Female neutering/season

[Spidey66]

My husband took Maggie (5 month old border collie) to the vets to ask about neutering. The vet advised she have a season first. I'm aware that she may bleed like having a period, any other symptoms as I don't want her to get pregnant so will need to exercise her on the lead during this time.

Yesterday in the park another dog was humping her. The owner reassured me he'd been spayed and he humped every dog in sight! But could it mean other dogs are noticing something we're not?

[Walney]

Hi. Our basset was 9 months when she had her first season as we were also advised to allow one season before neutering. Your dog will become very obviously swollen, although ours was so good at cleaning herself we barely noticed any bleeding. I do wish we had her neutered before a season now though as she's going through a phantom pregnancy and is in a lot of distress. But I would go with your vets advice as it's what we were told too.

[AwkwardPaws27]

You might notice she becomes restless, although some botches go the other way and are lethargic. The vulva may be enlarged and she may lick it more.
Not sure if your vet mentioned it, but if she does get caught there's is an injection called Alizin which can be used. It's not ideal but better than an unwanted litter in a youngster.
(Btw, neutering a male dog is 'castration', 'speying' is only females - neuter is applicable to both sexes - not being pedantic, just trying to be helpful as a lot of people are unsure which term is for which)

[Ylvamoon]

A dog just "humping" won't get your girl pregnant. They need to have a "tie"... you know what it is when you see it!
Which hopefully you won't. Dogs are able to smell when she comes into season. Normally girls are a bit "off" other dogs at the start and overly friendly when they are ready!

[Wolfiefan]

It’s not just on lead. It’s on lead and away from any off lead dogs. Keep an eye on bits.

[Spidey66]

@AwkwardPaws27 no you're not being pedantic, I thought spaying was a generic term, good to know, ta. And I'm clearly not up to speed on doggy biology, I thought the male dog climbed on the back of the female, did it 'doggy style' and Bob's your aunties live in lover. So thank s for all the useful advice. Will keep an eye on her. She's covering me with doggy kisses, that's all the affection she's going to get if I have my way!

[AwkwardPaws27]

Love the name Maggie by the way - she sounds lovely

[GrumpyMiddleAgedWoman]

You should be able to tell when your bitch is in season:
Swollen vulva (should be very obvious)
Some bleeding
Much licking and cleaning of relevant bits
All male dogs, neutered or not, terribly keen to make her acquaintance (or more...)
Sticking her arse in the face of said male dogs (this happens most when she is actually fertile, a week or so into the season)
"flagging" (standing in front of male dog with tail to one side, basically asking for it)

The whole palaver will take, on average, three weeks. This is tiresome with an energetic young dog, and it limits when and where you can walk. I would let mine off on a long line early in the morning when I could see a long way - but her recall is very good, and when she was flagging, she was kept very close.

Personally I wouldn't neuter any dog until it had reached physical and mental maturity. The whole thing is a trade off of health benefits plus certainty that your bitch won't get banged up versus other, lesser, health benefits plus a dog which has matured with all the right hormones in place.

[SlothMama]

Your vet is right to advice you not to neuter until she'd had her first season. It allows them to develop properly before you take away their hormones.

With my dogs first season the week before her recall got awful, she would take off across a field to see another dog. Then her vulva swelled and I noticed some blood drops. She did go through a phantom and came out of it after a month. But I was advised to give her raspberry leaf tablets when she first came into season to help avoid phantoms. Which I'll do for her next season (I'm having her spayed at 2, as per her contract with her breeder)

[Spidey66]

See I thought my vet was wrong and it was wise to spay her before her first season. The only reason I went along with it without a second opinion was before we had her we had a cat for a number of years with an overactive thyroid. The vet was brilliant with the cat and I have a lot of respect for her views. Clearly I need to acknowledge she's the expert, especially given that I obviously have little knowledge of doggy biology :). What others are saying makes sense, you wouldn't give a child a hysterectomy unless there were clear medical reasons as they wouldn't be ready for it.