Neutered dogs, unspayed bitch

[Sparklegeek]

This is my first post in Dogs, so hello! I have a question & was wondering if anyone can help. We have 2 pug crosses, both neutered boys, and at the moment are considering rehoming a pug bitch. (A friend of a friend who has a new baby & will be going back to work full-time etc etc). What I wanted to know is whether this combination is likely to cause any problems when the little girl is in season? Obviously I am not worried about pregnancy but will my two boys be all over her being pains? Or does the fact that they are neutered get rid of those urges??!! Sorry to sound a bit thick but I feel this is quite am important consideration while we are making this decision! Many thanks for any answers.

[CoffeeIsMyFriend]

hi and welcome!

I cant speak for all neutered dogs but I have 1 boy and 1 girl and he is 'done' she isnt (at the moment). She has had 1 season and while he was interested he wasnt overly annoying toward her. He did try to mount her a few times so I kept my eye on them. Bless him, he had no clue what to do but I suppose instinct takes over and the urge to mate happens whether neutered or not.

Some dogs will some wont is what I am trying to say. Either way you have to be vigilent.

[alice15]

It depends a bit on how old the dogs were when they were neutered, and whether they had any previous sexual experience. There have been cases of long-since neutered dogs successfully tying with bitches if they had been used at stud prior to neutering - they don't have any psychological hangups about the operation, after all. Toy breeds often mature earlier and have higher sex drives than other types, so I wouldn't be surprised if your dogs still showed a bit of interest. It's not the end of the world if they do mate her, as long as they were neutered at least 6-8 weeks ago so there are no lingering sperm, since obviously she won't get pregnant. Some neutered males, on the other hand, show no sexual interest at all.
However, the health case for neutering bitches is stronger than that for neutering dogs (see recent previous threads on this subject), so it would be a good idea to have the bitch spayed as well, in which case you will only need to survive one season at most, if she happens to come in before she has settled with you and surgery has been arranged. If you are having her spayed, the best time is about 3 months after she has been in season. Hope this helps.

[OneHundredPercentFucked]

Isn't it meant to be longer that 6months, not 6-8 weeks? before there are no trace of sperm?

I have a neutered male, and an unspayed bitch, and the live together fine, although the bitch came here second, she is quite dominant but that may just be her.

[Sparklegeek]

Thanks for that info, very helpful! My dogs are 2 & 3 and didn't have any 'experience' prior to being neutered and they were both done a long long time ago (I think we probably had it done as soon as the vets said they were old enough) so no problems there. So I guess it would be just a case of seeing how it goes & then if they won't leave her alone then separate them when she's in season - until we can get her spayed?

[Ephiny]

My neutered dog has never shown the slightest bit of interest in a bitch in season (occasionally one has come running up to him but he seemed quite clueless about the whole thing :) ). He was 'done' as an adult, at the time of being rehomed to us, so I don't know what he was like before.

[musicposy]

We have a neutered dog and as yet unneutered bitch who is just in her second season.

Last season they were a bit of a pain, more in that she wouldn't leave him alone and kept waggling her bottom at him. He was a bit bemused by this, bless him! He was slightly interested in it all, but a bit clueless. We had more instances of her trying to mount him than vice versa!

This season he's shown virtually zero interest and she has pretty much ignored him too. We've kept an eye on them, just to be safe, and they sleep separately.

[Sparklegeek]

Oh I hadn't even thought about them not being able to sleep in the same room!! Hmmmmm. I know this is showing my ignorance here, but why is it an issue if they do 'try' if there's no chance of pregnancy?

[alice15]

As I said above, it's not that much of an issue if there is no chance of pregnancy, except that a) it can get a bit tedious if the dog is constantly pestering the bitch and b) he could get a bit sore if he's constantly getting erections.
OneHundred, are you thinking of the time until the testosterone has completely left the body? We usually say it can take up to six months before any behavioural changes as a result of castration can be said to have had full time to take effect, but they become sterile way before that, because the sperm-manufacturing and storage bits are removed during surgery (the testicles) and so the only sperm that remain are those lurking in the remaining tubes, which are few in numbers anyway. They generally do a test about 2 months after vasectomy in men to confirm a zero sperm count, I believe; and of course in dogs the testicles are being removed altogether, which means it's absolutely certain to be effective, unlike vasectomy which occasionally fails.

[fledtoscotland]

My boy is neutered but my old bitch wasnt. Rocky had all the desire but alas none of the bits needed. his little hips would go like the clappers and she would turn round and give him a sneer of "was that it" whilst he collapsed on the ground panting. He was never mated with a bitch before he was neutered so it must be instinct. However I would add (although prob not in the technical terms of breeders) he has never actually managed to perform more than a hip action and has never had an erection.

HTH

[musicposy]

Well, we sleep them separately just in case, and because they tend to get a bit narky with each other. I guess she's not getting what she wants, he's sometimes keen-but-frustrated and sometimes stop-pestering-me-and go-away, and this can lead to mild spats.
As I say, though, it's been much better this time round than last time.

[Sparkle8878]

Hi could you tell me how your male dogs got on after having the female I have 2 male dogs both neutered and a female due on heat I’m now worried about them bothering her but I’m worried they will fight over her I don’t want to keep her away from them for the whole month but concerned for them all the male get on amazing all the time even before they was neutered but with a female in the house in season it may be different they get on with the female really well and not had any issues but she is 9months old and due her first season.

Thanks

[Sparkle8878]

That should of said I’m not bothered about them bothering her

[fivedogstofeed]

Neutered or not your boys will absolutely know she is in heat and there's a strong chance they will fight. A friend of mine had this exact scenario and the two dogs never got on again and had to live separately:(

My two dogs were both neutered at around six months but when a foster pup came into season they knew and tried everything to get to her. At a certain point she would have done anything to get to them - it was horrible.

The whole scenario is just stressful and complicated- just get the girl spayed as there's no reason not to.

[Sparkle8878]

Thank you the plan is to get her spayed ASAP it’s just this first season to get through. Our males have always been inseparable but while she is in season we feel we might need to separate the males which we don’t want to have to do but if it’s just to get through this one season it’s going to be worth it