General Care and Nursing - Spaying and neutering

Correcting bad habits If your dog is a female, you will want to decide whether or not she should be spayed. Spaying , or overiohysterctomy, is the removal of the ovaries, uterus, and cervix. It is an operation often performed to prevent a female from being bred and having puppies. Spaying does away with the female’s three weeks “ season” which attracts male dogs to her. During her season, which occurs approximately every six months. You would have to keep her confined indoors or board her a kennel to keep her form being accidentally bred.

The best time to spay a female is before her first heat period, or when she is between six and eight months old. The operation can be performed at any age, but the earlier it is done, the simpler the procedure is. At this age, healing, takes about one week, and from two to three weeks, the patient is back to normal. At first, however, physical exertion, particularly running up the stairs and jumping, should be avoided.

If your dog is a male, and you do not want him to sire puppies, he can be neutered or castrated. Neutering, or orchiectomy, is a procedure involving the tying of the spermatic cords and the removal of the testicles. The best time to perform this operation is when a male is between six and eight months old, before he becomes sexually mature and before bad habits are established.
Spaying and neutering tend to make dogs less aggressive, more contented and affectionate. Males are less likely to roam and get into fights. On the average , spayed and neutered dogs live longer and healthier lives. Almost half of the unspayed females develop breast and ovarian tumours as they age. Spaying (especially before the first heat) greatly reduced the risks of breast cancer and uterine and ovarian disease. As unneutered males mature, they frequently suffer from enlarged prostateglands, tumors, or cancer of the prostate. Neutering lowers these risks.

What are the disadvantages of spaying and neutering? Altered animals are ineligible to complete in the show ring. Naturally a female can never give birth, and a male can never sire puppies; for those who desire a dog merely as a pet, companion, watchdog, or guard, however, these things are not disadvantages. On the other hand, if you should plan to enter your dog in shows, or to breed your female or use +your male at stud at some later time, then certainly she should not be spayed and he should not neutered.