How easy is it to keep an entire bitch?

[Puppalicious]

I’ve heard that spaying my breed of dog can make keeping its coat (already high maintenance) unmanageable. I also think I read that in some Scandinavian countries they have much less neutering rates than here but owners are just responsible. So I’m considering not spaying my bitch. No intention to breed. How tricky would it be? I have a fully enclosed garden (terraced house).

I think this is a horrendous idea to be quite honest.

The risk of pregnancy is a very small issue compared to mammary cancer and

An entire female is at high risk of pyometra and the risk increases the older she gets.

Pyometra is not always a simple easily treated little infection, it can go unnoticed, especially if it’s ‘silent’ pyometra until the dog is septic and incredibly ill, it can kill them in hours.

If your bitch is badly affected you will be looking at an extremely high vets bill.

Pregnancy is not the only issue to consider when thinking about spaying and as for the coat, come on, that’s a really poor excuse.
What breed is she?
Some of the breeds quoted as getting a wooly coat after spaying are supposed to be hand stripped and/or never shaved and sometimes a coat can get wooly with age so it isn’t proven that it’s the spaying that is the cause.
Look after the coat properly and I suspect it won’t actually be ‘unmanageable’

I met someone the other day ( a dog trainer) who had a 4 year old dog who was not spayed. She seemed to think it fine and manageable. No intentions to breed her just thought she was fine without spaying. She had 6 dogs altogether and I think one was an unneutered dog. And she still managed.

I believe it is against the law to neuter dogs in Norway unless for a specific medical reason. It is regarded as mutilation

I met someone the other day ( a dog trainer) who had a 4 year old dog who was not spayed. She seemed to think it fine and manageable. No intentions to breed her just thought she was fine without spaying. She had 6 dogs altogether and I think one was an unneutered dog. And she still managed
My bitch was coming up 4 when spayed (her breed matures at 3) and yeah we ‘managed fine’ also, stopping them getting pregnant is not the issue, it’s the risk of serious, life threatening disease which increases with each passing year.
At 4 the dog might be fine but at 8 she’s old and if she gets cancer or pyometra at that age she may not survive.

Mine came into season a couple of times during lockdown and she was a nightmare to take out. Would try run away and leap on other dogs. And it was horrible to keep her on her lead the whole time too.

I also heard from male dog owners that they viewed it as unreasonable to keep a female unneutered as it drove their dogs wild too.

I spoke to my vet and her was unequivocal about getting her done. I just feel relieved now tbh, one less thing to worry about. (my kids really wanted her to have puppies!).

@Turquoisesol, wow, actually prohibited to get neutered! What a different view from here (as evidenced by the other replies).

Its a bit of a pain to be honest....(health issues aside) the social aspect is hard. We normally walk with lots of dogs/puppies and dogs are in literally every other house where we live. I don't know which dogs are neutered and my bitch is due her season soon. Thing is you don't know exactly when so you have to constantly be careful for weeks around her possible time. And every bitch is different so who knows when. My bitch is very clean with blood so its not always obvious. Plus they are fertile when not bleeding. Its a worry. She can be off lead normally but its risky. Male dogs will smell a bitch in season for miles and can be quite insane with lust and I don't fancy beating a crowd of male dogs off. Apparently they will try anything to get to a bitch. I get visions of an entire male jumping our fence or trying it on on walks.

My bitch will run into the woods etc but for weeks round her time we just cannot risk it and its unfair on male dogs and owners to have her off lead just incase.

I'd rather her be neutered and safe. Which mine will be soon.

veterinary-practice.com/article/the-neutering-of-dogs-and-bitches-in-the-uk-and-europe
Just found this article - in many parts of Northern Europe neutering is viewed in the same way as docking in the UK.

The risk of pyometra is enough for me. You can’t ‘manage’ it.

We only just had our bitch spayed at 3, as she's a dachshund and later neutering is protective for their backs. In this case the late spay was important, but I hates seeing how miserable she was with every season.

We chose not to take her out over the 3 weeks of her season so having a safe garden was pretty essential. Have lots of old towels on hand to cover furniture too, as things can get...messy. It is perfectly manageable though.

Breed is a rough collie. Seasons do seem like a pain but so does trying to keep the matted wool that I saw on the breed website... I could maybe spay her later in life for pyometra reasons.

it's a nightmare tbh. I had two seasons with my dog. walking her was a horrible as even when kept on lead dogs would not leave her alone, and you can't just not walk them for three weeks. Tried going quieter times of the day but there were still dogs running miles away from their owners to get at her. just complete nightmare. I'm glad she is now spayed.

