size of litter

[thunderduck]

hi all, i'm new to this forum but have been reading all the post during the last week.
a little background with me, i've previously owned two rotti's that have since passed through old age and one of them through health complications at the age of 10.
i currently own an american bulldog that is 6 years old and a 6 month old puppy rottweiler.
i have a question about the size of the litter.
does the order of when the pup comes out affect its size? i.e. the first part of the litter gets all the good qualities of the parents and the latter not so much?
i ask this because my boy at 6 months is very healthy and a good size in weight and height. the only problem that i foresee is the size of his head. it doesn't seem to be growing at the same rate at his body. at 6 months old almost to the day he is weighing in around 75 lbs.
both his parents had decent sized heads, when i asked the breeder about this she told me that the head is usually the last part to catch up or grow.
don't get me wrong i'm not owning the dog so he can look big and mean, he is strictly a companion but i'm just curious.
tks in advance.

[Kandi]

It has been my experience that the head will eventually catch up so to speak. One of my girls had a beautiful, well balanced, "big" head from the very beginning. The other one's head seemed a lot smaller, and I guess it was to a certain extent. Now, when I had a picture taken of them side by side, my younger girls head is every bit as big as the older girls. Actually, as time has gone by, even since the picture, I can seen that her head will probably be bigger than the first girls. And, as she grows, I can also see that she is more accurate to the standard for the breed than my first. My first is clearly an AKC product, where as the second is the product of USRC, her import daddy is showing through.
My one friends male's head did not really start to develop until he was about a year old, then you could really see it "pop" so to speak.
So, in my opinion, you have plenty of time for the head to develop as it should. Although, I am sure there are others who would know more than I do and can possibly put your heart to rest on this one. I can only tell you what I see with my two, and my youngest just turned a year in February. I can't imagine you have anything to worry about in that department, but like I said, I am no expert.

[Terri Lambert]

The head does seem to be the last to come in on most of the rotties that I have known or owned. Also his head will be bigger if he is left intact (not neutered) until he is older as testesterone has a lot to do with the size of the head also.

[thunderduck]

that was another thing i was wondering about, what is a good age to get him neutured?

[JoJo]

until he is older as testesterone has a lot to do with the size of the head also.

I would think that genetics would play more into it then how much testosterone a dog has. But then I could be totally wrong.

[Nelsonm64]

Originally Posted by Terri Lambert

The head does seem to be the last to come in on most of the rotties that I have known or owned. Also his head will be bigger if he is left intact (not neutered) until he is older as testesterone has a lot to do with the size of the head also.

i would also like to know at what age is optimal to have my male nutered? my pups head isnt growing as fast as his body either.

i was planning on getting him fixed @ 6 months.

[Terri Lambert]

I actually work for a vet and see many breeds neutered young before one year of age, and many of them don't get the head that they would have if they were not neutered until older. I have seen litter mates that have been neutered and not the one that is not neutered looks more male than the one that had been neutered.

[hittinndquitin]

I was plannin on gettin my female fixed next month at 8 months will this effect her growth in anyway in your experiences?

[Terri Lambert]

I have not really seen much difference in bitches that are spayed young but definetly males.

[Kandi]

One of the newsletters from the American Rottweiler Club had an article in pertaining to this very thing. Mostly it stated that spaying and neutering dogs at a younger age can help bring on the offset of health problems, as well as prevent them from reaching their full potential size wise. As a result of reading that article, I will never again spay or neuter a dog before 2 years of age, when they are done growing for the most part. It also pointed out about the bone density and other things that can be affected by an early spay/neuter. I assume you can go to their website and find that article or order the newsletter pertaining to it. As a member, it is sent to me. If I need to go look up the date on it, I will, but I assume it can be found on their site.
My older girl was spayed at 9 months, her head is fine, but seeing her beside my other one helps make me think her head could have been even nicer than it already is. Knowing now what I did not know then, I would have waited, even if it meant forfeiting my breeders refund on her, because of an other issue altogether.
As I said before, all of my none show dogs will be desexed after 2 years of age, from now on. JMO

[thunderduck]

so suggestions are at one year of age? i've previously heard that males should be neutured at 6 months but i may be mistaken that what it actually meant was probably that was the earliest that they could be neutered?

[casenh]

What is your suggustion for getting the males fixed then? Anytime after 1yr, or is that still to young.

[brunie's mom]

Any time after 12 months of age for a male. Most males are done with their growth by this age...they just fill in after that.
If you leave the neutering till 2 years of age...some bad habits caused by the testosterone may be instilled...such as marking, same sex dog aggression, and humping. The trick is to have them neutered when they have reached most of their full growth, and sexual maturity (usually they are lifting their leg to pee by then)....but not leave it too late...because intact males can be pushy and bossy with other dogs. It depends on the rate of maturity.

Most breeders will have it in their contract when they want their puppies to be spayed/neutered.

I would NOT have a dog neutered at 6 months of age....they need those hormones to grow and mature.

Gina

[JoJo]

some bad habits caused by the testosterone may be instilled...such as marking, same sex dog aggression, and humping

Gina this is true to an extent, but basically what that statement is all about is pure and simple bad habits the the owner allowed to happen. In other words, it's behavioral and lack of training, not the fault of the testosterone itself.

[Nelsonm64]

Originally Posted by brunie's mom

Any time after 12 months of age for a male. Most males are done with their growth by this age...they just fill in after that.
If you leave the neutering till 2 years of age...some bad habits caused by the testosterone may be instilled...such as marking, same sex dog aggression, and humping. The trick is to have them neutered when they have reached most of their full growth, and sexual maturity (usually they are lifting their leg to pee by then)....but not leave it too late...because intact males can be pushy and bossy with other dogs. It depends on the rate of maturity.

Most breeders will have it in their contract when they want their puppies to be spayed/neutered.

I would NOT have a dog neutered at 6 months of age....they need those hormones to grow and mature.

Gina

thank you very much! one year it is then :)