Intact female dogs?

Paviche

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#1
The intact male dogs thread got me thinking. I have been reading a lot about the effects of early s/n and would like to wait until future puppy is mature to alter. If I get a male I'd probably leave him intact indefinitely, but I'm really thinking a female is going to be better with my boys. I've never had a female, period, much less an unaltered female. How do they differ from spayed females? I've been around a lot of spayed girls and zero intact bitches so I'm curious. I think I would still probably spay once she's done growing because the thought of pyometra scares the crap out if me, but I'm still researching it (along with alternative options like the procedure that Blossom had done - I'm on pain killers and the name is escaping me!)
 

Laurelin

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#2
Well.... they go into heat. :p

Really my intact females were all the exact same as they are now that they're spayed except when they were in heat. Nikki was a total floozie though in heat. And she also had a couple false pregnancies after her heat cycles too. She spent all her time in heat shoving her butt at Trey's face and trying to hump his head.

Summer was the opposite and she was a BITCH. Beau of course, was obnoxious about it but Summer just didn't want any of it and would attack him on site during her heat cycle.

Mia was spayed the youngest at 11 months. I wouldn't do that again. The rest were all 2+, Nikki was 6 and summer was 4.5 when spayed.
 

Dizzy

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#3
I can't remember how old Bodhi was when she was spayed, but think she had 2 heats.

Absolutely NO difference what so ever.

Except no heats (thank god).

It didn't calm her down at all, she never got lazy or fat or anything else. She was and is the same.
 
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#4
My Beagle was left intact until she was 4 years old, and the only thing that changed after her spay was no more heat (obviously) and she gained a crap ton of weight. Poor girl :( Her diet/exercise never changed, but she seemed to gain ten pounds within a few weeks of coming home. Her temperament didn't change whatsoever.

Carma will be kept intact, as I plan to show and compete with her. She's only 5 months old though, so I haven't had to deal with anything yet lol.
 

CharlieDog

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#5
Enzo was no different after her spay. She was done at like, 2.5 years old I think.

Indy will be spay this summer. Enzo cycled maybe twice in those two and a half years. Indy cycles every four months. She's already had three heats since I got her last year. So she's being spayed.
 

Keechak

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#6
Kechara had one heat cycle before she was spayed at around a year old. Lark is 20 months old and has only had one heat cycle so far, she went in the first time on Nov 28th of last year when she was just over 13 months and she hasn't had her second one yet.

Besides clear differences in simple temperament there is nothing different between them. Kechara has human aggression tendencies toward strangers but gets along with all dogs. Lark is very aloof with both strange humans and strange dogs but shows no signs of aggression whatsoever.
 

HayleyMarie

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#7
Emme Lou was left intact until she was three years old and honestly I see no difference in her behavior than a spayed dog other than she went into heat. She didn't even flag.

Now my past Westie Maddy was a b!tch, such a B!tch, she was left intact until the day she died. Now she would flag a lot and go into nesting, but honestly compared to Teagan I see no difference other than I noted above. And she was more of a B!tch to other female dogs than Teagan is. More DR. Teagan does have incontinence while being fed kibble because of her Spay at 6 months.
 

Beanie

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#8
Pretty much just the heat cycle. The worst part of that is the bleeding. The **** panties. I don't really see a big personality change during their heat cycles.

Even if I didn't have an intact male I would prefer to not have an intact female. It's just annoying for me, and if you trial at all, the SURPRISE!! TOTALLY IN HEAT, NOW YOU CAN'T COMPETE, I MAKE IT RHYME, ALL THE TIME, DOES ANYBODY WANT A PEANUT sucks.
 

JessLough

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#9
Rosey was intact her whole life... 16 1/2 years. I didn't really notice a difference between her and my aunt's spayed female, except that Rosey marked a LOT. Never inside, but outside? If we let her, she would mark all the things.
 

