for more information on this topicThe Forum RecommendsShould you spay your Labrador Just interested when everyone spayed their bitches? I know there's always deliberation about when is best to spay but I would find it helpful and interesting to see what everyone has to say?
My last rescue girl was about eight years old when we had her and not spayed, so I had her done two /three months after her season . My current rescue is also not spayed , she is two years old , she is booked in end of May . Given the choice as I had with the last bitch I had as a pup , I would spay two/three months after the first season .
Did Willow at 6.5 months, but will wait until after Luna's first season, if I choose to spay her at all.
Tilly at 6 or 7 months. 9 years latter when we got Cooper, the thinking seemed to have changed, and we waited until about 4 months after her first season, when she was about as big as she was going to get.
Molly was spayed a few months after her first season. She had keyhole surgery and I'd really recommend it, she was pretty much back to normal from day one.
We spayed BEFORE Lilly had her first season. Puppy fears. We did not (weren't offered?) Informed discussion with our vet. In the same situation again I would wait until after a first season. Lilly has severe hip dysplasia and I often wonder if we had delayed a spay whether that might have made a difference but so too for many things like exercise levels and using the stairs etc....
Two of my pups, Gypsy and Twiglet, were spayed at six months, they are part of a large research study conducted by Guide Dogs. They spayed 500 pups at six months and 500 at the normal (for Guide Dogs) time which is three months after their first season. These dogs will now be followed and monitored life long before the results are published. Mollie won't be spayed, she's going to have Guide Dog pups - hopefully, if she passes all the health tests.
Two before their first season, two, three months after first season. The ones spayed later had a little incontinence when they would have been in season, otherwise, no obvious difference.
Belle was spayed during pregnancy - I certainly wouldn't recommend that. She was a stray, I would guess she was caught out probably during her second or third season. She never suffered incontinence or any other associated health problems.
Four years (rescue dog) and nine months. After reading up on the health, behavioural and social pros and cons, risks and benefits of too early spay I would wait till about two years old for the next girl.
Five years old - and only because she had several epileptic fits, that seemed to coincide with her seasons. I wouldn't make a blanket decision as to when or even whether to spay; I would wait and see with each individual dog and with your particular circumstances.
Quick question about change, if any, when would I notice if there is any change in personality? I am thrilled to say that Harley is the same Harley we sent to the vet last Wednesday. Or will we just never know what her personality could have been if she was left unspayed?
