Hello. New to forum and a new owner to a 12 week old female black lab named laycee. We got her at 9 weeks and have had maybe 4 accidents. She is already crate trained. She is a massive vacuum cleaner. Anything on the ground or floor she is picking up but we have noticed that we take her outside to do her business she goes then plops down and rolls on her back. So we have only occasionally rubbed her belly and then tried to get her back up and She is like dead doggie weight. Yes she is on leash as right now we live in a townhouse but she can be taken off leash and comes right to us. We take her for walks and almost same thing she will stop and just lay there and we have to pull her up to get her moving again. We begin training in a couple weeks after spay and was wondering if anyone else has this problem. Any help or advise would be great. Thank you ☺
Hallo. Sounds like you have a lovely pup. I'm afraid I don't have advice for the issue you need help with. But I note you intend spaying your pup at around 14 weeks? Did I understand that correctly: You will start training in a couple of weeks after spay? Please read up on the concerns around early spay and the negative effects it can have on your pup. 14 weeks is very young.
Is it possible she is simply enjoying the grass and lying on her back in an attempt to roll? Older dogs, love to roll around on the ground. I think it gives them a nice back scratch and it's just fun. Like it was fun when we were kids. How long are her walks? Yes, double ditto research on time to spay. My next pup will likely be a girl and I don't plan, right now, to spay before two years old. There are risks and benefits, pros and cons, to neutering at all.
Oh, yes, 14 weeks is far too early for a spay! Please, please, please don't do this! I'm astonished any reputable vet would allow this. As for your other issue, yes it's quite common, but I don't have the time right now to respond - I just couldn't leave that spay thing hanging. Hopefully someone else will be along to help with your problem before I get back.
Hi and welcome from me and Lilly. We have quite a few pups who just don't want to walk when they are little and just plonk themselves down. Perhaps she is in this category. I wouldn't worry about it particularly - it will come! jac
Hello... I have done A LOT i mean tons of research of early spay, and I am involved in many dog and cat rescues currently and see way too many things. I've spoken with many top notch vets about it and voiced my concerns about the cancer, the heat cycles and everything and in order to knock her chances of cancer out it is best to spay before her first heat cycle. We do not want to breed her at all. We love our lil girl with all we have and are only doing what is in her best interest per vet recommendations and lots n lots of research. I thank you though for your concern and questions. Hope you have a wonderful day.
I'd say she just likes being outside and wants to stay, so she becomes immovable. On walks she may lie down if tired... Sounds like she's just worked out a way of getting the result she wants. Clever girl
I never spay before my dogs about 12 to 18 months. Spaying early can increase the risk of hip dysplasia torn ligaments bone cancer and and urinary incontinence. My vet recommended a spay at this age. My current girly us 14 with no real health issues. No one seeing her ever thinks she's 14. if you look up the pros and cons of spaying you will find lot of interesting info. Rescue centres often spay early to stop breeding.
Hi and welcome to the forum - my boy Bailey is 16 months old and has rolled around on his back pretty much every day since we got him at 8 weeks old. The look on his face is just one of pure joy, a typical lab loving life! No advice on spaying, but I have not had Bailey castrated as the hormones are needed to help him grow and protect him against hip dysplasia, torn ligaments and cancer - I assume it is the same for a bitch and having her spayed. I have no intention of breeding with Bailey but that is not the only consideration. The article on the main website is brilliantly written and helped me as a first time puppy owner having to make a decision when our vets here assume this will happen at 6 months old. 14 weeks really does seem terribly young to me. Why are you waiting to start training? if you do go ahead you will have a period of restricted exercise so you can do short training sessions instead of walks.
I had my first bitch spayed before her first season, so I'm not in any position to say that there's anything wrong with that, although I've decided to leave my current puppy to have at least one season first. I also have no intention of breeding, but can manage that very effectively so she doesn't get the opportunity, even with an entire male in the household. But, there is a massive difference between spaying at 6.5 months and spaying at 14 weeks. It's completely unnecessary and potentially very harmful. There is a study performed by Cornell University that shows a strong link between early spaying and later development of hip dysplasia. It is often touted that you can reduce the risk of mammary cancer by having your bitch spayed before her second season, and to practically zero if spayed before her first season. However, that's not fact, it's only a hypothesis. In a 2010 study, the RVC conducted a study that concluded: Due to the limited evidence available and the risk of bias in the published results, the evidence that neutering reduces the risk of mammary neoplasia, and the evidence that age at neutering has an effect, are judged to be weak and are not a sound basis for firm recommendations. Of course, you lose the risk of pyometra, which is a big concern for owners of bitches. However, the risk of a young bitch developing it is very small indeed, and it's usually very easily rectified. I am not anti-spay, and will almost definitely be spaying my puppy. But I am shocked and saddened that someone would deem it appropriate to put such a young puppy through this procedure, when there is plenty of evidence to show that it is potentially harmful, compared with none showing it has any benefit.
At the same time I'm sure we can all appreciate the fact that the OP has a background in animal rescue. If anything makes you determined not to bring extra puppies into the world it'd be the things you'd see in a rescue environment.....
I believe in spaying, having had five bitches spayed, two before their season and three afterwards, no discernible difference in behaviour or health (they all lived to 13 or 14 years old) except the two spayed AFTER the season had periods of incontinence. However, I wouldn't have a puppy spayed until they were at the very least 6 months old, think mine were nearer 8 months.
Very true, but that determination doesn't have to translate into having your puppy getting spayed while it's still an infant. The pros and cons of spaying are unclear at best, of course we can all agree on that, until further data is available. That's why there's no easy answer. But 14 weeks? Really?
I think it is 'the thing' in America to spay them early, though I don't like it and wouldn't do it to mine. At that age it is supposed to be easier to spay.
Two parts, First off, to answer the OP question, my pup would (and still does) go outside on a nice day and plop down in the grass. When she was younger, she would do the dead weight thing as well. Personally I kind of like it since it gives me some cute belly rub time with her. With that being said, I used to have to pick her up to get her on her feet again, then I would need to keep her moving fast enough so that she wouldn't plop back down. As she got older and better trained, I could get her up and walking using recall and its no longer an issue. I suspect the same will be true for you as well. As for the spay issue, Stacia got it right. In the US there is a huge stray dog and accidental pregnancy problem, particularly in the south where a lot of the American shelter puppies come from. This results in a tragically large number being euthanized (over half a million a year) because there aren't enough people to adopt them all. As a response to this, a lot of shelters do pediatric spay/neutering. My snuffles is a shelter pup and I had some discussions with the shelter about this since she was supposed to get spayed before they let me take her (around 12 weeks), but there vet was hospitalized and they couldn't do it. Based on talking with them, even up here in the north east, they have had huge problems with people adopting dogs, never spaying them, then coming back to the shelter with a litter. That was the reason why they started practicing pediatric spaying. I got somewhat lucky though, due to the shelters vet issue, we were able to stall and delay until she was 5 months . Not perfect, but closer in line to the just before first session time frame.
Our second Lab, Tilly was spayed at about 9 months, and Cooper after her first season at 15 months. Personally I would wait until after the first season, when she is pretty much full grown. Our first Lab, Ginger was a rescue, and we had to agree to have her spayed ASAP after taking her home. She was 4 at the time and had a litter before we got her.
