To Spay Or Not To Spay?

[Carly]

As Skye is quickly approaching 6 months old and I am aware that we will be having her first season soon. I always said that I wanted her to have a litter of puppies in a few years time, I thought it would be nice for her, probably because I’ve always heard people say that its “only fairâ€, but I have been thinking…why is it fair? Its not like she would know any different would she?

 

Then I got to thinking of all the possible things that could go wrong…now I’m no dummy and I have the benefit of having been to vet school (though I didn’t finish, long story and not for this thread) so I have some knowledge should anything happen, but I’d be devastated if I lost Skye.

 

Also, one of my sisters girls had pups (albeit they were shih tzu’s) and she said it was a nightmare with 8 of them running round and having to be sure they were going to good homes, not to mention the 36 hours solid they were up birthing and the month they had off work with them all….oh and Milly (the mum) was quite poorly and needed treatment afterwards. So this has also put me off a bit, I don’t mind the hardwork and time off from this job would be great but again, in the back of my mind I wonder if its fair to put Skye through that?

 

So my question here is, should I get her spayed? 

[mydiamond]

Spaying or not is ultimately your choice, but in response to your question whether it is fair to put Skye through the hassle of pregnancy, I'd say "no". Giving birth is painful and risky. If she's not doing her breed any good by making that "sacrifice", why does she need to do it? Not to mention, the number of people who would AND could adopt a Husky pup is very, very little. You'd have a hard time finding even one, let alone eight

[BingBlaze n Skyla]

This is the best link about breeding you can find - http://www.woodhavenlabs.com/breeding/breeder2.html my dad wanted to breed skyla but I luckily changed him mind, if she needed a c-section we wouldn't be able to afford it, if anything happened to skyla n we ended up loosing her I don't know what I'd do , but I'd never have spoke to my dad again it's not really worth the risk imo even if that risk is small.

[Keeonah]

The current climate  around the breeding of huskies would suggest that it's not a good idea at the moment.  I have been through it with Sasha and I would never ever do it again. We had a nightmare trying to look after the pups, you then have the hassle of getting proper contracts drawn up, you then have to find suitable and responsible owners for them. Where do you sell them? The obvious place is the internet. What are people advised, don't buy from people on the internet. The biggest headache is making sure you have the right people buying your pups. This can still go wrong even with all your safeguards in place. We had this problem but thanks to circumstances we managed to get one of our pups back. We still have her and she will be going nowhere. Ultimately it is your decision as to whether you want to breed with her but, there are enough registered breeders out there to cope with demand and she doesn't need to have a litter to make her life complete.

 

Gary.

[Carly]

thanks for your responses guys, i've been thinking about it for the last few weeks so its been on my mind, i think i just needed my "husky family" to confirm my thoughts that breeding Skye wasn't the right thing for her more than anything 

[Andy]

We waited until Daughtry was fully grown.

She was just over 2 years old and had had 3 seasons.

We never had any intention of breeding, we just wanted her fully grown

and her hormonal cycles properly bedded in.

It didn't change her personality she has always been a quiet shy dog.

Although she did become more affectionate towards us humans.

[mydiamond]

This is the best link about breeding you can find - http://www.woodhavenlabs.com/breeding/breeder2.html my dad wanted to breed skyla but I luckily changed him mind, if she needed a c-section we wouldn't be able to afford it, if anything happened to skyla n we ended up loosing her I don't know what I'd do , but I'd never have spoke to my dad again it's not really worth the risk imo even if that risk is small.

 

Nix I almost cried reading that link I need to translate it to Indonesian, print it, fold it into paper planes and throw it to every home in my neighborhood

[BingBlaze n Skyla]

Nix I almost cried reading that link I need to translate it to Indonesian, print it, fold it into paper planes and throw it to every home in my neighborhood

it's quite a graphic link isn't it :-( but gets the point across even if it is brutally honest

[mydiamond]

We need brutality like that sometimes or else people would wave it off. I always try to mention the risks of breeding but people are always like "my friend/neighbor/sister/brother/whoever breeds their dog and nothing goes wrong". What the heck that's almost like saying "person A stole a bike and didn't get into jail so I'm gonna steal a bike too!". I mean... how can they guarantee what their acquaintance experienced is gonna happen to them as well?

[loudlucky]

Don't think I want to put Smokey through all that either, and besides Vets cost enough here just for shots or a checkup so I wouldn't be able to afford it if something goes wrong...

[Chula]

We spayed Chula, though my other half thought the same way - that we were somehow robbing her of her right to have a litter. But I felt really strongly about spaying her. Not only do I not know how to take care of a pregnant dog, but I would have felt strange about selling puppies. Like I was using my pet to make money. And if you're just going to adopt out the puppies anyway, what good does it do her to have a litter? She doesn't get to keep them. So unless you're planning on keeping all the puppies, you'd really be doing it for you, and not for her.

Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk

[Removed #5]

Carly, good for rethinking that!  I've heard that "they need to have a litter" or "they need to sire a litter" line so many times... in either case, does anyone seriously think that the dog really gains anything from adding to the shelter population or, in the case of a male, "getting his jollies" (I can think of several other ways to phrase that, but family forum and all ...)

