We had Lilly spayed before her first season. We were VERY keen to avoid the possibility of puppies. Our vet was fine with this plan and didn't discuss the pros and cons. Lilly had a normal spay. Pretty quick recovery. No obvious coat changes. BUT she is also quite tall and long legged. And was diagnosed with severe bilateral HD at just over a year old. Was there a link? Did we not protect her growing bones and joints adequately during her first year? We don't know. With a little more experience now, I think if we had another girl we would wait until after her first season. Just to be careful.
We had Ella spayed before her first season, at around 6 months. Honestly, there wasn't really any consideration given to a later spay as it's just not done like that here (Melbourne, Australia). The reasons we had were: To prevent pregnancy, mammary cancer, pyometra (spelling??), required by our council (we have to register our dog and the only way to register and intact bitch is to register as a breeding bitch and pay exorbitant fees), required by day care and, if I'm completely honest we also did it to avoid the hassle of going through seasons with her I don't think her coat has been affected as it's still a lovely shiny dark chocolate with a good undercoat and nice wiry waterproof top coat. She is a little on the tall side compared to the standard but I believe her mum was too so it's not easy to confirm that the spay "caused" her extra height. Our only down side to date is that she has a slightly recessed vulva and is a little more prone to vaginitis. It's possible that the slight recession would have corrected itself if she had been through a season first but this is also not guaranteed. Would I spay at 6 months again? Not sure. I'd say I'd still lean on the side of early spay but I'd definitely look into it a lot more second time around.
I know that in South Africa it is a puppy prevention plan. If you aren't going to breed or show your dog then the vets and trainers highly recommend spaying as soon as possible. We live in an urban area and every time we take Harley for a walk she is approached by a number of dogs that are off leash, so if we were to leave her to have her first season she would not go for walks during that time but the risk of a dog getting into our yard is highly unlikely but not impossible.
It must be very hard with roaming entire dogs. This is going to be my biggest problem with Luna, probably. However, my dogs don't ever go outside unsupervised, so even dogs jumping over our fence (which would be some feat), wouldn't result in pups.
It obviously varies from country to country. By the time I get my next puppy it will probably have changed yet again! We live in a rural area and when Hattie had her first season it was tough keeping a couple of randy Border Collies away from her and she was ON LEAD x
We also had Xena spayed (traditional spay) at 6 months. Coat hasn't changed, and she barely sheds - I remove more fur from our domestic shorthaired cat than I do from Xena! She's a small lean little dog, no idea if this is connected, but delaying her spay until after a season was just not practicable. We knew that she was being kennelled several times between 8-9 months, and my mum was also looking after her for a week during that time - it would have been grossly irresponsible of me to not spay her knowing this. People talk about spaying for convenience like it's a bad thing, but we do a lot of things in life for convenience, and getting your bitch spayed isn't a bad thing, it's not like some cruel practices such as declawing a cat.
Hi Meg was spayed and had no coat changes at all. My 2 Newfies on the other hand were a nightmare...thick fuffy woolly nightmare
Reading this website and forum was the first time I, in any way, doubted not spaying Harls at 6-8 months and rather waiting for her to have her first season. Our cats came to us neutered, they were done at 8 weeks and came to use at 12 weeks. I was incredibly grateful because spraying male cats is not something I like in the house. Harley currently has a hard coat that is very easy to dry and clean so I was just wondering if she was going to explode with a teddy bear coat from spaying.
The problem is, there is no real data available at the moment to categorically say what is "best". The Guide Dogs Association in the UK is in the middle of the biggest research survey of its kind to try to answer some of the questions, but it's going to be a while yet before results can be published. Until then, it really is a case of weighing up the limited information we have. I absolutely had Willow spayed for convenience, but I do regret it, or at least how early it was done. I feel now, very strongly, that it's not right to do it just because it's the most convenient thing. I haven't spayed myself, after all. I just take precautions to ensure there will be no puppies I'm certainly not saying I won't have Luna spayed, because I just don't know yet, but I do feel I rushed into it with Willow and wish I hadn't.
Harley's coat hasn't changed at all since her spay. We were undecided whether or not to spay her, but the choice was taken out of our hands. 3 weeks after her first season (which was abnormally long), she developed pyometra. If it wasn't for a small lump on her head (Ingrowing hair follicle) we wouldn't have known. The vet noticed the tiniest bit of discharge and gave her an in depth examination and diagnosed pyometra. She was operated on within the hour and it was a good job she was as they said within 24 hours she wouldn't of been with us. She was the youngest dog they had ever seen with it. Managing her season was ok, I walked places there were very few dogs and all on lead, but I can imagine it would of been a different story if I lived somewhere that dogs roamed as it would be hard to stop anything if more than one dog came running over. It's about making the best decision for yourselves and Harley.
Our vet advised waiting with Bramble, she felt she was too immature both physically and from a behavioural perspective. She has just gone through her first season, and I am glad we waited as she is a different dog to the one even a few months ago. Just starting to fill out, and still growing upwards. She has definitely matured in the sense she is less "giddy"
I'm thinking I might invest in a can of pet corrector or similar just in case. Not sure if that would be any use against a randy dog, though!
Heck,Dexter ( neutered I add,yes neutered!!! ) would say ,'Huh,is that the best you can do?'and carry on regardless! I do say that joking Fiona but as I type it does make me think he is determined with a female in season ......I would say ( not very effectively obvs) that he's had more than the average amount of time put in training and supervising him not to do it too.....imagine if he'd had none ,crikey! And that's the level you seem to find with a lot of your average pet owners.I couldn't have managed Dexter safely uneutered...that's my failing though not his x
Depending on where you live, it's illegal to take a bitch on heat into any public space, i.e. no road walks if on heat. That's the bylaw in Cape Town.
Definitely not! Snowie has met three on heat bitches in his life, and I used every ounce of strength to keep him away from the bitch incl locking him between my legs plus holding on with my arms until the bitch had been walked far away.
You are so lucky. My life would be so much easier if Snowie had no interest in mounting. Of late he's taken to mounting young, unneutered males, I'm guessing he's reached his World Domination phase, or at least "Put Those Young Boys in Their Place" phase (no aggression or mouthing involved, just determined mounting and not letting go unless hauled off). Hopefully it is but a phase and we can go back to leisurely walks in the forest again.