[quote Puppalicious]@Turquoisesol, wow, actually prohibited to get neutered! What a different view from here (as evidenced by the other replies).[/quote]
In Norway, where spaying dogs is illegal (it's regarded as a "mutilation"), over 50% of female dogs suffer from malignant mammary cancer.

We took in an unspayed doberman bitch temporarily (ended up having her over 2 years!) when my BIL had personal problems. She developed Pyometra and we nearly lost her, (also cost us a fortune for emergency treatment when BIL refused to pay up and said PTS instead).

Breed is a rough collie. Seasons do seem like a pain but so does trying to keep the matted wool that I saw on the breed website
I imagine that regular grooming would keep the coat manageable tbh, the main thing is not to shave as they are double coated.

There is a poster on here who has always had roughs who could probably advise better, I think her name is Witney with numbers after it.

I could maybe spay her later in life for pyometra reasons
She shouldn’t be spayed until 3 anyway as her breed isn’t physically and emotionally mature until then.

It’s true that in countries like Norway neutering is illegal unless for medical reasons but I think that is ill advised.

and you can't just not walk them for three weeks
This is exactly what I did tbh.
They won’t die from a short period of not walking.
I did take her for a walk once before I knew she was in heat and two male dogs wouldn’t leave her alone, she was very, very distressed about it (she isn’t dog social at the best of times)

Yes I am not entirely sure what the answer is to this. I currently have a puppy and do I tend to spay at some point. But there does seem to be a push back against spaying/neutering in some countries now. I guess there is no right answer. I suppose naturally (in the wild) perhaps dogs weren’t supposed to be having seasons constantly without getting pregnant. What we have are pets rather than wild dogs so need to be managed diffu

I wonder if spaying / neutering was illegal here whether less people would take on pet dogs? Without that option for the owners convenience, less people would want to take on a dog ?

@Witney168
This poster
No idea if I’ve tagged correctly, but I believe she breeds and shows Roughs

My family have always had rough collies. Not spaying her because of the possibility of an unmanageable coat is ridiculous.

6 weekly grooming with a professional and there's absolutely no chance of it being "unmanageable".

We've never had a rough collie in our family change their coat style after spaying.

I am Swedish and can't tell you how much I find dogs life there being quite miserable actually, always on the lead and a few dog pounds and areas where they can be off lead, totally non socialised dogs all over. Spay her and let her be a dog!

dog pounds should have been dog parks of course!

You'd need to keep her on lead when in season - and walk in quiet, isolated areas. If you use a walker or daycare they won't take her out while in season, either

For me, the risk of pyometra is the main reason to get a bitch spayed. We nearly lost an indoor cat to pyometra and it was horrific.

Quite shocked by the PP who just continued with walks as usual. You’re not really supposed to walk a bitch in season.

It sounds like you need a better groomer @Puppalicious? Rough collie coats are hard work but certainly not unmanageable. After neutering you can up her supplement intake and keep regular grooming appointments to keep on top of her coat.

I have a double coated dog and we had her spayed in December (she's 2 now) Earlier than I wanted but she was so unhappy in season.. became very depressed and reactive and of course couldn't go off lead or any of her usual lovely country walks. One time we were in the middle of no where and STILL an entire male came from who knows where and tried to get to her..she was petrified! The owner appeared 5 min later, absolutely mortified.. her dog had smelled mine from about half a mile away and escaped his own garden in pursuit.

We had our girl spayed laporoscopically.. more expensive but so so much nicer for her..she was out and running within 3 days, two tiny stitches. Risk of pyometra (as ovaries gone) has gone and she doesn't have mood swings!

I was warned her coat could change but tbh we groom her ourselves and she is brushed daily and I honestly haven't noticed much of a difference. As long as you keep on top of grooming it will be fine!

The owner appeared 5 min later, absolutely mortified.. her dog had smelled mine from about half a mile away and escaped his own garden in pursuit.
This is exactly why bitches in heat shouldn’t be walked. Dogs will go frantic trying to get to them and if they work out a way to escape their (usually escape proof) homes/gardens or slip their leads in pursuit then they could get lost or hit by a car or stolen. Not to mention the fact they’ll be frightening the bitch (and owner) when they reach her.