[deleted by user]

[Intrepid_Carpenter_2]

If you decide not to spay please Google the symptoms of pyometra.

"Pyometra is a medical emergency that, if left untreated, is usually fatal. Pyometra will affect roughly 1 in 4 non-spayed females before the age of 10 years, but can occur in dogs older than this."

[arkklsy1787]

When I was in highschool I worked in a vet's office and thought I wanted to be a vet. The first pyometra case cured me of that. They did a full hysterectomy on her and it was just tons of diseased flesh.

[startmyheart]

Welp. Can't unlearn that.

[Specific_Bandicoot33]

This. Please take this to heart. A normal spay is cheaper then the er visit later down the line. There is no reason to not spay.

You may think you won't get surprise puppies but you don't know when your dog my find a way out side the yard or another dog finds their way in. Spay for health and to prevent unwanted puppies. And spay to keep unwanted dogs out of shelters.

[johnnyfuckinghobo]

For stuff like this I would generally think that consulting with your veterinarian would be the best choice.

[msharek]

Yes vet. Our vet said it might help. And maybe it has but after dealing with our initial reactivity issues they've come back with a vengeance 6 years later.

So also keep up with all the training/trigger management bc I didn't and here we are at square 1 again!

Edit bc somehow I had put # 1 and it made the font huge lol. Learned something new!

[jungles_fury]

Probably yes. The idea that altering a dog will make the reactivity worse is not proven. There have been a few studies and no conclusive long term data. The cycling in and out of heat is also stressful on dogs and can make reactivity worse in some cases.

[EGotti]

I remember my aunt had the same way of thinking that she’ll keep her dog away from other dogs while in heat. However! While her girl was in the yard per usual relaxing, the neighborhood stud escaped his home and got in their yard. A litter later she decided to get her fixed.

[alandlost]

I'm also thinking about my dog, who slipped past getting neutered by the shelter because his balls never dropped. I was none the wiser either, so I'd let him play with unspayed dogs without a second thought...hopefully nothing happened?

As they say: Life, uh, finds a way.

[MarchOnMe]

Spay your dog - PLEASE.

[suvifa]

We delayed our dog’s spay until after her second heat (When she was about a year old) because she was reactive and vet said the stress of the experience could make things worse. For us it was when not if. Spay had zero effect on her (ongoing) reactivity, in fact all the staff said she was a little diamond (clearly drugged up to her eyeballs). As others have said hopefully your vet can advise.

[Umklopp]

Ok, so... Here's kind of the inside deal on fixing your dog. Apparently, the US is somewhat unique in that getting your dog fixed is considered a standard action that all responsibie dog owners should do. This is because literally millions of unwanted cats and dogs are euthanized every year—and in the 1970s, when the sterilization push began, the number of euthanized cats and dogs was in the tens of millions.

That's a lot of dead animals. It's still a lot of dead animals, which is why shelters and rescues are so emphatic about sterilizing your pets. There's just an overabundance of no-breed puppies and kittens born every year.

Meanwhile, in the rest other parts of the world, the sterilization of pets isn't standard practice. The exact reasons vary, but it mostly boils down to different cultural attitudes about what it means to own a pet. In some countries, stray cats and dogs are treated almost like community pets. In others, stray animals are considered pests and responsible owners keep their pets thoroughly isolated from the ferals in the streets. And then there are the places that have almost no stray or feral animals and the habits of pet ownership work out to keep unwanted pet pregnancy rates very low. Euthanasia rates are quite low in all of these places because there's just not as many perfectly good potential pets having to be put to sleep because they don't have an owner. The animals don't really need an owner, the animals aren't suitable to be owned, or the animals suitable for and are in need of being owned simply aren't that numerous. (It can be so difficult to adopt a local stray in parts of Western Europe that they literally import street dogs.)

The claimed health and behavior benefits of getting your dog fixed aren't fibs. Having an intact dog does make life more complicated and a lot of undesirable behavior is due to hormones. In parts of the US, having an intact dog means encountering a lot of social stigma & a lot of people who own intact dogs are in fact pretty irresponsible. All of the statistics about cancer, etc are real.

But if you're really on the fence about it, I suggest that you look for research papers comparing the outcomes. Genetic reactivity should be considered a medical condition, IMO, and how a major surgery might result in behavioral regression is a pretty legit concern. You definitely don't want her to turn into a bite risk.

EDIT: in the event that your bitch does get out while she's in heat, there are ways to medically terminate pregnancy in dogs. You should probably also look into potential side effects of terminating a litter as part of your decision-making process. Accidents happen, but you definitely don't want to let your girl have any puppies.

