Benefits of Spaying or Neutering Your Dog
Guest Writer : Julie Page
It is so important to spay or neuter your dog if you have no intention of breeding. The benefits of spaying or neutering your dog are much greater than not having the surgery – it benefits your dog as well as the dog population.
There are many benefits of spaying or neutering your dog:
- The health of your dog will be improved. Dogs that have not been spayed or neutered could develop any number of diseases and/or infections that a dog that is “fixed” would not be prone to.
- There would be no chance of an accidental pregnancy.
- Your dog will not be contributing to the ever-increasing number of dogs that end up in shelters whether it is a no-kill or kill shelter where unwanted dogs are euthanized.
A female dog should be spayed before she goes into her first “heat” or “in season”. The spay procedure is a very common surgery and poses very little risk to your dog. By having your female dog spayed before her first heat, you will virtually eliminate the risk of her developing breast cancer in later life, or a uterine infection (pyometron). The earlier you get her spayed, the less chance she would have of developing any of the medical problems associated with unspayed females.
For a male dog, neutering virtually eliminates the chance of his developing testicular cancer. It will also eliminate the possibility that he will contribute to the number of dogs that are in shelters looking for a family.
Dogs that have been spayed or neutered are most often less aggressive, less likely to roam, and less likely to mark their territory. When a dog “marks” its territory, he urinates of every upright object whether indoors or outdoors.
Most veterinarians prefer to wait until a puppy is at least six months old before they will spay or neuter them.
A spay involves removal of the uterus and ovaries so that she will not produce eggs or have any heat periods for the rest of her life. It is a surgical procedure that will require her to remain quiet for a specified period of time so that her body will heal well.
Neutering is generally a much less involved surgery than spaying and the recovery period is not as long as it is for a female. When a male dog is neutered, both testicles are removed.
On occasion, one or both of the testicles haven’t descended into the scrotum. If this is the case, the surgery will be a little more involved and will require a longer recovery period, but is a necessity as there would be a possibility that they could become cancerous in his later years. The surgery involves the veterinarian opening the abdomen to locate and remove the testicles.
There are always risks involved with any surgery and recovery from surgery – this includes spaying or neutering a dog but the benefits far outweigh any risks.
In some cases, the lowered hormone levels result in a slower metabolism and weight gain. Therefore, owners need to monitor food intake for a “fixed” dog and make sure they get daily exercise.
As a responsible pet owner, you should discuss the benefits of spaying or neutering your dog for their health and so that your dog doesn’t contribute to the unwanted dogs crisis.
Author Bio:
Julie Page first grew to love writing about pets and the pet industry in 2012 while writing a dog travel journal for a Canadian-based company. Julie then discovered a lack of informative dog name websites when researching popular girl dog names which fueled her passion even more. Julie founded two quality sites: www.femaledognames.net and www.maledognames.net .When Julie isn’t writing, she is on an adventure, or at the very least, plotting her next one.
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I think that’s neat that neutering a dog can also help it become less aggressive. I thought that the only benefit was prevention of accidental pregnancies. I am planning on buying a dog, but don’t want him to be aggressive. Maybe neutering can help.
I didn’t realize that you would want to wait until your dog is six months old before their neutered. To be honest, I didn’t realize that you could get a dog neutered that early. After all, that is still pretty young. But, as you said, it really can go a long way when it comes to coming your dog down. Do you have any other tips about getting your pet neutered?
I had no idea that dogs that are spayed or neutered are usually less aggressive. That is nice to know because I don’t want an aggressive dog. That wouldn’t be good for me or for my neighbors! I will have to remember this when I get my dog in a few weeks.
I found it interesting that animals that have been neutered are less aggressive and less likely to roam around. This can be very beneficial when you have a family living around the animal as well. Having children around a dog could be more initiative to get your pet fixed.
Reading this article has helped me to understand what the benefits are of having my dog spayed and neutered. I really like how you said that “. Dogs that have not been spayed or neutered could develop any number of diseases and/or infections that a dog that is “fixed” would not be prone to.” I do not have own any pets but I can imagine how important it would be to spay and neuter pets to help them to avoid catching or having diseases or infections.