To spay or not to spay?

[Roffey]

What is everyones thoughts on spaying a hunting dog? I have no intention on breeding her myself.
Just interested on a few thoughts. Theres pros and cons either way I just need to decide what works for me.
Thanks in advance
Roffey

[Vonzeppelinkennels]

Since you know there are pros & cons the only thing I will add is to wait until the dog is fully mature physically & mentally.I know there will be a few that say hogwash but listen to the ones that have had it done early with
not so good results then decide.I'm not one of those because I see no reason to do it & never will but know others who have & seen the immaturity with my own eyes.

[rinker]

This isn't rocket surgery. When your female shows blood, keep her up for three weeks. If you can't do that, or won't do that, or just don't want to deal with that, then spay her.

[Sharon]

This should give you lots of info.

viewtopic.php?f=69&t=45065

[CDN_Cocker]

If you do not want to breed her I say let her fully mature then spay her. Much easier than dealing with that mess.

[Sharon]

We all see things differently I guess.

[RoostersMom]

I would spay the dog - totally eliminates the chance of pyometra and severely lowers the chance of mammary cancers. I would wait until the dog is mature and then spay her. We have 10 dogs now - neutered and spayed except for the new Pointer puppy. Doesn't hurt their drive or their interest in birds, plus you can hunt the dog with any other dogs, anytime and not worry about her being in heat. Seems like they always come into heat at the worst times (right before a trip to South Dakota, or right before the hunt test you're entered in, etc.).

[RayGubernat]

I see no reason to spay a female that is kept outside, except for the inconvenience of the dog coming in heat during a hunting season. I certainloy see no reason to rush the decision because any potential health benefits(elimination of Pyometra and mammary cancers) are well into the future.

However, for the one dog hunter, a heat during hunting season can indeed be a big deal.
Even without the presence of male dogs and the possibility of an unintended mating, a female in heat can often be less effective in the field due to the masses of hormones flowing which can interfere with normal behavior. It happens.

For a female kept indoors, there is the mess waiting to happen every six months for several weeks each time. That can be a real PIA I guess. That is part of the reason my dogs are all outside.

RayG

[DougB]

Ask 100 people, get 150 opinions. You can google the research and get enough data to really confuse you. For every advantage, there may be a related disadvantage.
I didn't want pups- too much work- so I had my ESS spayed before her first cycle. Now, after 13 years of hunting over her, I wish I had had one litter from her and kept a pup.
YMMV.

[Roffey]

Thanks for the link sharon lots of good info. I think im less decisive now then ever. lol

[SD Pheasant Slayer]

I certainloy see no reason to rush the decision because any potential health benefits(elimination of Pyometra and mammary cancers) are well into the future.

I would spay the dog - totally eliminates the chance of pyometra and severely lowers the chance of mammary cancers. I would wait until the dog is mature and then spay her.

Ray and RoostersMom are both correct in that the principle health benefits to spaying a dog are the decreased incidence of mammary tumors and elimination of pyometra risks. But I think it should be clarified that in order to decrease the likelihood of mammary cancers, the dog needs to be spayed BEFORE she reaches maturity. Once she's gone through a second heat cycle, there is no longer any benefit to spaying her in terms of decreasing mammary tumors. Once she's gone through two heat cycles she's got approximately 1 in 4 chance of developing a mammary tumor. That number doesn't change with spaying her at any point after that second heat. Have it done before her first heat and it's less than 1%. I just wanted to clear that up. There are lot of sound arguments for waiting until maturity to spay, but thinking that you can always spay later to prevent mammary tumors is incorrect.

[Sharon]

Thanks for the link sharon lots of good info. I think im less decisive now then ever. lol

Had my 7 month old boy neutered to day. He was lifting his leg on the other dog's crates/bedding , people on the sidewalk etc. Lovely. Had to try something.

[CDN_Cocker]

Bring him over here Sharon. Jake will be a year old in 3 weeks and still thinks he's a girl. Maybe your boy can teach mine to man up a bit hahaha

[Jere]

Check the references in this article too.

http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Ad ... ne.0055937

[cjhills]

This is the same old meaningless bs from UCDavis that has been on here for a few years. Mostly set up to scare people. Too few dogs in each category. The numbers are too small to have any real meaning. The number of dogs that are not spayed is much smaller than the spayed dogs. This alone would make it more likely that the spayed dogs would have a higher percentage of issues. Also when you go from one case per 100 dogs to two cases that is a 100% increase. Sounds scary but it is insignificant. these dogs were all patients, highly likely that owners who didn't neuter their dogs didn't waste money on other vet care either.
Spaying early may very well cause some growth issues and should be given serious thought, but the UCDavis research is bogus at best.
Also spaying will not stop marking and my males that were spayed are just as sexually active as the ones that aren't. Just don't make puppies.
Most pet owners will have less problems with spayed dogs. But give it some thought and make your choice......................Cj

[JKP]

The previous discussions pretty much cover the discussion. There is substantial evidence that spaying/neutering before sexual maturity and the closing of the growth plates can lead to orthopedic problems. I attended a lecture given by the former head of orthopedics at the vet school in WI. He recommended 15 months at the earliest and 18 months as better. He also jokingly said he has made a lot of money over the year repairing ACLs of dogs that were "fixed" too young.

As far as the old wives tale that spaying/neutering influences aggression issues or even straying....don't believe it. Behaviors that are already adopted will usually remain. And I have watched neutered males try to mount bitches in heat more than once.