Fixing vs. Not Fixing your dogs

[MTKitty]

As a few have mentioned already, it depends on the dog and the owner. From my research of a few years ago, the recommendation is to allow larger breeds to go up to two years before spay/neuter for physical development. I believe @NatJ described it well in his post.

As a keeper of fur-companions, I have no interest in breeding to improve the breeds of any cat or dog I live with nor do I wish to deal with a female in estrus or a male going brain-dead at a whiff of any such female. So, they all go under the knife as soon as possible. My current cat and dog are 16 years old. Others in my past have lived between 12 and 20 years. While not proof, I don’t believe early spay/neuter causes as many health problems as it avoids.

As for “just keep the female in heat away from males” advice - good luck with that. The drive to reproduce is among the strongest for any living organism. I’ve seen/heard of more “accidental” litters than I care to think about from people using that method of pet population control.

I’m such a huge fan of the procedure that I support it 100% - by which I mean: me, too.

 

[Weeg]

Kiki is a little over 1 year old, closer to 2. She is an intact female. We have an intact male too. Kiki is going to get spayed really soon, but has gone through a few cycles already.

I think the most part is to keep them separate. I don't do anything TOO extra. Same feed, definitely less walking though. Honestly, its what has worked. I watch her 24/7, pretty much. Obviously, if you don't want a pregnant dog, don't let her roam outside freely. This can attract other males and all kinds of other stuff.

Thanks! I appreciate it. We don't have a fenced yard so I wont be able to let her go out alone. Close supervision or on the 20ft long lead.
Thanks for the help!

 

[Weeg]

I’d say I certainly understand the argument for not getting a dog spayed or neutered but i think in most cases it’s better get it done. Very few people have the dedication to properly care for an unfixed dog. Especially females. I do however agree with waiting until a dog is over a year for larger breeds though.
I’m going to preface this by saying I have nothing against anyone who chooses not to get their dog fixed and is responsible about it. But most people I’ve encountered in my area who are antispay or neuter don’t take the steps to be responsible and it ends terribly for the dogs. Had a friend who refused to get her dog neutered or make an attempt to fence him in and he ended up getting hit by a car. Next door neighbor insisted that it wasn’t natural and then let her female dogs have dozens of litters either dumping them at the pound before they were weaned or just letting them run free and inbreed. We had to start shooting them this year because the pack started attacking people in their own yards and there’s no animal control out here.
So please unless you know you are going to be able to do the extra work please just get your animal neutered. I wish I didn’t feel the need to say this but it’s a huge problem in our area and these aren’t isolated cases just two personal examples from this year. I could pull dozens more from the local paper and town Facebook pages.

This is good input. I think you put the subject perfectly. I have nothing against spay or neuter, and totally agree with what your saying.
Great input! I totally agree.

 

[Weeg]

You might change your opinion on vaccines if you ever had the misfortune of trying to save the life of a dog or puppy with parvo or distemper.

Good comment. I would like to make it clear that I am not against vaccines, just only like to get the core vaccines, and don't like to overdo them. I've read that certain vaccines can make dogs immune for longer than some vets may recommend, but this is just them being cautious so I have nothing against that. I just prefer to get them farther and fewer between. I always get core vaccines, this includes Parvo, Distemper, Rabies, and Canine Influenza. So I 100% agree with you. Those are serious diseases that are spread very quickly, they can easily be fatal.

 

[Weeg]

We fixed our dogs for the following reasons: less chance of reproductive related cancers but also because our male dog would wander really bad before he was fixed. I really didn't want him getting someones dog pregnant. Lol He also marked everything he came in contact with (inside or out) With our 3 females I don't want male dogs from all over the country smelling them in heat, and risk them getting hurt. I have 2 large females but a small female as well, she could very well be killed by a large male dog. We also don't have a desire for puppies so we don't have a need for intact dogs. My humble opinion!

Thank you for posting! This is a great opinion showing very realistic and understandable reasoning. Good post.

 

[NatJ]

We don't have a fenced yard so I wont be able to let her go out alone. Close supervision or on the 20ft long lead.

I would plan on supervision AND the lead.

Even if you train her to come every time you call, there will probably be a few times when she disobeys-- and the most fertile point in her heat cycle might be one of those times, if a male dog is available. (And I've never yet met a person who could run as fast as a lab, so trying to just run and grab her will probably not work if she wants to get away.)

 

[Iluveggers]

For all of the intact female dog owners, any tips for keeping them without unwanted pregnancies? I don't think we're going to spay our Labrador, she's 10 months so could go into heat soon. So far I'm planning on keeping her tight, we bought toys, planning on walking more often (on a leash) and of course, we've got a few diapers on hand. She also eats homemade raw, and I've read maybe adding root veggies can help keep her fuller. Do any of you adjust the diet when there' in heat? Thanks for the help.
Any other suggestions?

May want to have a plan in case you & her are approached during a walk…I would worry that a male would break out of his yard and chase you both down and try to mate her. To me, it would not be fun to fight off a male who was looking to mate…

 

[Sc_chickengirl]

May want to have a plan in case you & her are approached during a walk…I would worry that a male would break out of his yard and chase you both down and try to mate her. To me, it would not be fun to fight off a male who was looking to mate…

I'm always worried that will happen to me. So I just take her on walks around our yard( its a lot more boring than walking in the woods ). But as long as she's penned up she can't really get out and no other dog can get in. We put pavement around the pen so It can't be dug into and the fence is really tall. As long as she's in I'm not worried.

 

[MysteryChicken]

We should've gotten our dog's neutered. But one obstacle is the vet bill, & my dad's work schedule.

One thing for sure is intact Male dogs pee more, & we deal with constant peeing in the house. Hard to keep up. They were house broken, but then our irresponsible big brother decided it would be a good idea to leave the house for along time, while we were gone caring for the birds.
The dogs took a reverse course, & left us constantly cleaning up pee.

Also, my dad's dog is a crypt-orchid, developed abit of a perineal hernia(Not Severe), & has a type of tumor growing under his skin in certain areas.

Everything that I've learned said unfixed animals are more susceptible to cancer.


About the vet bill being an obstacle. Sister's kitten got fixed at a place that does low cost spay, & neuter. The spay was $35, plus tax, Anesthesia, IV, ect they charged us for everything else. My sister spent over $500 for a low cost spay.

 

[LizzzyJo]

I would just advise everyone to be sure that they're reading articles that are peer reviewed and published in scientific journals. Don't trust blogs, .coms, or any non scientific source - they have no scrutiny to be sure that they've done their research or are basing their claims off of methodologically sound studies.

I would suggest searching all things like this with "https://scholar.google.com/" INSTEAD of "google.com". Many peer reviewed papers are available without a paywall or university affiliation.

Do your research, but use the best tools available.
--a scientist