 

The only consideration I personally give the issue is to wait till they're mature (in the case of a Husky, that's around 2ish) so that they're fully developed.  Some, males mostly, end up being lean and lanky rather than filling out (I think that's the case with Avalanche, his frame could easily support another 20-30 pounds but he's just an overgrown lanky puppy!)

 

In Sasha's case - she was a literal "off the streets" rescue - I waited six months after I got her to give her owner a chance to reclaim her intact, then after she came in heat I had her spayed, I don't need or want a litter of mixed breed puppies!

[Carly]

You have all been absolute stars with your responses today and I have now totally made up my mind....I'm going to get my little darling spayed and have enquired at the vets this afternoon.

Mitch did try and throw a spanner in the works however and said if we waited to breed her til he had retired in five years then he would be home to do the caring and we'd keep one afterwards. I have totally vetoed this and explained to him that I just don't want to take the chance of anything going wrong at any point at the beginning, during or after. He's agreed, but to be honest he knows better than to argue with a redhead lol

[Jakeo]

Glad to see you've chosen to spay! It always boggles my mind how some people say it isn't fair to the dogs to not breed them.. How is it fair to get them pregnant and make them go through all that?? I think too many people "humanize" their dogs - they are not people! Your female dog does not care if she has pups in her lifetime or not. They do not think the same way about "raising a family" as we do.

I mean really, what woman WANTS to go through pregnancy. The reason we do it is because we keep the baby and raise it for years and they become a part of our family and lives. What do dogs do with pups? Have them then watch them get sold 8 weeks later. Even if some stay, they don't have the same mommy-child relationship we have.

And then all the possibilities of things that can go wrong is simply frightening, from stuck pups to not-so-motherly mothers eating the pups. I simply couldn't do it.

 

Aside from the whole breeding thing - it's still beneficial to spay if you're not breeding to reduce her chance of mammary cancer or uterine infections/pyometras later in life.

[Hazy]

What about the boys? What are the benefits? 

 

I understand that it's way better to spay the females but what about the males?

[Removed #5]

What about the boys? What are the benefits? 

 

I understand that it's way better to spay the females but what about the males?

 

You don't want to spay them ... it's rough on them .....

 

But, a bit more seriously, it's better for them in the long run.  It does deter some cancers (you can't get cancer there if there is not there).  It also tends to mellow them out some, they aren't as apt to try to get out to get some female who's in heat.

[Jakeo]

Basically what Al said above. Also less pee if done before they get into that habit. And the trying to get to females part is pretty important. Many will physically hurt themselves to try and get to one, whether it's tearing through a wire fence or scratching all 4 feet to a bloody pulp trying to dig through concrete. We hear of a lot of non neutered dogs going missing during springtime - they'll hop the fence and run off in search of the ladies. Hormones drive them crazy.

[mydiamond]

What about the boys? What are the benefits? 

 

I understand that it's way better to spay the females but what about the males?

 

I have a boy and used to think of breeding him. Benefits:

 

- No chance of testicular and/or prostate cancer

- Less agitated at the presence of female dogs (does yours mark inside the house or would jump over mountains to meet his Aphrodite? )

- In general, a chance to get a calmer dog. A chance.

 

Last but definitely not least:

- Offering your male as a stud dog, without doing health checks or acquiring show/working titles, means you are supporting female dog owners to take all those risks listed in Nixy's link.

[Dan]

You'd probably get more replies if you started your own thread for this, though there's already a whole bunch of similar threads. Spaying is generally the term used for females

Edited January 3, 2015 by Dan

[BingBlaze n Skyla]

I have a 7.5 month old male puppy and I'm still conflicted about neutering him or keeping him intact. He's a calm boy and will let other dogs know when they overstep their boundaries with him. But he's never been aggressive so far and is a cuddly monster with my hubby. Difficult to make the right choice. We have no intention of breeding him though...

At 7.5 months old he's still a puppy so I wouldn't recommend it anyway , wait till he's around 2 years old then think about it , it's best to let them grow and nature first , my boy was the same at that age , hit his teenage stage then changed to the point I was scared of him n thought he would actually bite me , got him neutered and he's back to being a calm soft cuddly loving dog :-) not saying yours will be the same but definitely wait it out a bit first

[elenamarie]

I can't count the times people have said I should've bred Sarah and it always makes me angry. First, she's not precisely breed standard and therefore isn't appropriate breeding stock. Second, breeding Siberians is a risky proposition due to the extreme genetic bottleneck created at the opening of the AKC studbook. A serious breeder spends a lot of time researching the other dog's lineage to ensure that the breeding isn't going to result in the perpetuation of genetic problems due to consaguinuity. Third, I would be responsible for the lives of each pup she produced over each pup's lifetime. Am I financially and physically prepared to take back every pup, retrain each pup to address problems created by the buyer, and provide all the necessaries for five or six or eight Siberians? NO!

 

I waited until Sarah's first heat cycle to finish before spaying her because I wanted to be certain that the growth plates on her tibia (I think, it's early) had closed and she would be less susceptible to hip problems later in life. I had to carry an electric stun gun each time I took her outside to keep the mutts who run around the area away from Sarah (my front yard became the most popular place for unaltered male dogs within a mile circumference.) It was a very unpleasant experience for Sarah and me.

 

You've made the right decision IMO.