I am so, so, so, so, so glad that I waited until over a year to spay Noire. And also very glad that she's spayed, even if the longevity isn't the same. I don't think I could have lived with Crow and Noire going into heat.
(For those who have no idea what I'm talking about, my neutered at 8 months standard poodle Crow went absolutely BATSHIT hormonal when my doberman went into heat, and was, to put it mildly, sort of a pain in the ass about humping her, peeing on every air molecule outside, completely incapable of listening, and threatening every other male dog he saw, even if she wasn't there. It was charming.)
I wouldn't consider myself an idiot, but I wouldn't say that I am up on all the newest dog health research.
Either way, I think they are risks and benefits to both as well.
Until I am ready to commit to conformation shows I am going to continue to have altered pets. I have never dealt with a dog or bitch who had all their parts. And since I will be actually owning my first puppy, I want to be as comfortable as possible since I already have a LOT to learn.
That being said, if I was getting a dog, I would definitely consider leaving him intact more than I would for a bitch.
I am certainly not against de-sexing. And like you, I think having an intact bitch might be more trouble than it's worth. But especially for a dog who is going to be hard on his body (which to my mind includes most any whippet--ours are very hard on their bodies just playing because their playing is done at REALLY HIGH speeds), I personally would absolutely now wait until that dog was at least one year old.
Audrey is the first female I've ever had who has been allowed to go into heat. It was a bitch, let me tell you, especially being in heat during her first road trip/dog show, but the benefits have been tremendous. She looks amazing, she's finally putting on weight, and her temperament is lovely.
Is all of that related to her being intact, maybe, maybe not, but it sure is changing my views on spaying/neutering especially s/n SUPER early. I sincerely regret not letting Mackenzie have at least one heat and I think maybe I should have waited longer to have her fixed. With April we didn't have a choice (rescue) and she looks like she was fixed straight out of the womb (her junk is ittybitty).
Spencer was neutered at around 10mo and he is a peeing/marking/male-dog-aggressive machine. But then again, I don't really plan on having any male dogs in the future...
I think I should have waited longer for Faith, too. :/ Also, based on my (limited) experience with Joey and the intact and neutered males of people I know, there's a whole lot of correlation between testicles and being an obnoxious jerk.
I think I'm colored by the fact that I've worked with dogs more from the rescue standpoint - and therefore a less-than-well-educated population of pet owners, but I agree with whoever above said that spuetering should be the default position. I think that it's okay to do with your dog whatever you please - but only after education. And I'd rather send a puppy out the door of a shelter after it's been altered "too young" than see its litters come in the door less than a year later, you know?
That said, I will probably never have a puppy and always get an adult something or other from a shelter or pound so this is kind of moot for me, but if I do ever get a puppy, it will no doubt be a giant breed - probably a Dane and probably a male - and I would leave spaying and neutering for a while to let the hormones do their growing work.
I totally get that someone with a background working with rescue or shelters will probably have a different perspective than me, and I do think that spay/neuter is the smart choice for many people. But I'm annoyed that you have to search to get that education about the pros and cons. I wish more people a) believed that there are reasons not to alter an animal and b) realized that owners of intact animals != irreponsible owners or backyard breeders. I so wish I'd let Faith be for longer before having her spayed.
I agree with that, to a certain extent. This is going to sound crazy rude and snobby and elitist and etcetc of me, butttttt I'll say it anyway. I believe in education. Any subject, relating to anything - education is key.
But when it comes to certain things, people latch on to the opposite-of-smart-for-them viewpoint just because it backs up what they want to do, rather than should. And I'm not lumping you into this, obviously, nor am I including the vast majority of active-in-LJ-dog-communities people we both know. But some people will take that information and use it as an excuse for a litter or two, or say that's why they aren't getting their animal altered and then be irresponsible and allow oops litters to happen. Does this make any sense? And I don't just mean with dogs, I mean...well, any subject, relating to anything
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(For those who have no idea what I'm talking about, my neutered at 8 months standard poodle Crow went absolutely BATSHIT hormonal when my doberman went into heat, and was, to put it mildly, sort of a pain in the ass about humping her, peeing on every air molecule outside, completely incapable of listening, and threatening every other male dog he saw, even if she wasn't there. It was charming.)
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Either way, I think they are risks and benefits to both as well.
Until I am ready to commit to conformation shows I am going to continue to have altered pets. I have never dealt with a dog or bitch who had all their parts. And since I will be actually owning my first puppy, I want to be as comfortable as possible since I already have a LOT to learn.
That being said, if I was getting a dog, I would definitely consider leaving him intact more than I would for a bitch.
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Is all of that related to her being intact, maybe, maybe not, but it sure is changing my views on spaying/neutering especially s/n SUPER early. I sincerely regret not letting Mackenzie have at least one heat and I think maybe I should have waited longer to have her fixed. With April we didn't have a choice (rescue) and she looks like she was fixed straight out of the womb (her junk is ittybitty).
Spencer was neutered at around 10mo and he is a peeing/marking/male-dog-aggressive machine. But then again, I don't really plan on having any male dogs in the future...
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That said, I will probably never have a puppy and always get an adult something or other from a shelter or pound so this is kind of moot for me, but if I do ever get a puppy, it will no doubt be a giant breed - probably a Dane and probably a male - and I would leave spaying and neutering for a while to let the hormones do their growing work.
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But when it comes to certain things, people latch on to the opposite-of-smart-for-them viewpoint just because it backs up what they want to do, rather than should. And I'm not lumping you into this, obviously, nor am I including the vast majority of active-in-LJ-dog-communities people we both know. But some people will take that information and use it as an excuse for a litter or two, or say that's why they aren't getting their animal altered and then be irresponsible and allow oops litters to happen. Does this make any sense? And I don't just mean with dogs, I mean...well, any subject, relating to anything ( ... )
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