[HelloToYou]

I've attempted to do some reading on spay and neutering practices. It seemed to me that if people have health concerns when hormones are out of balance, completely desexing a dog would also have negative consequences. I found some pretty mixed things and it seems you can find things to support whatever stance you want to take. It seems, however, that newer research is starting to support either later spay or ovary sparing spay. I'm looking at getting a female when I get a dog and I'm considering whether to get an ovary sparing spay or spay on the later side. Ovary sparing spay would mean dealing with heat cycles but no blood whereas late spay would mean heat cycles with blood for a number of years followed by no heat cycles. I'm not sure if one or the other is better for the dog or if it's about equal.

 

[annageckos]

I'll be getting Freyja an ovary sparing spay soon, next month I think. They aren't very commonly done here, but my vet has done a few. She did one for the receptionist dog, there. Traditional vets are less likely to have done any or even be willing to do them. I've made a list of pros and cons, but I think I may have thrown it out already. Freyja has already been through two heat cycles and her personality stays the same, so I'm not too worried about that. I'll just make sure not to take her out to the market or stores for those couple weeks she is in heat. I know I'll have to manage her a little bit differently, but it's worth it to me.

 

[HelloToYou]

I'll have to see if there's a closer vet, but I know of one that I'd be willing to travel to for an ovary sparing spay.

 

[Kyllobernese]

Bonnie, my Golden Doodle is in heat right now. She is eight months old so I will let her have one or two heats before I get her spayed. As I have a couple of male dogs, I just do the standard spay as the males would still bother her with any other type. Also that is all the Vets around here do and I have never had any problem with it. My males are not neutered and won't be.

 

[annageckos]

I have one intact male and one neutered male. It's the neutered male that is a pest to Freyja. I'm not sure why Shorty hasn't shown any interest at all in Freyja when she is in heat. She has gone through two of them so far. He is older, so he could just have lower testosterone. But the odd thing about Shorty is that he had never shown any interest in an female other than Nevada. She was spayed. He was always bothering her. Either way I feel that the hormones are important for Freyja, that is why I want the OSS done for her. I might feel differently if I had a different breed, but this will be my first OSS. I haven't had any issues with her during her heat cycles so I feel confident going with it for her.

 

[HelloToYou]

Sooo... any advice on how to find an unspayed female that is not from a breeder or a puppy mill? It seems that even if you come across a 2 month old puppy from a shelter or rescue, the puppy has already been desexed. I would like a mixed breed and I'm interested in the following types of breeds: Australian shepherd, border collie, German shepherd, spitz type breeds. I have some flexibility but there are definite breed types I do NOT want and I would prefer a medium sized intelligent dog.

Edit: Don't answer that; I'll start a new thread for it.