New Study Just Released By University Of California, Davis

[Christina]

I wonder how many of the dogs used in this study were bred from 2 parents that were actually tested for HD & whose genetic health was looked into before they were bred ?

If they were just BYB dogs then the study may be the same for many other breeds too.

If they all had exactly the same cancers affecting the same organs I would be convinced but many animals get cancer desexed & entire, it is becoming more common. I have lost 2 dogs to cancer in the past, neither were desexed. Different breeds too.

I think research needs to be much more thorough & studies involving several thousand dogs published not ones like this involving a very small percentage of the breed overall which may be inaccurate & are scaremongering.

[The Spotted Devil]

I wonder how many of the dogs used in this study were bred from 2 parents that were actually tested for HD & whose genetic health was looked into before they were bred ?

If they were just BYB dogs then the study may be the same for many other breeds too.

If they all had exactly the same cancers affecting the same organs I would be convinced but many animals get cancer desexed & entire, it is becoming more common. I have lost 2 dogs to cancer in the past, neither were desexed. Different breeds too.

I think research needs to be much more thorough & studies involving several thousand dogs published not ones like this involving a very small percentage of the breed overall which may be inaccurate & are scaremongering.

Agree that it is a real problem with these types of studies - association DOES NOT EQUAL causation. The spay-neuter link that is always posted drives me insane as well. Absolute cherry picking of abstracts to support an argument.

That said, I have 2 entire sports dogs - I can manage them and it suits me to do so. I would prefer to wait until sexual maturity before desexing but sometimes it's a case of weighing up the risks (eg rescue, breeds more likely to be exploited etc)

[BoxerB]

Thanks, good reading, as going through this decision myself now.

My breeder strongly recommends leaving it till at least 12 months which i have been leaning towards.