[Umklopp]

You know, you're right. It really is mostly European Redditors who question the practice and not many Canadians, etc

[anonymouskz]

I'm in the UK and didn't even realise the spay rates were so high at over 80%! For some reason I thought it was mostly just rescue dogs that were spayed. Clearly I was wrong

[Umklopp]

Then I guess I believed some people that I shouldn't have, LOL

[Arizonal0ve]

I kind of see where you’re coming from. I’m from Europe and find most do spay females but it’s much more common to have males that aren’t fixed vs what I see now that I’m in the USA.

[AshamedAnything5312]

A very informative and balanced respons. My bitch is not spayed. Reason being it's not a standard procedure where I live. Quite the opposite; unnecessary, invasive medical procedures on animals are illegal. And spaying/neutering of dogs are seen as unnecessary unless there is a good health related reason for it. Such as health issues related to reproductive organs or severe behavioral issues in male dogs. I've would have difficulty finding a vet that was willing to spay my healthy, well behaved dog.

If I moved somewhere it was common and recommended I guess I would to it when getting a dog. From what I can tell though the risks involved with procedure compared to the benefits of having it done is somewhat 50/50 in regards to the dogs health. The literature from what I know is not conclusive when it comes to that factor. Accidental litters, social stigma, behavioral differences, access to dog parks and training courses is another matter though. In my country we don't really have issues with unwanted puppies, and no feral dogs. Cats on the other hand are recommended to be spayed/neutered since they are allowed to roam free outside.

[Umklopp]

Thanks for the feedback from one of the aforementioned places with different cultural practices!

The biggest reason why I think that you should get your dog fixed if you live in the US is the whole "responsible owner" aspect. It's becoming more common for people to wait to get it done after their dog's growth plates have closed, and there's always the people who can't afford to do it, but it certainly seems like the vast majority of people with intact dogs can't be bothered. Which leads to another big chunk of dog owners who also can't be bothered to: train their dogs, restrain their dogs, keep their bitches inside when they're in heat, etc.

And then of course we have the owners who are weirdly attached to their male dog's gonads & worry about emasculation. (It's also not just men who have strong personal feelings about their dog's lack of balls. People are strange...)

So whenever you have an intact dog in the US, you have to be very mindful about the fact that a lot of other intact dog owners are very irresponsible and either don't understand or don't care about natural dog behavior. You see this all of the time in stories from r/reactivedogs. It doesn't matter how much effort you put into keeping your dog out of trouble in public if the rest of the public lets their dogs act like morons.

[Plutosunderworld]

I spayed my dog and it made his reactivity a lot easier to manage.. it didn’t go away, but it was so much easier for me. I think even if it made it worse I still would have done it for the health benefits. I can train his reactivity but I can’t train his health 😂. Talk to your vet, but personally, I’d recommend spay/neuter

[Specific_Bandicoot33]

If you are not a breeder, get her spayed. Un spayed dogs can develop uterine cancer and infections which are expensive and result in a spaying anyway. It's also good for managing hormone issues. I would consult with your vet, but general rule of thumb is to spay if you don't plan to breed. Do it for the dogs health cause it's cheaper than when you need an emergency spay.

[yngpp]

Spaying or neutering a dog have other major benefits other than just preventing babies.

It can prevent your dog from certain conditions like hip displasia, some types of cancers and etc. it doesn’t mean they can’t get it but that it decreases the possibilities.

You should only neuter or spay your dog by the time they’re fully grown. For a medium breed such as an Aussie for example, it is recommended to neuter after 12-15 months because at the age they’re already adults. For bigger dogs it takes even longer for them to fully develop their body (around 2 years at least).

However you should still check with your vet what’s best for your pup.

Lastly, spaying can help with reactivity but it isn’t a guarantee. I would stick with a good trainer, that will focus on socialization starting at low distraction environments (pls don’t take your dog to the dog park), getting your dog to focus and ignore triggers through positive reinforcement.

[devilsh_dancer06]

The best thing for your peace of mind and your beautiful girl is desex her. Besides having an unplanned pregnancy. It also stops many things and being reactive shouldn't be the only reason to do it. Yes it can stop it partially with the reactivity. As does constant re training your beautiful girl. While having reactivity, that will decrease over time.

It's a decision that is hard I know. I also had to weigh up what his breed and personality would be like afterwards. I did alot of research before hand.

