Our 1999 litter presented us with a surprise mix of two fawns, one brindle and four dudley puppies, three of which were cinnamon brindles. As striking as they were, all four were necessarily pets and had to be spayed or neutered. "Pet" within this context is a term of art - breeder-speak -  meaning a dog that does not meet the standards of the breed. In this instance, dudley is a cosmetic flaw that prevents the dogs from having standard bullmastiff coloration. 

In the past, we would have placed all with a must-sterilize contract, and withheld registration papers until this was done. This method was a product of what passed for common practice among breeders and veterinarians; after all, one needed to wait until at least six months before spaying a bitch.

But this time around, at the advice of our veterinary hospital, we considered and eventually spayed and neutered these puppies at seven weeks of age. For the vets, this is not a problem; bullmastiffs at seven weeks are as big as most cats and many adult dogs.

There are several compelling reasons for early sterilization. 

• There are no substantiated side effects. (The folklore about stunted growth is just that: folklore.)
• The operations are as safe as those performed after sexual maturity. 
• Recovery is faster because the incisions are much smaller.
• Behavior and personality changes are probably lessened because the dogs are sterilized before they reach sexual maturity.
• Contracts are simplified.
• The cost of the surgery was borne by us, facilitating these puppies' placement. (Additionally, the absolute cost is less.)
• Sterilization is guaranteed.

In our experience, the males fully healed in four days, the females took about two weeks. The females take longer because the incision is roughly 3 1/2 inches in length.  They also take a day longer than the males do to come out of the depressed activity after anesthesia.  The males showed no depression from four hours after surgery.

Interestingly, all stitches were internal.  A surgical 'super glue' was used to close the wounds to eliminate the possibility of chewing on external stitches. The puppies didn't notice the wounds on themselves or others. Once the anesthetic wore off, there was no effect on the dynamics of the litter.