FWIW Mia seems pretty well the same as prior to her spay as far as bitchyness goes. I think she has gotten more snarky in the past 2 years but she's also more mature. I would not attribute snarkiness at 2 or 3 years old to a spay. I would think it was mostly maturity...
This. I've noticed Jackson has gotten snarkier after he was about 3 1/2. He was neutered at 7 months. Didn't really have much 'snark' until after 3, so I wouldn't attribute that to fixing, but maturity. And I know he's a boy, and we're talking about girls and spaying, but just thought I'd pop in my .02 cents.
I will probably always traditionally spay/neuter my dogs. It's not because I'm taking the cheap route, or don't want what's best for my dogs.... I just don't really think it's as big of a deal as some make it out to be. I personally wouldn't make the effort to get a vasectomy on my dog because I just don't think it would be worth it. It's definitely not about money for me. Heck, I spent $1500 to have basically a 'root canal' on my dog instead of pulling it, because it's a major tooth and I didn't want to. I could've easily saved over $1000 doing it that way.
But I understand people's reasons for doing it, and I guess just like I'm very much against over-vaccination and a lot of people don't see the big deal, it's just different issues people are more passionate about, I guess. Some think I'm crazy when I say I probably won't be getting him vaccinated for anything that's not required by law for the rest of his life. So be it! lol. So I understand when you really care deeply about an issue and respect the decision completely. But I don't think people who traditionally spay/neuter should be looked at as not doing what is best for their dogs.