desexing your dog

dog facts: desexing your dog

Desexing Dogs
Image Credit: Canine Foster Care Australia

if you have no plans to breed your dog or enter him or her in a dog show, then it's probably best for you to take him to the vet to be desexed. In male dogs, this is called Spaying (castration), and in female dogs, the term is Neutering.

there are a lot of advantages to having your dog desexed. according to Canine Foster Care Australia here are the benefits of desexing your dog :

Good for You, Your Pet, and the Community 

Prevent A Litter - It's Good for You

- Spayed and neutered pets are better, more affectionate, companions.
Spaying a female dog eliminates its heat cycle, which can last twenty-one days, twice a year, in dogs. Females in heat often cry incessantly, show nervous behaviour, and attract unwanted male animals.
- Spayed and neutered pets are less likely to bite. Unaltered animals often exhibit more behaviour and temperament problems than those that have been spayed or neutered.

Prevent a Litter - It's Good for Your Pet
- Spayed and neutered dogs live longer, healthier lives.
- Spaying female dogs eliminates the possibility of uterine or ovarian cancer and greatly reduces the incidence of breast cancer.
- Neutering male dogs reduces the incidence of prostate cancer.
- Neutered animals are less likely to roam and fight. 

Prevent A Litter - It's Good for the Community
- Communities spend millions of dollars to control and eliminate unwanted animals.  

- Irresponsible breeding contributes to the problem of dog bites and attacks.

- Animal shelters are overburdened with surplus animals.

so in a nutshell, desexing dogs, helps to prevent unwanted litters, helps to minimize behavioral problems (especially in male dogs), and helps reduce likelihood of having certain illnesses and health problems.

furthermore, dogs don't go through menopause if they haven't been desexed. according to Squidoo "Dogs in Heat,"

Spaying / Neutering
Image credit: Church Street Vets Australia

Dogs will not lose their ability to become pregnant at any age. The dog's fertility slowly declines which is not comparable to humans, whose eggs are no longer being produced. Therefore if you have an older dog [he or] she must be [neutered or] spayed if you don't want [him or] her to have any more litters. 

Desexing Procedure in Dogs:

spaying procedure or neutering procedure should be typically done when a dog is already 6 months old and ideally before the female dog comes into her first heat.

the operation only takes just one overnight stay at the veterinarian's clinic. and there's nothing to worry about it because "the risk of surgery in the healthy dog is minimal."

Desexing = Healthy Dogs & Happy Dogs