Are you "pro" spay/neuter or not?

Garg learned not to hump Mary, Garg was a humper and Mary would send me a brain wave that it was happening and I knew to find him and time his butt out. It worked, took weeks.
He went back on the leash or turned into a kitchen kid and boy howdy was that not his idea of a good time. He got the message loud and clear.

She is NOT the same dog when she has a false pregnancy, she will choose toys and stay in her crate with them. Last time this happened she was in her crate for almost a month. She would REFUSE to come out. She also gives me a super hard time eating when she gets like this. Last time she after she finally did start coming out, she was still 'off' for another two weeks or so. I have no clue why she's like that, but it's been that way since her first heat. Honestly, she would have been getting spayed first, but I'm worried about Mina's hip and I want to have her x-rayed and would rather just have her sedated once.

Mina's is mainly for my convenience as I really don't like dealing with a female in heat, especially a very velcro dog who gets quite upset when not allowed on furniture. They're never going to be bred, and they're both mixes so I really don't see the point in keeping them intact either.

In a perfect world, I would feel the same.

However, the majority of people I know wouldn't bother to look into it, and even if they did, not indepth. The decision would be far from informed...

So, unfortunately, I am pro spay/neuter.

If you can keep your dog responsibly, have researched the topic and are willing to deal with the inconveniences, I say go for it. But for the average Joe, I say spay/neuter is the way to go.

Tallulah had a false pregnancy with her first heat, complete with the "boobies."

And then she got a painful -- and expensive -- case of mastitis.

Did she give you any particular reason(s) why? I'm honestly just curious, as I know that you are a responsible owner. (And I'm feeling guilty for not doing more research before B's neuter.)

she didn't, but i expect it has to do with growth plates and growth rates and those sort of mechanical things.

IF your dog is a non issue, and IF you are responsible - then sure. But sadly, responsible people are the minority. People just don't seem to understand the issues they are creating. I've spent the past 7 weeks bottle raising a litter of mixed breed pups, after their formers owners lab MIX was impregnated by a pit bull, and then allowed to run the neighborhood and get run over by a car.

Sadly, the world is not a perfect place. Sadly, people are not responsible or thoughtful. People are careless, and do as they please. In a perfect world, shelters would not be needed, and every dog/cat would have a loving home. Breeders would only place dogs in appropriate homes, and every one would get along and agree on everything. But we do not live in a perfect world. Spaying and neutering may be an imperfect band-aid solution - but it's a solution that helps keep dogs/cats in their homes.

^^^ amen to that.

on the false preg thing - Liz has really rough ones too. Once I'm for sure done with showing her, she's getting spayed. It's a tough call 'cos she's really nice for little kids to handle, but I can't watch her go through many more of these. She's so *miserable* and gets super cranky with the other dogs (Daisy's been to the vet twice and gotten blood all over my walls in the last two years...). And I'm terrified she'll get mastitis, as she lactates every time without fail...

I'm "pro choice". Gunnar is intact and we don't have issues with him marking or humping or roaming. Daisy is spayed because we knew we couldn't watch her and Gunnar 24x7 and it was just easier, plus, we did not have a breeding contract from her breeder. Bruzer was neutered at 5 months old when he started marking everything, and 8 years later, he still marks every blade of grass he can, so it didn't fix that issue.

I'm glad Upendi's not the only one. She also has a tendency to get snarky when going through a fp with other dogs and with people she doesn't see regularly. Especially if they go anywhere near her 'babies'.

I had Ozzy done at 14 months old when he started marking in the house. He started showing his dog aggression at the same time, and Id hoped that neutering would help that too. It stopped the marking, but he's still as DA as ever.

We had Enzo done at 14 months as well. Right after her first heat (which was a bloody mess, literally) and it was more for conveince than anything. She was a messy messy dog, it was disgusting to deal with (Steven almost flat out refused to have anything to do with her) and I did NOT want to go through that again. If I thought I could have handled it one more time Idve waited until she was two to do it, but I was terrified she'd go in again before her appointment.

That said, she's a humper she mostly humps other females, but she'll hump Ozzy too.

Testosterone is the main hormone responsible for telling the growth plates to close (in laymen's terms). If you take away that main source of testosterone, the testicles, the growth plates take longer to close thus resulting in a taller animal with possibly some growth-related musculoskeletal issues. (of course they aren't going to automatically have issues, but it can cause some in some dogs)

I'm with Renee. I think the choice should be made with as much solid education behind it and taking into consideration the owner's situation.

For me, it has always depended on the individual dog.

If she starts to look or act like she might be experiencing some mammary pain (and I wish I'd known this when Tallulah went through it) the best course is to start warm water therapy -- essentially using a shower massage on the entire area for about 15 minutes, two or three times a day. Catch it early and you might be able to avoid the antibiotic treatment. Raw honey is also a natural antibiotic, so if she'll eat a teaspoon of that it can help, too.

Thank you - that's wonderful advice!! I'm sure she'd eat honey, lol. I'll remember this for the next go round...

Just remember it has to be RAW honey. Pasteurization gets rid of pretty much anything that's beneficial in honey. Raw honey is also a really good topical antibiotic, and it works wonders for colds and other crap in the winter too

yup, and in a performance dog, that can be especially important. my biggest concern, because luce blew both knees, was that steve's legs and angles be allowed to grow and develop the way that they were supposed to, in the hopes that he'll stay sound.

Interesting. Wonder if it's part of why B is so tall and lanky. People always think he's a puppy even though he's 2 now.

I would have to say for responsible owners it there own choice. I work in a shelter and think all those coming from us should be done, Just because I see all the animals that come and go. personally both of my dogs are currently intact. neither leave my house off a leash and both are well behaved.. Well Jack is still learning but he has only been with us since dec. I will be having both of the neutered, Mostly because of the local dog's disappearing Alot of bull and pitbulls, I think someone is doing it to get new blood for dogrings:/ As my pax is not a bully breed but a brendal that most people ask if he is a bully, For his own safety i will have him done. I dont want that .000001% chance he gets out/get taken and someone uses him to making fighting puppies:/

Enzo is two and a half, and I still get asked if she's a puppy. Most people guess anywhere from 6 to 12 months old. She's very small for a lab though, just shy of making the standards minimum, so I can see why people think that.

When she's fully muscled, she weighs about 50 pounds. If I wanted her in show condition, she'd actually meet the minimum, it would just require putting a bunch of fat on her. I keep her lean, and we don't run anymore, so she's lost some muscle mass in her thighs. She still has buns of steel though, lol. She's not short of meeting the height minimum, just the weight.