Colors of GSD - Page 2

I might not be absolutely correct in this assumption! Please allow your girl adequet time to grow up before spaying her! give her time to allow her growth progress to supply her with all the traits of a female gsd before you remove her hormone make capabilities! Vets only want to do the proceedure at 6 months cause it is easier on them 'not the dog! As for her color ! it is a matter of preference and yes she can be akc registered!

If I were to alter a dog, it would not be before it was an adult, removing the sex organs effects the growth of the  long bones, results in underdevloped features and worst of all, substantially increases the risk of osteosarcoma.  I think this is a very good article that examines all aspects of spay/neuter and worth the read.

 http://www.naiaonline.org/pdfs/LongTermHealthEffectsOfSpayNeuterInDogs.pdf

"Osteosarcoma (Bone Cancer)
A multi-breed case-control study of the risk factors for osteosarcoma found that spay/neutered dogs (males
or females) had twice the risk of developing osteosarcoma as did intact dogs13.
This risk was further studied in Rottweilers, a breed with a relatively high risk of osteosarcoma. This
retrospective cohort study broke the risk down by age at spay/neuter, and found that the elevated risk of osteosarcoma is associated with spay/neuter of young dogs.. Rottweilers spayed/neutered before one
year of age were 3.8 (males) or 3.1 (females) times more likely to develop osteosarcoma than intact dogs.
Indeed, the combination of breed risk and early spay/neuter meant that Rottweilers spayed/neutered before
one year of age had a 28.4% (males) and 25.1% (females) risk of developing osteosarcoma. These results
are consistent with the earlier multi-breed study13 but have an advantage of assessing risk as a function of
age at neuter. A logical conclusion derived from combining the findings of these two studies is that
spay/neuter of dogs before 1 year of age is associated with a significantly increased risk of osteosarcoma.
The researchers suggest a cause-and-effect relationship, as sex hormones are known to influence the
maintenance of skeletal structure and mass, and also because their findings showed an inverse relationship
between time of exposure to sex hormones and risk of osteosarcoma.14
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The risk of osteosarcoma increases with increasing breed size and especially height13. It is a common
cause of death in medium/large, large, and giant breeds.Osteosarcoma is the third most common cause of death in Golden Retrievers and is even more common in larger breeds.  Given the poor prognosis  of osteosarcoma and its frequency in many breeds, spay/neuter of immature dogs in the medium/large, large and giant breeds is apparently associated with a significant and elevated risk of death due to osteosarcoma."

Thank you for the infomation on spay/neuter. My husband will be very happy with that article as he doesn't want her spay until she is full grown anyway. I had listened to my vet who didn't tell me any of the downsides of spaying early. I definitely don't want puppies so I will just have to be vigilant and make sure she is supervised during her heats. I am going to wait until she is over one to have the procedure completed and then only after my vet and I have a chance to review the article together.

Thanks again

Peachpie - I think it is Outrageous that someone told you that you shouldn't take your dog out because it was a poor specimen of the breed (because of the color). 

SusanandtheK9's - Your response to Peachpie with this statement was just as Outrageous!  --  "This is simply a form of racism, which appeals to simple-minded people."


Geez, for a second I thought that Al Sharpton was posting on the Forum.

Peachpie, ¶Sueincc is correct--there is NO reason for your puppie to be unregistrable, due to color. Is the issue that the breeder does not WANT to register the puppy? If so, that is a different issue. ¶Your puppy can be trained, trialed and titled in schutzhund. Frankly, if she has the aptitude for the work and YOU are willing to put in the time and effort, you will be welcome at 99% of the schutzhund clubs in the US. Personally, l'd love to see your girl on the trial field. One of the most impressive and beautiful gsds I have ever seen was a solid liver gsd bitch whose color was like an Irish Setter's. She was also the first schutzhund dog with whom I ever had any personal contact. :-) ¶ Do go and check out the sch clubs in your area to find one that "fits" you best. Where are you located?

Mystere,
Thank you for the encouragement. I'm located in Tenino, WA. I know of two schH clubs in the area and will be seeing if they have room. I'm grateful for this message board, I did get this dog in a round about way from a breeder. She was given to someone who couldn't have her and I was in the right place at the right time, at least for getting the dog. I definitely have no intention of breeding her because of the color issue.