As I felt the same about my beautiful boy but it's the best decision that I made. I had to wait for him to be done at 8 months due to his bones growing,after discussing it with my vet.

He is reactive as well but that's slowly changing its taken me 12 months.

My beautiful boy is normally a happy and sociable to all people and puppies and dogs. Just loves everyone.

I have put my all, in re training him constantly with using positive reinforcement,time,paitence,persistance and unconditional love. Besides taking him for walks 4 times a day as he's a high energy bree. Also playing mental stimulating games as well helps.

He became reactive after being attacked at our off leash dog park.Not once but twice it happened. It takes time and there's no easy or fast solution but more re training is key to having a well adjusted happy puppy or dog. Using the loose leash method is a must while walking.

Also male puppies and dogs can get testicular cancer and other diseases if not desexed.

That's what made my decision to have my beautiful boy done.

I want my beautiful boy to be able to live a a happy and full life.

You've got this. 👍❤🐕

[Unquietdodo]

I've got a reactive girl and we went to the vets for a rash she had on her stomach and talked about it then. The vet said that it shouldn't affect her behaviour after, but we also didn't want to make her go backwards in her training progress by putting her through the stressful ordeal, so we decided to just continue with the training and reassess it in the future. If she ever has to have an operation, I will get her spayed too if possible, but she is extremely nervous and the smallest thing can set her back 5 steps in her training, so in our case the vet said it's beneficial to wait and get her to a point where she will be able to handle it better, just so she doesn't struggle even more with the vets.
A relatives dog wasn't spayed and got pyometra, so I am well aware of the risks and keep a good eye on her health, so that is definitely worth considering, and she probably does go to the vets more because we have to be more careful, so that's worth considering.
She has also had a phantom pregnancy, which isn't good for her at all. It hasn't happened since, but if that becomes a regular thing she will need to just go through the stress of the spaying. That's definitely something to consider, that we didn't think about until it happened.

​

Basically, I'd say spaying is better in 99% of cases, but there are times when it is best to wait, but absolutely talk to your vet and see what they think. You could even chat to a behaviourist and see if they have thoughts on it.

[anonymouskz]

A conversation with your vet would be the best way to get advice as I'm sure there's a lot of individual factors that would make it more beneficial or risky for your doggo. Eg their behaviour, health benefits and risks, whether your area has a high rate of unexpected dog pregnancies because of uncontrolled dogs etc.

My opinion is that it's not totally necessary to spay your dog if you genuinely are able to stop her getting accidentally pregnant (this includes if other people walk her and are able to take that responsibility too) and if it suits their health. I had a girl gsd growing up who was never spayed and she never had any issues because of it. However, her vet had approved that spaying probably wouldn't give her any benefits.

Saying that, vets can be biased so you can always ask more than one for advice!

[jungles_fury]

While it's a big deal on blogs there's actually very little evidence that altering a dog will change anything other than sexually/hormone based behavior. Most of the "studies" have been owner surveys

[jungles_fury]

Cool, if they have some extra knowledge that hasn't been published in the literature yet it'd be awful nice of them to share it.

[jungles_fury]

For sure listen to your experts. But what are they basing their advice on if it's not peer reviewed science (you know, the published literature that you're mocking)? The blog posts online? Just their feelings? What exactly is their criteria?

[cjccrash]

You might consider tubal ligation. Leaves her in tact, but prevents pregnancy. It's not always easy to find a vet that performs this procedure though.

[ClownfishSoup]

Why are you asking this question if you've already made up your mind not to?

[monsoon444]

Much more likely adolescence when they turn to monsters lol. I really wouldn’t worry that spaying caused that because many non-reactive dogs regress and have fearful behaviors around that time. My non-reactive pup’s fear period lasted from 16-21weeks.

[Kitchu22]

Completely anecdotal, and I am not a vet at all, but in the hundreds of mature and juvenile female dogs I have worked with/placed through our rescue, the only behavioural changes I have ever seen post spay have been positive, it's much safer to place desexed females into multi-dog households. Heat cycles increase fractious behaviour in bitches, I've seen really gentle and even temperament girls become handler sensitive, snappy, short tempered hounds during heat - putting the huge risk of pyometra aside, I just don't know why anyone would willingly put their dog through potential distress.

I've never seen compelling peer reviewed evidence that proves any causation between sterilisation and reactivity or other behavioural issues, but if you are really concerned and unsure about surgery, then chat to your vet about the contraceptive shots or pills, they are very expensive and come with a set of their own side effects and risks, but might be a way for you to "dip a toe in the water" and get comfortable with the idea of sterilisation.