Oko

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#10
I was totally going to make a thread like this, I want to keep the puppy intact for 2 heats/certain age depending. Carry on. :p
 

Emily

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#11
The only real diff in my girls with ovaries vs. my girl that's fully spayed is that they keep a trimmer, more muscular figure easily.

Other than that, unless they're in or around a heat, no real difference. :) I have noticed my "intact" (using that to refer to Blossom too) girls seem to mature with each heat cycle, which is interesting.
 

Airn

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#12
Rosey was intact her whole life... 16 1/2 years. I didn't really notice a difference between her and my aunt's spayed female, except that Rosey marked a LOT. Never inside, but outside? If we let her, she would mark all the things.
Gwen marks everything. She humps too. But she's spayed. I think she's just weird.

I didn't realize that the heat cycles were the only (major) difference between intact and "spaded" ;)
 

CharlieDog

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#13
Indy marks when she's in season and when she's coming into season. She doesn't mark when she's not in season. She drops her coat every time she comes into season. Enzo had a "spay" coat after she was spayed, meaning that she lost the correct coat for her breed (Labrador) and she'd dropped all of her undercoat. It took several years, but she finally regrew her undercoat, and sheds it seasonally now. She never marks.

I am worried about Indy loosing her muscle tone after she's spayed, but Enzo has some impressive muscles when we actually get out and do stuff regularly, so I'm hoping it will be the same for Indy, and that she'll actually keep a coat on her.
 

Cardiparty

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#15
I would prefer to deal with an intact girl then have to deal with an intact boy. Yeah, if you're trialing, the heat cycles can be annoying. But honestly, unless you breed, there's no reason to leave a bitch in tact for longer then it takes for their growth plates to close, IMHO.

Especially with all of the new options out there for spaying.

Miz Naughty is getting spayed this summer, in fact.

I don't see much of a difference in personality between when Miz Naughty is in heat, and when she's not.
 

Julee

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#16
It was too long ago for me to remember too much about Em's temperament before she was spayed, but she had a heat prior to being spayed and then was going into heat again when she was spayed.

Bloo, on the other hand, oh man. Poor WishyFish. She was intact up until February(?), and we've had her since last July. She. Was. MISERABLE. Every single heat, she got whiny, couldn't stop humping, couldn't stop flagging, just generally couldn't contain herself, as hard as she tried. I'm glad she was left intact as long as she was, but poor girl did not have easy heats.
 

Toller_08

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#17
I haven't been able to see any differences in spayed vs. altered girls I've lived with except that outdoor marking gets a little less. But, many of my altered girls were big outdoor markers as well. And their metabolisms seem to slow way down after a spay (but that seems true for males as well).

Behaviourally though, really no differences that I've been able to pinpoint. I only spay to reduce the risk of Pyometra.
 

Laurelin

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#18
Mia and Nikki seemed to gain weight really quick right after they were spayed. I honestly struggle with Mia's weight even though she's so incredibly active. I am constantly readjusting her food intake.

Summer and Rose though stayed totally trim after being spayed. Summer is in fabulous shape. She didn't get any kind of spay coat either. I think people would be hard pressed to pick her out as a spayed dog. She also has big nipples too.
 

Flyinsbt

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#19
There really isn't a difference, other than the seasons. And every single **** one of my bitches winds up with spay incontinence, which is annoying. At least Tess' spay incontinence isn't very bad, and DES controls it.

I don't notice that spayed bitches gain weight, unless the bitch were inclined to not eat during her seasons. I actually cut back Tess' food a little after her spay, to be sure she didn't gain weight, and she lost weight and got too skinny, I had to up her food again. She eats about the same amount as Pirate, who is intact, 4 years younger, and weighs 5-6 pounds more than her.
 

Paviche

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#20
Thanks for the input, everyone! :) Spay incontinence is also something I'd really rather not deal with... we have sooo many dogs at work that are on Proin, it's crazy. Just getting another boy is more and more appealing. lol
 

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