# Neutering?



## RiverRun (Jun 29, 2011)

Okay, the big question that I have been bouncing around my head for a while. Should I fix my dog...or at least when should I? 


I have a 9 month old female chihuahua that needs to be spayed. She has yet to go into heat, which is good for me because I do not have money to fix her right now. Although, I have been trying to figure out, in the long run, is it truly worth it? How many health risks are there really if you do or dont fix them? What about the risks of fixing them too early or too late? Up until this point, every single dog/cat I have had has been fixed. Now that I am more into the holistic/homeopathic approach, I am questioning everything that people do or give to their dogs. 
Another factor that is making me reconsider things, is I will have to give her all of her vaccines unless I use the spay and neuter clinic(Which is very dangerous). She has never had a single vaccine and I would much rather keep it that way; so unless I can find a vet that will do it with just a rabies, I am not sure I will get her spayed anyway.

Any thoughts on this? All opinions and advice welcome!


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

i can only offer my opinion.....i spay and neuter all of my dogs.....and i do it when the vet tells me they are mature enough physically....usually between a year and 18 months....

i spay and neuter in case my dog gets away from me, breaks the leash and goes on a little journey of lust and good times....in which case, someone's female is going to get preggers and i won't know about it, or my female will get preggers and i will know about it and i won't like it one bit and it will be my own fault because i should have spayed and/or neutered  just for that reason alone....


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## tansox (Jun 22, 2011)

I neuter all of my canines, because there are too many accidental matings and rescue centres are full to bursting point of "accidents". As my dogs are rescues, I don't - and will not, add to these ever increasing numbers.


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## chowder (Sep 7, 2008)

My MIL did not spay her three dogs when I first married into the family. All three of them had mammary tumors by the time they were 9 years old. They then had to have the mammary tumors removed, and be spayed at that age. 

I have always spayed my girl pups. I have no intention of becoming a breeder and I certainly don't want to risk one getting out and getting pregnant. I also don't want all the boy dogs in the neighborhood hanging around and I want to be able to take them on long walks thru the neighborhood without attracting a lot of unwanted male attention. 

The boy dogs also get neutered. I've seen male dogs come in for treatment because they broke through windows, screen doors, etc, and ran off to find the neighborhood girl in heat. I also had an unneutered male dog run off when I was a kid and we never were able to find him. It was heartbreaking then and I don't ever want to repeat that. 

If you're a breeder with a well secured kennel where no 'mistakes' can happen, then I could see not spaying or neutering.


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## Maxy24 (Mar 5, 2011)

This is a study I see used on a lot of dog forums that sums up the risks and benefits of neutering. It also talks about how the age of getting a dog neutered makes a difference as does the breed of the dog.

http://www.naiaonline.org/pdfs/longtermhealtheffectsofspayneuterindogs.pdf

But that only takes health into account. If you are not willing to do everything in your power to keep your dog from getting pregnant and are not willing to abort the litter if that does happen, then my personal opinion is that you should spay the dog. But it's not my dog so that's easy for me to say. You also must be willing to deal with heats and the behavior or your dog (and other dogs in the house) that occur when she is in heat. I don't know if there are any increases in behavioral tendencies in intact females (like humping and indoor marking with males) but if there are you'd need to be willing to put in the extra effort to manage or train away those behaviors.


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## Liz (Sep 27, 2010)

I agree with Re - if this is not a dog being shown or potentially a good breed representative to be bred I would get them spayed and neutered. I would wait at least a year but the 18 months old really gives them time to mature. Females worry because I have lost a girl to pyometra, boys drive me crazy with marking but that is more a training issue. I commend you on caring for their health and fi you can wait the 18 months that would probably be best for them and your peace of mind. We have to watch like a hawk when my girls are in season - it is a lot of work and responsibility.


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## RiverRun (Jun 29, 2011)

thank you so much for the replies. I do believe that I will get her spayed, albeit not in the immediate future. I can handle females in heat(and the moodiness that comes with it) but I honestly do not think that I could handle my own dog going into heat twice a year for 13+ years...that is pushing it, lol. I will have to find a vet that I trust, not only with the vaccine issue, but also surgically seeing as she only weighs 3 lbs. I have worked with way too many vets who have overdosed dogs during surgeries. 

Another question regarding this matter, what about raw fed dogs that are not altered? Do they still face the same risks, or are they lowered because of the species appropriate diet? Any experience with this?


