Should you spay your dog? It used to be simple – if you are a breeder, no. If you will not be breeding, spay your dog early. A lot of research has been done over the years and now it is time for people to really look at the facts before they make a decision that has the potential to change the life of a dog! Spaying your dog does not make you a responsible pet owner just as not spaying doesn’t make you an irresponsible pet parent. Both decisions can be the right decision. Your dog’s age is also an important factor.
DISCLAIMER: Although I sometimes play a doctor or veterinarian on my blog, My GBGV Life, I am not a doctor or veterinarian. The information in this post has been gathered by me from professionals and my own research. Please consult with your own veterinarian before you make any decisions regarding your own pets.
When my mom was growing up everyone spayed their dogs as puppies and no one thought twice about doing it. When she moved to Germany in 1997, one of the first things she noticed was that many people did not spay their dogs. Mom was the odd person with a dog that was spayed. Sure, some dogs were spayed for health reasons but the majority are not and there is good reason as we have come to find out. This post is very basic, but we wanted to get people thinking and talking to their veterinarian before they make a big decision with their dog.
Should You Spay Your Dog?
The pros of spaying your dog
- Probably the biggest reason to spay your dog is convenience.
- If your dog doesn’t go into heat, you don’t need to worry about the mess around the house.
- You won’t need to worry about keeping your girl away from intact males during the few weeks she is in heat.
- If you spay your dog before the first heat, there is almost no chance of her developing breast cancer.
- Being in heat won’t interfere with your dog classes and sports.
- Obviously, a spayed dog can’t have puppies.
The cons of spaying your dog
- Your dog will have an increased chance of being overweight.
- An increased risk of several types of cancer.
- The possibility of incontinence.
- Early spaying often results in delayed maturity.
- Increased risk of joint problems and hip displasia.
- A growing dog needs her hormones at least up to a certain age.
When should you spay your dog?
Don’t spay your dog too young. The longer you wait, the more time the hormones have to help your dog’s body develop. From what we have heard and read, if you would like to spay your dog, you should wait at least one heat cycle so she can develop properly.
What is our own experience with spaying?
Mom has had five dogs now, all of us girls. The first dog, Trine, was a shelter dog who had been through at least one heat and had a litter of puppies. She never had any health issues until she was almost eleven when she died suddenly of pancreatic cancer. Trine was a large, one hundred pound dog, making her a good example of waiting to spay.
Katie was spayed before her first heat which was the thing to do at the time. Unfortunately, she suffered from joint pain most of her life and her arthritis began around the age of five. This leads us to believe it could be genetic, or also from being spayed too young.
I was spayed at four years old after going through three heat cycles. Now I am eleven and it great shape with no sign of joint disease or arthritis. Being in heat was not fun as I was very nasty those weeks, and after the first cycle I refused to wear panties and ate them off myself constantly. We think my waiting to be spayed was a good decision despite my being hard to live with when I was in heat.
Bailie was spayed at about six months old, something Mom now wishes she had waited to have done. Mom knew she would not be breeding her, and with dog sports it was just easier. So far at four years old, she shows no signs of joint issues, but she is on medication for some incontinence issues, her legs are super long, and it is quite obvious, she is very immature for four years old. We say she is an example for waiting to spay being a better option.
Lastly, we have little Madison who is in the midst of her first heat right now. She is why we decided to write this post as we need to decide about her future. Madison is good about wearing her fashionable panties, is more snuggly, and has matured since she went into heat. It is causing some issues with her school and sports, but we are working on those. I think she will be spayed, but we don’t know if it will be in a few months or another year. Spaying at a younger age makes the recovery from the major surgery much easier. I had a tough time after I was spayed.
Our overall opinion, is to let females go through a minimum of one heat cycle. Be a responsible pet parent and don’t let your girl in heat run around or be out in the yard alone as intact males will come! If it really helps prevent cancer, joint issues, obesity, and other things, the few weeks of a heat cycle are worth the inconvenience in our opinion. Being a responsible pet parent means making the right decision for you and your dog and a well informed decision. What do you think?
Wow, Emma, that is a lot of information to think about that you gave us. We, being boys, have our issues too. Chablis got neutered at 9 years. He was /is a trooper. Me, I am waiting to see the reproductive vet in a few weeks. I just turned two. Even with Chablis neutered sometimes we fight. Mom thinks if she collects me, she will neuter me. OR…if it turns out that I am sterile, then I get neutered – just so my behavior will settle down. We debate all this all the time. I think Madison is very cute in her panties. I would like to make puppies with her when she is older. Elbe
Mom knows she will never be a breeder. It is a huge responsibility that she isn’t ready to take on. I think intact males do have more issues with being wild than unspayed females. Being neutered isn’t as difficult as getting spayed either. Hope the vet visit goes well for Elbe.
it’s interesting how different people think about this topic. here nearly all dogs are intact and the vets suggest to let them in this state… except for medical reasons… of course. …
That is what my mom found out right away when she moved to Germany. Here it is always spay your dog or you are nuts kind of thinking. Europeans tend to be more responsible with their dogs than Americans which might be part of it.
