# How young can a puppy get pregnant?



## kara_leigh (Jul 28, 2010)

We have a male and a female litter mate pups. How young can the female get pregnant? I want to get them spayed and neutered as soon as possible to avoid the chance of her possibly getting pregnant by her brother. They will be 11 weeks old tomorrow. What's the soonest I can get them fixed? I do NOT want puppies, especially from siblings. I've never had this specific worry before, b/c we've never had two puppies at once before. Thanks!!


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## PNP Katahdins (Oct 28, 2008)

Ask your vet. Seriously. It depends on the breed a lot, smaller dogs tend to mature earlier than larger ones.

You are very wise to be thinking about this ahead of time. Enjoy your pups! I have raised male and female pups together and not had problems, but "oops" happens. Have both of them neutered, not just the female, if you can.

Peg


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## mekasmom (Jan 19, 2010)

kara_leigh said:


> We have a male and a female litter mate pups. How young can the female get pregnant? I want to get them spayed and neutered as soon as possible to avoid the chance of her possibly getting pregnant by her brother. They will be 11 weeks old tomorrow. What's the soonest I can get them fixed? I do NOT want puppies, especially from siblings. I've never had this specific worry before, b/c we've never had two puppies at once before. Thanks!!


The small breeds can get pregnant as young as five months. Larger breeds are a little bit older, maybe 8mo before the first cycle. It's not as common for either large or small to come into season that early, but it is very possible.


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## kara_leigh (Jul 28, 2010)

They are Australian Shepherd mixes. Not sure what breed daddy was. Mom was pure bred Aussie. 

They go in for their last set of shots on May 13th, so I'll ask her then.


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## mekasmom (Jan 19, 2010)

Most dogs come into heat around 9mo, but it is possible they can come to season earlier. Small breeds are especially prone to this. As long as you don't have an older intact female around that throws her into season early, chances are it will be at least 8mo or later, but anything is possible.


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## Wolf Flower (Dec 21, 2005)

Some vets will spay/neuter as early as 3 months. If I were in your situation I'd probably do it at 5 months just to be safe. Females can come into heat as early as 6 months.


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## Maura (Jun 6, 2004)

Do NOT spay before 16 weeks as this may cause problems later.


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## mekasmom (Jan 19, 2010)

Maura said:


> Do NOT spay before 16 weeks as this may cause problems later.


I agree, and prefer to wait even longer. Spay incontinence is common. And in large boned dogs, waiting is always a good idea to spare them orthopedic problems later.


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## kara_leigh (Jul 28, 2010)

I was planning to wait until she was 6 months old, but if I need to I will do it sooner. Do you think that sounds okay? My MIL used to breed/own St Bernards and Great Pyrenees, and that is what she suggested. I haven't brought it up with my vet yet. I'm definitely getting the boy neutered also, but I'm mostly worried about her b/c of the damage the puppies could have and the damage it could do to her to have puppies so young. I'm not as worried about him b/c he is never let out of our sight EVER, so he could never get another dog pregnant. 

Does she have to go into heat first to get pregnant? This may sound stupid, but what are the signs of a heat? I've never had a female dog before, we've only ever had males (always neutered, but still didn't want to deal with oops puppies).


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## rabbitpatch (Jan 14, 2008)

If you want to wait until the female is 6 months, why not neuter the male first? Make sure the female is never out of your sight and always on a leash whenever there is even the slightest chance she may come in contact with an intact male (always assume all strange dogs are intact males to be safe).


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## farmergirl (Aug 2, 2005)

Had our Great Pyrenees pups neutered and spayed at just under 4 mos old. 
Our farm vet has alot of experience with spay and neuter at a small animal clinic and he recommended doing it early since the dogs were already 30 pounds. Said it's much easier, less blood, etc to alter a 30 pound dog than a 60 pound dog, and since they were siblings we didn't want to risk an accidental breeding.
With the extreme heat we get here in Texas, it was either spay them early or wait until after summer and spay them when they would be 9 or 10 months old.

They recovered from the surgery very quickly and have healed much faster than older dogs we've had spayed.


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## kara_leigh (Jul 28, 2010)

> If you want to wait until the female is 6 months, why not neuter the male first? Make sure the female is never out of your sight and always on a leash whenever there is even the slightest chance she may come in contact with an intact male (always assume all strange dogs are intact males to be safe).


B/c male dogs can still retain some sperm for a short while after a neuter, and they sleep in the same crate. I can't afford (nor would it really be reasonable) to buy a second crate just for that time period.


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