At what age should I neuter my GSD? He is 4 months now and I got a letter from the vet saying it was time to neuter him.

Do YOU want to nueter your GSD? If not then don't do it.
If you want to just have your dog as a pet then I guess you can. IMO I wouldn't nueter a purebred male, unless you don't have a way to keep him safe from females like a fence or a leash that your handiling. Anyways make sure both testicles are descended bfore you nueter, I think they don't nueter unless they are anyways.

I don't alster my dogs, but from everything I've been reading, I think you should wait until the dog is fully matured so, somewhere between 2 to 3. I'm going to state the obvious here & remind you once it's done you can't put them back! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" />

Depends on what you have him for, pet sport PP SAR Etc. evan if just for pet I would let him mature more and maybe do so when he shows first signs of any agression

Matthew, depending on what you are planning to do with your dog, neutering between 4-6 months old is just fine for about 99% of dog owners (meaning owners that don't have their dogs for Schutzhund, personal protection, etc) who have a companion animal. The vast majority of people who get it into their heads that they somehow want puppies should have no business breeding themselves let alone their dog. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> All three of my dogs are neutered, including the 16 month old Malinois who started Schutzhund about a month ago. But then again, I am doing it as a fun hobby for him and me and I don't *need* to have him be a Sch III going to the national championships or anything, so no big deal. My instructors have been pleased with his prey drive so far (big improvement over last weekend in chasing the tug), so I certainly don't regret that he came to me neutered. The best of all worlds if you really want him intact for protection sports or something and if you wish to be certain he doesn't accidently breed, you could discuss with your vet getting him a vasectomy soon and then waiting until he's 2-3 years old to castrate him. I'm finishing up my graduate work in biology and we ovariectomy and castrate mice all the time. Doing a vasectomy is a piece of cake surgery, even on a much much smaller animal.

Matt is the pup that had all the problems earlier? If so I think I would wait on the neuter. JMHO I don't neuter until after 2 years of age. Growth homones are important! Unless there's an agression problem.Like I said,JMHO

Here are a couple of articles Ed wrote on the subject that answer your question.

http://www.leerburg.com/breedqa.htm#spay

http://www.leerburg.com/neuter.htm

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Matt is the pup that had all the problems earlier? If so I think I would wait on the neuter. JMHO I don't neuter until after 2 years of age. Growth homones are important! Unless there's an agression problem.Like I said,JMHO

Good points.

It's good that this thread hasn't fallen the way so many neutering threads do -- citing reason against *early* neutering (for pets, I mean) as an argument for never neutering. They are two different discussions, IMHO.

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.....I'm finishing up my graduate work in biology and we ovariectomy and castrate mice all the time. Doing a vasectomy is a piece of cake surgery, even on a much much smaller animal.

In fact, I think I've read that the first vasectomy was on a dog.

I can believe it, Connie. It does kind of bug me when some vets don't want to do earlier spay or neuters on small dogs (like in a shelter or rescue situation) because of the size. I can ovex a 1 inch long female mouse pup the day before it is supposed to be born, so I don't want to hear it about the Yorkie being too small. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" /> A Yorkie pup would be about the size of a very large rat (though I prefer the company of the latter), so that would be like gigantic to me! I can inject the anesthesia, shave and prep, do the surgery, and clip them back up for an adult female ovariectomy in 7 minutes or less, so a vasectomy is small potatoes.