We have only had one female and did breed her once. After that we had her spayed. All of our other dogs have been male and neutered around the age of one year.
We are really realizing the benefit of letting females at least go through one heat cycle. It matters.
Spay and spay wisely sounds like he way to go!
We would guess the same applies to kitties, but are not sure.
Well done on this post! Yup things are changing again on spaying and when to do it. More are for waiting now.
Thank you. Waiting does seem to make a difference and I think we will always wait from now on.
Wow Emma, you really have Mama thinking. She had Dory spayed when she was six months old….and our Angel Kitty Addie, when she was 1 year…they both lived very long lives(Addi was 17 and Dory was 13). Dory was the most snuggly girl in the land…Addi…welll, she was a non-snuggly kitty cat. Both lived relatively healthy lives.
We boyz are different…Jakey didn’t get neutered until he was three, he is a very snuggly guy with few health issues…Arty was neutered at around 6 or 7 months(both are shelter dogs and had to be fixed before they were adopted) and is not the most snuggly…plus he has a BIG problem with allergies.
Now we have little Rosy….Mama will have to do some reading up and talk to the vet lady about how we should handle her adolescence :-).
Thanks for making us stop and think about this!!
Mom has decided for us, we will always have at least one heat cycle and be at least a year old. It has really made a difference. Even the week before Madison went into her first heat, she suddenly matured and changed to being more snuggly. The 2-3 weeks of inconvenience is worth it in our minds. Our vets also recommend waiting these days and we do agree. I’m sure you will do what is right for little Rosy.
Since both of our girls, who were spayed at around 6 months old, had joint issues, and then Sheba cancer, I certainly wonder about it (and our first dog had cancer very young). It was also brought to my attention that Luke’s knee issues might have been avoided if we hadn’t neutered him so young. It was never something we questioned until after that. We’ve always gone with what our vet advised, but for the next puppies we get, we might be waiting. This is a very good post, and I think it’s great you’re sharing about it. So many people are not aware that they can wait, as long as they are responsible about it.
We have always done what the trend was until I came along and Mom considered breeding me. Now that we have so much more information and have five of us to look at in our own “study” we are going to always wait until at least one heat and the pup is at least a year old. Hormones are very important in the body, especially when one is developing.
We raised Adelle for a service dog organization four years ago and they had us do the same as you’re doing wait until after the first heat cycle and at least one year old. However, some of the other organizations we’ve raised for will spay/neuter as early as 6 months old.
We really believe now from our own experiences and research waiting is the best for the dog an it really is not a big deal to deal with one or two heat cycles.
This is a very interesting post. I do tend to come down on the side of spaying, but I always enjoy reading another point of view. We adopted our dog Ruby when she was eight. Prior to us she had been living in a hoarding situation and our vet thinks she probably had upwards of 10 litters of puppies maybe more. She wasn’t spayed until she was rescued at 7. Unfortunately, she has tons of health problems as a result of having so many puppies (clearly, not the same as choosing not to spay for responsible reasons). I sure wish she had been spayed at earlier age – both for her sake and for all the unwanted puppies she had.
Madison wears those adorable panties very well!
We feel that for the average responsible pet owner with a house dog, waiting to spay is an important part of giving your dog the best chances of a healthy life. There are situations where spaying early is necessary, and I’m sure in shelters they can’t have intact dogs, but if you have the option and can wait out a heat or two it will be beneficial is what we find.
Many, many years ago, our vet told us that dogs should got through at least one cycle, so I waited before spaying all of my dogs, even though I wondered if that advice was outdated. We are lucky to live in an area that doesn’t have many stray dogs, and I always go out with mine (even to the fenced in yard), so I wasn’t too worried about them getting pregnant.
If I lived some place with lots of dogs roaming around, I might have opted to spay them earlier. I don’t want to be responsible for adding to the homeless pet population.
Theo was already neutered when we adopted him, but I don’t know how old he was.
Madison is out and about on walks and at her sports, but Mom is with her and makes sure no dogs come after her. We think waiting really is a good thing for a dog’s health but it is not always the right decision for every dog and dog parent.
So interesting. Mom got me from the rescue when I was 3 years old and had already had at least one litter of puppies that we know of. I was spayed immediately. I am in good health, active and strong at age 11.
Love and licks,
Cupcake
You obviously got the advantage of making it to your first heat, unfortunately, had puppies, but I bet you will be healthier because of being spayed a bit later on.
I share the same thoughts as your mom, Emma.
It is an interesting topic, more so for us girl dogs. We are pretty much set on waiting from now on unless some reason comes up not to.
This is a great post! So many facts that I didn’t know about. Since, both River and I are rescues, we were “fixed” before we were adopted out. So happy that Madison is keeping her undies on and there are many factors to think about!!! Thanks for this post!
