Age to Neuter a GSD - Page 2

Has anyone here owned a GSD with bone cancer, peri-anal fistulas, hemangiosarcoma or another of the health issues Zink talks about? If so, was the dog neutered young? Also, does anyone think a pet owner cares if their dog grows taller or if their male doesn't develop a masculine head as long as it causes no health problems?

Stastistics are manipulated all the time; I'd much rather hear from people who have had actual experince with any health issues they think may have been caused by early neutering than take internet articles as being 100% accurate.  A quick google search turned up 3 or 4 sites with articles supporting early neutering. Who is right? If we can't actually see the results of these studies and know which breeds are involved, if any close relatives also suffered from the same conditions, environmental influences and tons of other factors, then the results may be skewed. I know of one IWH breeder who lost dog afer dog to osteosarcoma, neutered or not, all were related. A friend got out of that breed because 3 out of 3 died from osteosarcoma. One was neutered, the other 2 intact.

Is anyone aware of any surveys asking for input from dog owners or from vets? I think back to the time when I first got interested in dogs and then worked as a tech. We usually neutered dogs early and I honest cannot recall any of them having any problems that could have been attributed to that surgery. I remember one intact 10 year old male GSD with hemangiosarcoma. To be fair the incidence of cancers were much less than today. Might be due to better diagnostic techniques, but most cancers become very evident if not treated.  Most times it's a no brainer with or without biopsies, etc..  It's a puzzle to me and I don't want to see dogs suffer because stats are being manipulated to defend someone's political agenda like those opposing PETA. I'm not talking about anyone here BTW.

Thank you for all the responses - they have been quite illuminating.

First, let me clarify that my GSD is a male - I assumed that the use of the term "neuter" as opposed to "spay" would indicate this but apparently the former term is used interchangeably.

My dog is a family pet and has been wonderful in terms of its ability to learn and overall intelligence. He is now 16 months old and I was wanting to neuter him in a couple of months when he would be 18 months mainly because we are going to be out of the country for three months commencing in November. During this period he would be housed with my daughter who already has a female GSD that has not been spayed. It would make life easier for them not to have to worry about our dog when hers is in heat.