Dutch Shepherd Forum

Hi all. I was speaking to a couple that have 2 female DSs and they told me whatever i did NOT to spay my girl. they said it messed their girls up and made them gain much unwanted weight. They said the one mistake they did was spaying them. Not only that but it really "messed" with them. Opinions???

From everything I've read, it doesn't effect working drives or ability. It will lead to issues precipitating from hormone imbalance. There are alternatives to complete hysterectomy that will negate that imbalance.
However, look up pyometra. Search on here for it, and poke around on the interwebs. It's a real concern for intact females. To me at least.

have owned 4 spayed dogs (and 2 spayed cats), best friend has had 3 thru the years... never had complications, any weight gain was from diet (had someone staying with us that was heavy handed with treats, surprise surprise, they've lost weight since she moved out) and never considered them 'messed up'

Maybe thats what she meant (hormone imbalance) Ive always spayed my dogs and have never had any regrets out of it. It just sounded that the breed in particular got thrown off by the spay. That was my main concern. Thank you so much for your guys input.

I have had female dogs all of my life and spayed every one of them and have had no problems what so ever.

Thank you all for your input. I have decided to spay her

Did you have her get a complete hysterectomy or partial?

Complete. I guess i didn't really look into the partial. I was concerned about her hormones going wacko from some "advice" I got from another DS owner. But everybody that commented here helped me solve my concerns. No change in her at all. Still the same crazy dog as before. Lol.

That’s great. What’s important is that the dog is healthy.

I didn’t know that partial was an option.

I guess not everywhere does it. I wasn't aware either. Learn something new every day.

I think a lot has to what a vet wants to do. I don’t see many vets as being forth coming with what is truest needed or could be offered. Sad because many of us pay cash for the procedures and are willing to pay for them. It would be nice to know what all
The options are. Glad we have this place so we can at least discuss things here.

For me this forum has been a big help. Giving me info on things I could do differently or just new things.