question for breeders re: spaying

I am asking for breeders opinions as I'm curious your answers in comparison to my breeders answer.
When should a female pup be spayed and why?
Should it be before their first heat or after?
We were going to get Isabelle fixed and someone told me to wait until after her first cycle. Was just wondering what is best.
Thanks!!!

Oh Boy-- this is a can of worms..
Depends-- If you are extremely busy and don't want to be bothered with a heat cycle-- spay her before her first heat <around 6 months>.
If you don't mind her having a cycle and want to wait until she is full size - spay her around a year +/- .
There are "costs" and risks to each. There are people who are very firmly entrenched in the earlier the better. And there are some that think the benefits of waiting are worth the increase in risks for --- say mammary tumors. Sandy

Daisy Boo has just finished her first heat. We had no problems with dogs or anything during the heat. The hard part was keeping her in and we felt really guilty about not walking her. I spoke to the vet though and she put my mind at ease because she is such a small dog and the back garden is sufficient exercise for her. However, you can imagine how delighted she was when we took her for her first walk in 3 weeks yesterday. She thought all her birthdays had come together :lol: We tried to bring Twinkle on the walk also (her first ever walk) but she was too scared and it ended up being a "carry" round the block!