Advice please ! Canine menstruation

[Vivienne]

Our puppy is seven & a half months old and our dog walker has said the male dogs have started to take a little more interest in her.  There are no obvious signs she has started the cycle, but I am just looking for any advice on how we cope with this phase of her life.  I have nightmares that we will be besieged with male dogs on the three walks a day she currently has.  Our dog walker says we need to go out at times when there are fewer other dogs out there but do you have to sneak out at midnight ?!  And should we take a stick to fend them off ?  Also how long will it last ?  We will look to get her neutered but our vet will not carry this out until after her first cycle.

 

Can you tell I'm a little nervous about all this ?  :o)

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

The director of my GSD Rescue group has a New Skete dog. There is still a very long wait, I believe, and needless to say, they do not do ESN. :)

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

It's not that the doodle breeders are necessarily in favor of it; it's mostly that they don't have the means to enforce a spay/neuter agreement the way purebred breeders do.

And if you want to know, why, PM me. We've hi-jacked Vivienne's discussion enough, lol.

[Ricki and Tara (doodle)]

Andrea our vet was from South Africa and had a very different take on spay and neuter as well. He was trained to do ovariectomies as well as full spay and that was what Tara . Apparently that procedure (ovariectomy) is commonly used in Europe too rather than the full hysterectomy performed here in the US.

Here's a little info on the procedure:

http://www.whole-dog-journal.com/issues/13_12/features/Safer-Spayin...

I'm sure there are conflicting schools of thought on this procedure too...depends on who you ask! :)

[F, Calla & Luca]

Oh yes, also controversial for sure. You can still get uterine cancers and infections. Medical matters are not always clear cut to say the least : )

[Ricki and Tara (doodle)]

Yes, I discussed those issues with the vet prior to the procedure and still came away believing this was the best choice for us. Unnecessary organ removal seems like an extreme method  of prevention.

I have a cousin-in-law that had both healthy breasts removed as a  cancer preventative measure. She never had cancer in either but her sister had it. Same concept?

[F, Calla & Luca]

Sort of. No dog misses her uterus cosmetically, or otherwise I think.

There are certain genotypes which women who have family members with breast cancer may be tested for. If they have those genotypes the risk of breast/ovarian cancer is much higher and some women opt to forgo frequent testing and worrying and have prophylactic surgery.

[Ricki and Tara (doodle)]

Sorry to hear you lost your vet too! I understand how hard it is to find one that supports any kind of natural lifestyle for your animals!

[Becka]

I don't really have anything to add (I do agree that it's probably better to have her spayed as soon as possible) but I did want to say that I think our dogs are twins! Here is Sadie at about the same as Toffee.

[Vivienne]

Definitely !! :o)   :o)

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I'd also suggest another vet; the thinking that you need to wait until after the first heat to spay hasn't been popular for more than 20 years. Also, your vet can tell if your dog is in heat or not. is there any swelling of her vulva?

Both of my last two female dogs had their first heats before they were 6 months old, but they were smaller dogs, and small dogs mature earlier than larger ones. It's entirely possible that your pup is in heat.

I'd get her spayed ASAP. It will be less expensive, and there are also health risks associated with not spaying, especially for females.

[Sherri, Sophie, Winston, & Kitty]

Sophie was spayed at 7 weeks! I always felt uncomfortable about it but the breeder sent me articles that seemed to make sense. She has had a few urinary tract issues. Now I'm worried :(

[F, Calla & Luca]

I wouldn't worry much. For one thing it's done and life has to go on. Even if the statistics above are true, spaying removes some common risks while increasing some others. Some of the things are easily treated like obesity and hypothyroidism. If Sophie doesn't have spay incontinence she won't get it etc. Occasional urinary tract issues are very common either way. In my mind it's hard to figure out the best route. Calla was spayed early and Luca was neutered even earlier.