There are a lot of things to think of and we know Madison won’t be spayed too early, maybe even not for a few years. She doesn’t mind the panties.
Ok, so here’s my thoughts: Mom left both of our first 2 poodles intact their entire lives. It was inconvenient during their heat cycles, but otherwise fine. Vet medicine in the 60s and early 70s was nothing like it is these days. Coco had liver issues at the end of her life but was 13 when she passed. Pixie had breast cancer at the end of her life – at the same time Mom was diagnosed with it – she was 15-1/2 at her passing. I know Boo was spayed, but I’m not sure when. I just know she was also 15-1/2 when she passed.
All I’ve read about early spaying vs after the first heat cycle makes me think Callie would have been better off if we had waited. But who knew? If I get another Golden after Shadow joins Callie, I’ll wait until after her first cycle if I have the option.
At this point, Bailie is more immature at 4 than Madison at 1. We love her silliness, but do feel it has to do with being spayed young.
We are thinking not to spay for a while, more like with me. The heat thing isn’t so bad as you say.
Great post! Thank you for giving examples of making this big decision based on individuals and their needs. My family is the same! I decided not to wait and neuter Wilhelm at six months. He was being a big, hormonal jerk! Okay. Little. But still. I don’t think he’d have turned into the sweet, easy going, docile guy he is had those hormones continued doing their thing. Brychwyn had to be neutered for medical reasons; he was cryptorchid. I wanted to wait a little longer but I feared the older makes it more difficult to recover from the surgery issue. Boy was I right! Poor Brychwyn’s belly looked like Frankencorgi with all the cuts they had to make to find his hiding testicle. Huxley is still in tact. I never plan to breed him but made the decision based on there being no need to have a major surgery on a dog with no behavioral or physical health issues. As you point out in your post, keeping a femal in tact has more incovenience issues. I do think when the next dog(s) come into my life, male or female, I will lean way towards less invasive sterilization- vasectomy or tubal ligation- unless behavioral or physical health issues warrant spaying or neutering. Thanks again for your thoughtful spaying decision analysis l!
We looked into leaving the ovaries, but our vet said that invites a host of other problems including infections, so for now Madison will stay intact and down the road we can always get her spayed if we think it is the right thing.
i have done this with all three of my girls, they all went through their first cycle. my former vet was not happy. but i did not care. i went by my breeder’s recommendation and also another vet show raised show min. schnauzers as well. i worry that most people who adopt a dog or puppy, dont understand all of the ins and outs of problems from early spaying/neutering. i saw a 12 wk old puppy, French Bull Dog, which is another problem, that was already neutered. the puppy had not fully developed, the head was much bigger than his body. he came from a breeder, i think but not know if a reliable breeder or backyard breeder. my breeder even neuters/sprays her show dogs when they finish showing or not breeding. she even neuters the males when they get older and will save/freeze the semen if necessary. i also do the less invasion method, they recover better and more quickly. there is also a new surgery available to dogs that are prone to hip displasia, however, it is dont when they are puppies and they dogs cant be breed. i heard abt it this past year and asked my vet abt it. she said she knew abt it but did not tell some clients abt it because she was scared they may try to breed the dog and it would be carried on. however, i learned that you have to spray/neuter your dog when you have this done and are forbidden to breed them.
Most people really don’t know all the consequences of it all as well as the options. Vets need to inform their clients so they can make the right decision. Responsible pet parents don’t have to always spay and neuter.
Delilah was spayed when she was almost two (our best guess). She’d had a litter of puppies before coming to us, although we did not know it at the time. The rescue told us she was spayed, but she wasn’t. So a couple of months after her heat, she was spayed. Before I started blogging, I would have had a puppy spayed between the ages of 6 months to 8 months (same for neutering), but since blogging I’ve learned so much, and I think I would definitely wait until my dog were closer to two. That is just my opinion and experience. I’ll be interested to see what ya’ll decide for Miss Madison.
Madison’s first heat wasn’t bad at all and she didn’t seem to mind the panties when she was at school, so Mom has decided to just leave her for at least another heat cycle and maybe longer.
We have always had females and i didn’t even think of spaying. They all kept them selves very clean and were healthy. Satin my Pyr. Had a small litter and i kept Tyler (male). Since Ty was a mix i had no intention of breading so i neutered early to avoid any problems since we were always in the woods with other dogs. He was always very healthy but older died of kidney failure. My Newfs Lexie 12/2005 – 4/ 2014 and Mica I showed and did not spay. Mica was very healthy but needed an emergency spay for pyrometra a deadly disease of the uterus 7 1/2. She came through with no problems and is disease free at 10 1/2. Aspen my male Newf is three and not neutered. He is great and unless he becomes more aggressive or has an illness he will not be neutered. He grew very fast and we took him off puppy food to slow his growth a little.
If there are no problems I do not alter them.
It has always been such a thing to spay and neuter. Madison was great with her first heat and we don’t plan to spay her unless something comes up that would make it necessary.