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## CorgiPaws (Mar 31, 2009)

I will not get into if you should or shouldn't, because that's already been touched on... what I will say is that IF you don't... you MUST MUST MUST be far more cautious than most people realize. This means, never leaving your dog in your yard if you are not home AND watching. This means (if female) at LEAST two doors between her and the big bad world any time she is in heat. This means being smart about dog parks. This means your walks are leashed, and secure. (for example, by girls are crated [door 1] in a bedroom [door 2] in my basement [door 3] if they are in heat so they're 4 doors away from my males [4th being the male's crate] and the outside world [4th being front door])

Not every in tact animal is going to contribute to the hundreds of litters of unplanned puppies but brushing it off as something that just won't happen to you isn't wise. I have a neighbor with an intact Boxer... I actually talked to them quite a bit when I moved in and have walked Annie with them a few times. I warned them that I have females that are not spayed, and that I'm sure other people do too, and leaving him in the back yard all day while they are at work isn't wise. A male will hurt themselves trying to escape!

Well, not more than two weeks ago, they got a call from a family three miles away, who came home to find this Boxer tied with their female pit who was left in their backyard. He chewed through their wood fence, had a face full up cuts and splinters, dug under their chainlink, and had himself a grand ole time. 
They're lucky he wasn't hit by a car on his chase to that girly aroma. I have nothing against people that keep their animals in tact, but had these TWO owners been responsible... there wouldn't be an unwanted litter on the way. He should have been kept inside while unsupervised. She should have been crated, two doors away from society. 

Just food for thought.


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## Love my lab (Dec 9, 2010)

Seeing as you got some good responses I will say it is all in the mind of a resposible owner. My pup is 16 months...just finished her 2nd heat...both lasting 19 days. Alot of days to be diapering a dog but I didnt want blood dripping all over the house...and she bled from day one to day end. I know each dog bleeds different though. Her moods didn't seem to change to much during the heats. I did notice her getting hot more easy though. Prob hormone thing I would say. My reasons for not spaying her was because she had vaginitus and vet recommened we wait through 1st heat to flush her out. I thought I better spay her before her 2nd heat so I made the appt. and days before it she ended up getting a horriable rash from arm pits down so I cancelled. All of this happening has been a blessing to me because through alot of recent reads I have discovered about bone/ligament maturity and how going through a few heats can help that along. I am waiting until she hits the 18 month mark and making sure she is spayed before her 3rd heat due in or around december. I am not into the whole breed your dog because they are cute and wonderful, plus I know I could not handle the resposibilty of worry about who took a pup, are they carein for it like I would wish them too and also I know nothing of breeding so that leaves me with the only choice I can make for myself and my dog...spaying. Good luck w/ your decision and heat cycle. It is not really that bad to deal w/.....just how you wrap your mind around it I guess. lol


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## lucky (Jan 8, 2011)

I got lucky spayed 3 months after her first season (she does not get vaccinated either), there are quite a few un neutered males around the area I live and I couldn't risk an "accident" .. When I took her in there was a teeny tiny yorkie in the waiting room, she was there to have her spay stitches out, she couldn't have weighed more than 3lb, a good vet will weigh the dog beforehand to ensure they don't give too much anesthetic.


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## FL Cracker (May 4, 2011)

I'm waiting on my girl too (to fix)....she has not had her first heat cycle yet...and I already know that I'm going to have my hands full since the neighbor is too ignorant to fix his (out of standard, untrained, alpo fed, hair missing because of poor diet) Doberman. The first chance his dog get's to bolt out the door he takes it...and off he goes. 
When CoCo comes into heat he is going to go nut's...and even though my back yard is fortified with 4X4 posts under the fence...I still don't trust it. She will be on lead at all times...and outdoor trips will be limited to brief trips in the back yard. 
I hope that her first heat will not happen until after she is 1 year old...but we shall see.


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## Liz (Sep 27, 2010)

We have definate rules in our house when a girl is in heat. She or my male must be crated in a bedroom when the other is out in the house, usually on leash. She never, ever even for one second goes out in the yard alone, for exercise she can play with the other girls in our enclosed and covered run (solid walls to 4.5 feet and chicken wire to the roof and someone must be sitting on the porch watching the run to be 100% sure no other dog gets in the yard, no dog parks or many outings during that three weeks. When we go out girl is in my bathroom in her crate with that door, and my bedroom door close and male is across the house crated in a kids bedroom with that door closed. This system has worked for 15 years but is far from easy though so far it has been fool proof for us.


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## RiverRun (Jun 29, 2011)

I have had three of my females go into heat once or twice before spaying, thankfully all of our males always get neutered so we only had to be careful outside. I am not too worried about having a small chihuahua go into heat, after suffering through our great dane's surprise heat cycle(we were told she had already been spayed) I feel like I can tackle any breed now! lol One thing I am sure of, is 6 months is waaay too early to fix your pet. I understand that it is preventing unwanted litters and should be done in shelters and for irresponsible pet owners, but IMO a responsible pet owner should wait.


