irresponsible ones. Even so, she is terribly under-educated about reproductive issues.
Otis was right over a year when he got neutered..now he did end up having aggression issues (resource guarding), those started around his 10 month mark, at the same time as we moved Moses in..I don't personally think he would have been different around us if he had gotten neutered sooner, he just did not mesh well with other strong dogs or young children for that matter..but it wasn't hormonal I don't think..he is thriving in his new childless only pet home now though..
My new vet for Pippin aand my other dogs, saw Pippin for the first time a week ago and once she saw his umbilical hernia..wanted to pretty much schedule a neutering session as soon as he hit 6 months…I was shocked..told her no way..he will be shown and umbilical hernias are quite common in the breed..she didn't know and took for granted that all dogs with hernias should be fixed as it is hereditary....hhhmmpf..just goes to show that even though we have vets..we should keep our head in the game and research on our own as well, don't automatically trust what the vet says, they don't know it all, especially not with more unusual breeds like ours..now a labrador I bet she would know inside and out..we are in "hunting TX" after all.
We got our first two basenjis in tx and had a good vet in copperas cove. I did get Keishas imbilical hernia fixed young and showed her too
The thing is, you need a vet that knows what they are doing to examine the umbilical hernia and make sure it is properly tied off. Sometimes they DO need immediate repair, other times can wait til you spay.
Pippin's hernia massages in, so I do this off and on…he is showing no pain or nothing...
Pippin's hernia massages in, so I do this off and on…he is showing no pain or nothing...
I did have one bitch, Mickii, that I had to have the hernia fixed, but it ruptured due to puppies from Maggii's litter trying to nurse off it….:eek:
She was 1 1/2 yrs old at the time... had it repaired, continued to show her, course her and she had a litter at 3yrs.
My Maggii, Fatia, Kristii and OJ (boy dog) all had hernia's of varying sizes and we never had a problem with any of them. When it came time to
spay/neuter they were fixed at that time and that was at varying ages too.
About Otis.... I would say that his problems started way sooner then 10 months and the arrival of Moses.... Just that many times they are such little changes that we totally miss the cues until it becomes a big problem.. and also breeding/temperament comes into play also.
Tanza, you are right about Otis' temperament and since his questionable breeding and upbringing is to a large part unknown to me….more than likely he was showing cues I didn't know about...good thing is he is better now.
Tanza, you are right about Otis' temperament and since his questionable breeding and upbringing is to a large part unknown to me….more than likely he was showing cues I didn't know about...good thing is he is better now.
For sure… and you did right by him... and made the best choice for him and a forever home!
I've come to this thread pretty late and all the advice has been given but I would like to say Fran that I think you've come to the right decison to wait a while until growth is complete.
There are many myths about neutering that are accepted even by vets. I've seen neutering at 6 months reccommended as routine.
