Caring for an intact female

[Sekah]

I'm sure this question makes me sound infinitely ignorant -- which I am, so I guess that's okay.

Background: My boyfriend and I will be moving in together soon. He still lives at home, and in said home there are three intact female Chihuahuas. One of them has bonded to him in a pretty intense way, so he plans to bring her with him when we get our own place. She is about 4 years old, has a large frame for a Chi, has behavioural issues, and is overweight.

I had always automatically thought that we could spay her when she moved, but after reading up on desexing dogs I'm now no longer confident that this is the best option. I have no first-hand experience in managing a bitch in heat and would like to know how other people do it.

Do you guys track heat cycles? (I'm pretty sure the dogs' owners don't right now.) How do you manage the stress it puts on the dog and others in the home? How are exercise schedules affected? How do you manage the mess? How long are small dogs' heat cycles? At what point are they fertile? As I understand it, the risk of pyometra is highest in the weeks following a heat. Is this correct?

The bitch should never be bred, and will be living with my desexed young Aussie. I'm not comfortable with managing an intact dog, but don't want to automatically jump to spay her without being better educated.

 

[Laurelin]

Honestly, I'd spay her. The risk of pyo goes up the older she is by quite a bit. I know even the breeders I know will spay bitches before they're about 8 years because it's just not that unusual of a problem.

Intact bitches can be a pain. Much much moreso than intact dogs in my honest opinion (which is why my girls are spayed now).

Heats caused a lot of stress on some of my dogs and others not so much. Summer was a BITCH and Beau was awful. Our rule is keep two doors between them. Know that there is more to the heat cycle than just the bleeding phase. Also be aware of silent heats and false pregnancies. I had one girl that had several false pregnancies... Most dogs go into heat twice a year.

For the mess we used backwards boy underwear. Some girls are cleaner than others.

To me it is just not worth it in a pet.

 

[SarahHound]

I'd probably go with spaying too. I know its controversial, but personally, I would never own an intact dog again.

 

[Linds]

When Hannah was intact we really didn't do anything special. She was just mopey and a little more cranky for a little bit. My family always had intact females and were just your average dog owners. So yeah, nothing much was really done other than she was kept off the furniture. She actually became much more bitchy with a lower tolerance after she got spayed.

Something to keep in mind is you said she is overweight. It might be easier to get that weight off of her and build some muscle while she's still intact. I know that while Hannah didn't gain weight once she was spayed (She's always kept a great figure while living a pretty sedentary life) she did loose muscle mass. So if you do decide to get her spayed I might try and get her into shape first

 

[Laurelin]

Some bitches are easier than others. Summer was bitch from hell lol. She is so mild mannered but in heat she'd attack the other dogs to the point that they'd have to stay separated. And Beau is a mad man around a bitch in heat too. My other boys haven't been though but Beau would lose his head.

My girls all gained weight after being spayed. Mia, Rose, and Summer though all lost the weight right away after gaining it. Nikki had some issues with weight after being spayed.

 

[Windsong]

My two girls were spayed at around 6 months and before their first heat. I had no desire to breed or have to keep up with heats. My oldest is 12 1/2 years old and my second is 10 years old. I haven't had any problems at all with them including weight gain. They have maintained their adult weight consistently at around 9 1/2 lbs which is perfect for them - no excess. That's not an answer to your question but just some background on the spay part.
Just be aware as advised above if you leave her intact about silent heats and false pregnancies.

 

[Romy]

He should be able to give you an idea what she's like when she's in season. Kaia is really easy. She's just kind of mopey and whiney, and goes off her food a bit. Possibly because she's crampy?

Anyway, it might be worth looking into a spay for the health reasons Laurelin mentioned. Kaia being in season didn't bother Strider much at all and he's intact, except two annoying days where he licked the carpet and everywhere she laid.