Dog's first season, when to expect it and do I get her spayed beforehand?

[MmeLindt]

We have a 4mth old puppy.

I have heard conflicting advice. Get her spayed before her first season? Or after? When is the first season likely to be?

What breed is she? Smaller dogs usually come into season later than large breeds.

She is Maltese Terrier x Cavalier King Charles.

We are going on holiday in July and she will have to go into kennels so I don't want her to be in heat when she is there.

roughly 9 months - a year I think? you've got plenty of time to have the op done before, vets will probably do it from 6 months ish but many prefer to do it after the 1st but before the 2nd.

there are arguments for and against spaying before or after first season - I do know that you'll have to wait a while if you don't do it before as the op can't be performed during or immediately after, and each season (inc. the first) increases the risk of mammary tumours. But having a bitch spayed before she first comes into heat can sometimes cause (correctable) problems when she has wee (sort of dribbling down the legs because minge hasn't puffed out). There must be a more delicate way of putting that?

My vet wouldn't spay my dog before she had had her first season. She said it was important for her to mature fully because dog hormones stay static - ie if she had been spayed before she had had her first season she would have retained puppy hormones for her whole life.

Similarly, she insisted on spaying at midpoint between the seasons (they come at roughly 6 monthly intervals) so that the hormones would be 'season-free' at that point which would be best for the dog.

My lab came into season at 8 months old and it was really, really obvious that it was coming. She started getting quite clingy and 'sensitive', weeing more and her lady bottom swelled up sooo much. The first day of bleeding she whimpered for most of the day - apparently it's a lot like a period pain for some. I felt quite sorry for her really.

Having said that we have a lab in season at the moment and she's fine - apart from having to wear a pair of knickers with a hole cut in them for her tail at moment.

I've been told to get it done before the first season at about 6 months.

Hello. I posted on here a couple of months ago about the sme thing. I have a 7 month old lab who is now in season. My vet will not spay bitches until 2 months after their first season. He is adamant that it can cause problems with the urinary tract later in life and firmly believes it is dangerous to operate in that area on a bitch if you do not know where she is in her cycle.

Most vets in my area have the same view.

I was really worried about her going into season. However, it has not been nearly as bad as I expected. We are on day 15 today, average is about 21 days and she stopped bleeding yesterday. I walked her on a lead for the first ten days avoiding parks and open areas and sticking to main roads but at day 10 she started pulling so hard trying to follow dog scent also we met a dog on a lead that the owner could barely control as it smelt her so for the last 5 days we have stayed in. This has been the hardest part really, but I go into the garden with her twice a day and we race around with a ball. Hopefully another week and we can go back out again.

The bleeding is not too bad at all. She has been a star at cleaning herself up and only drips a little after lying down for a while and I have replaced the fleece mat in her crate with towels for the duration (easier to wash). I still let her into the lounge in the evening but she must lie on a towel.

She has been quite clingy and has cried a bit when left alone but not too bad considering what I was expecting!

Hope this helps. Have a chat with your vet and see what their advice is. Mine gave me lots of good advice about coping with a dog in season. The most important thing really is not to let her off the lead and avoid other dogs, also make sure no willfull males can get in your garden!

Although not fun it is not as bad you think and as mine will be spayed mid April before the next one, I will only have to do it once.

There was lots of helpful advice on here too!

We were encouraged to wait until after 1st season (but that was mostly due to having a collie and they are more prone to the 'minge issues' mentioned above ).

In the end she had 2 and tbh its not that bad. A few small 'drips' of blood but mostly she would lick herself and stay clean.
But obviously you are restricted to lead walks for 2-3 weeks - our bitch was forever trying to get away to have a bit of doggy action

Current thinking in the veterinary world is now moving towards early neutering. Organisations such as the RSPCA have been doing this on pups and kittens as young as 8 weeks old from about the last 8 years or so, and their feedback is that there do not seem to be any increased risks of problems from early spaying (or castration for boys). We have recently started neutering from 4 months old where I work in response to this and actually find the procedures are a lot easier surgically with the organs being that much smaller - so reduced surgical risks and usually reduced anaesthetic time too. Certainly there the majority of practices are yet to move forwards to that sort of timing just yet - probably because of lack of up to date information rather than anything else. The vast majority though I think will neuter from 6 months old which is still a very reasonable age, and should in bitches be before they come into season for the vast majority - it would be unusual to happen before that age. Certainly my own (now 14yr old) was spayed at 6 months old all those years ago and I would have no hesitation to do the same again with a future pup I owner, or even consider the 4 months old option these days.
The vets who say that they need to have a season first are basing their choice on outdated thinking that the hormones were needed to fully develop the urinary system. It can be hard for some of these old timers to change the habits of a lifetime though and whilst there is nothing wrong (usually) in waiting until after a season it does mean as an owner you have to cope with it. A small percentage of the less responsible owners will "allow" an accidental mating - more pups that need homes....hence the RSPCA started the very early neutering so all those they homed were never going to present a risk to increasing the population of unwanted pets.

Hope that helps - best thing though is to call your own vet for their particular policy too bearing in mind the info you know.

We are rescuing a puppy and have been told to spay her before her first season.

Beautifulgirls
That is basically what our first vet said, but we wanted to move to a vet nearer home and he said to wait.

I really liked the first vet but he was clear through the other end of the town and the traffic is always terrible. It takes us almost an hour sometimes to get there.

We are a bit limited in vet choice too, as not all vets speak English and my French is not up to such complicated matters.

Maybe I will just stay with the first vet. It is perhaps a bit selfish, but I can't be bothered goign through the whole season bit. And my DH would not be happy if she got caught, he was not keen on the dog, if she had puppies I think he would emigrate

ramble ramble

I am the grandmother of an 11 month old bull/mastiff and want to know when she will go into her first season. we would like to have her mated with another bull/mastiff.

I am the grandmother of an 11 month old bull/mastiff and want to know when she will go into her first season. we would like to have her mated with another bull/mastiff.

Have a read of this then decide if you still want to go ahead with this. This may also be helpful. Both are US based but the information is entirely valid, just replace 'AKC' with 'KC'.