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## Catahoula (Jul 13, 2011)

tansox said:


> I neuter all of my canines, because there are too many accidental matings and rescue centres are full to bursting point of "accidents". As my dogs are rescues, I don't - and will not, add to these ever increasing numbers.


Amen to that!!!


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## schtuffy (May 17, 2010)

I had no choice but to get Louis neutered because his parents were show dogs and it was part of the contract. If I could do it over again though, I would have waited until he was at least a year old and more mature.


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

Liz said:


> We have definate rules in our house when a girl is in heat. She or my male must be crated in a bedroom when the other is out in the house, usually on leash. She never, ever even for one second goes out in the yard alone, for exercise she can play with the other girls in our enclosed and covered run (solid walls to 4.5 feet and chicken wire to the roof and someone must be sitting on the porch watching the run to be 100% sure no other dog gets in the yard, no dog parks or many outings during that three weeks. When we go out girl is in my bathroom in her crate with that door, and my bedroom door close and male is across the house crated in a kids bedroom with that door closed. This system has worked for 15 years but is far from easy though so far it has been fool proof for us.


it's called being conscientious, liz...i highly doubt you would ever have an accidental pregnancy.


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## RaisingWolves (Mar 19, 2011)

Maxy24 said:


> But that only takes health into account. If you are not willing to do everything in your power to keep your dog from getting pregnant and are not willing to abort the litter if that does happen, then my personal opinion is that you should spay the dog. But it's not my dog so that's easy for me to say. You also must be willing to deal with heats and the behavior or your dog (and other dogs in the house) that occur when she is in heat.


I couldn't agree with this more. I believe we are given hormones for a reason and do not believe early spay/neuter is in the best interest of long term health for our pets, BUT not everyone can handle an intact animal. 
You have to weigh the pros and cons and be honest with yourself. If you are not 100% certain you can prevent an accidental mating, then spay and neuter early. 

Like Liz, we had specific rules in our home when our girl came into heat. We did not have an intact male in our home but I took precautions.... Bathroom trips are made on lead even with a fenced yard. I never left her out of my sight. I never took her out the front of my house, but I was prepared for anything that may get into our backyard. Yes, I was paranoid but I checked my backyard before I took her out.


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## Dude and Bucks Mamma (May 14, 2011)

I have 2 intact males that will not be neutered in the future. Dude may as well be neutered. He doesn't even know he has them. His best buddy for years was an intact female husky who would escape her yard and come over to play. He could safely play with her even in heat (but never unsupervised!). We only have a 4 foot fence and he respects it just fine. You can call him from the other side all day and he will only pace and whine. He is very respectful of fences and will even stay confined in one of those baby pens (similar to an x pen, but plastic and with a lower height) willingly. 

I do, however, think that he is the exception. He has the mentality of a neutered male with the side effect of marking (although neutering doesn't always eliminate that. my old, neutered brittany marked anything and everything). He has 100% recall when off leash and he is a perfectly well trained gentleman. He is the only intact male that I feel comfortable letting off leash (however, I always leash up, regardless of whether a dog is still intact or not, when we see another dog coming. I feel it is just common courtesy).

Buck, on the other hand is only 3 months. We shall see if any of Dude's good manners rub off on him. Here's to hoping! I can't neuter Buck because he is a show prospect and the AKC/UKC would kick me to the curb if I showed up with a neutered dog! It is possible to show an altered dog, but they have to have a special waiver. They only allow them for things like medical issues helped by altering. And he may or may not turn out to be a roamer when he smells a bitch in heat. Time will tell. Changes will have to be made to his outdoor time should he prove to be "male". I see him jumping the fence to chase the resident raccoons before he jumps it to chase the local tail.

I, personally, would spay a female. I couldn't handle their heats. But, that is neither here nor there since I do not buy female dogs. I like my boys much better. They aren't so independent  Regardless of sex, though, I have always waited until 18 months to alter them. Do it too early and they don't fill out right. They grow taller, stay leaner (more like lanky), and have weaker bones. Allow them the 18 months and they will develop more muscle, be slightly shorter (or just right since dogs were not meant to be altered if you go by nature's standards), and have stronger bones.


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## Caty M (Aug 13, 2010)

I don't have experience with unaltered males but I agree with not altering until 18 months- 2 years is even better. I got Bishop snipped at 6 months and wish I waited. Tessie is on a spay contract and has to be done by 7 months.


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## chowder (Sep 7, 2008)

bishopthesheltie said:


> I don't have experience with unaltered males but I agree with not altering until 18 months- 2 years is even better. I got Bishop snipped at 6 months and wish I waited. Tessie is on a spay contract and has to be done by 7 months.


I would wait longer next time, too. Rocky was a rescue and it was required that he be neuterd by six months. Next time I will talk to them and convince them to let me wait longer.


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