Looking for advice and personal experience as well as any studies — This is the back story and it’s quite long lol you can skip through if you’d like — My 2 year old, 40lb registered black lab was able to get past our 6ft fence and find a boyfriend (I call him that because he still came around once she wasn’t in heat anymore lol) once we would fill a hole she started to dig she’d climb the fence and inevitably found an 80lb black male lab down our street. This lab was also registered and the owners had bred him before. * Let me add that I have rescue animals and always prefer spaying/neutering. We put our female off because she was inside all the time and once we built our fence she showed no signs of trying to get out at first.* Fast forward a few months and we found them locked up in our yard and she was pregnant. This was her first litter and she had 11 puppies (no still borns) one chocolate baby didn’t make it and I think it was accidentally squished/suffocated under her. We ended up with 3 out of the surviving 10. They are now 7 months old. We kept a chocolate female. We also decided to keep a black female who happened to pick me very early on then retrieved on her own at 5 weeks old. (She’s extremely advanced) we had a big black male who took after the father. He had what we thought was hip problems from about 6weeks old till about 15-16weeks old. We only found out it was growing pains when he broke his leg on a chair and we rushed him to an emergency vet. We had no intention of keeping him but with a broken leg I didn’t trust that someone would take proper care of him. He has healed up amazingly and is one of the brightest labs I’ve ever come across. They are a handful but it’s actually been easier to have them together because they play so much with dogs that have equal energy. Mom has changed a lot since birth and is much more aggressive (not over the puppies but over us) she could genuinely care less about the puppies and pushes them out of the way to get to me. She does however express clear dislike her son. She won’t play with him at all meanwhile she plays with both daughters and the son seems a bit timid of her. (if anyone can answer why I’d love to know). As said above mother is 40lbs a “pirogue/canoe” lab very small and the father is an 80-95lb English lab. We have 2 females and 1 male that’s 7 months old plus the mother who’s 2 & 1/2. More studies I’ve read on spaying/neutering don’t indicate many positive benefits besides preventing pyometra for females. Particularly in labs it seems to increase cancer and joint issues. I feel in our mother dog it would be best for her to be spayed. She’s constantly anxious and LOVES TO RUN no matter where she is. However I’m wondering how worth it it may be for the pups. Looking at all info because I’m not sure how I could leave all 3 intact. But if it is better for their health I will do what I must. Thanks so much in advance for any help, it is greatly appreciated as This was an accidental litter and I have no experience nor do I want another one. I just want what’s best for my dogs.
Gosh! You really have been through it...and it is very obvious you care a lot for your dogs. I think you are absolutely right to spay mom, after all, you have previous experience with her. When we look at all of the evidence it suggests an increased risk with male dogs who are neutered early, before 6 months of joint problems, typically hip and elbow. These increases though whilst significant are not big. In addition, there does appear to be a link with certain cancers. The risk of cancer in females spaying early was really very very low vs leaving entire. There are also benefits to spaying/neuturing our dogs, and these also need to be weighed up. I think in your case, I would neuter all of the puppies too. This is just my opinion, and I completely appreciate what a personal decision this is when considering neuturing your dogs. In the long run, it would be better for them all and safer! It is also very difficult managing entire males when a female in the household comes into season, and very distressing all around. So with the females, sooner rather than later! If you can manage to leave the boys a couple of months before neuturing, so they are more mature from a psychological perspective as well as being fully grown that would be better for them in the long run. If though, you cannot protect your male dogs from wandering bitches in the neighbourhood, then straight down to the vets and get them neutered. I say this from personal experience, it is very, very difficult to keep a dog in if a there is a local bitch in season!
Hi and welcome!! Personally, I would neuter the females (both pups and mother), and leave the boy intact.
Hi and welcome to the forum. I'm with Karen on this one. I think in your situation spaying the girls is a bit of a no-brainer. I'd rather let the boys develop and consider neutering only if there are sexually-driven behavioural issues - as Kate says, if they become distressed when local bitches are in season. This is horrible for both dog and owner, but it's certainly not the case that every entire dog will suffer. My entire male doesn't give two hoots when our neighbour's bitch is in season and camps outside our gate, and my sister's past two dogs (a cocker spaniel and a staffy) have both been ambivalent about the ladies, too. I would add that there's no reason for your dogs to be out in your yard unattended; assuming they get sufficient walks each day (which they should get whether or not they have yard-time), they can spend the rest of the day in the safety of the house.
