Leerburg / Dog Training Articles / Health / Should I Spay My Female Dog?

Should I Spay My Female Dog?

By Ed Frawley

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Customer Question:

Today, our Vet recommended that we should have our dog (Olga) spayed to prevent the likelihood of her contracting uterine or breast cancer. Our response was "Really?".

We made a reasoned decision not to spay Olga two years ago, shortly before her first birthday.

What specifically do you suggest we tell the vet on this serious matter regarding our Olga: about her health and her longevity? I should say that this is the third vet we have gone to with Olga over disagreements with specific conventional veterinary practice.

Thank you very much for your continued and valuable help.

Our Answer:

You should do a few Google searches on health benefits of NOT spaying and neutering.

I wrote another article titled Many Vets Don't Deserve Your Respect or Your Business.

In recent years, we have seen an explosion of veterinary practices being bought up by large corporate firms that are more interested in making money than in the health of your dog. It's sad to have to say this.

Your vet is using scare tactics to make more money. He is not interested in the health of your dog. Tell this vet why you are leaving. You may want to point him toward my article.

I bred German Shepherds for 35 years, many of those years more than 10 litters a year. My guess is, I have much much more experience breeding dogs than he does. He probably didn't tell you that many times, when you spay an adult female, it increases their aggression levels. (This doesn't happen with males.)

In our opinion, dogs do best with all their parts and hormonal systems intact and as long as you can prevent accidental breeding, then there is no medical reason to spay her. I would stand your ground on this with your vet.

By medical reason I mean a real reason, not a scare tactic. Many vets use the word 'cancer' to scare clients into spaying and neutering dogs.

She's your dog and you should be able to make medical decisions for her. If he doesn't respect that, I'd be looking for vet #4.

Good luck and thanks for not blindly following the masses! If more people would question conventional practice, then it would have to change.

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About Author

Ed Frawley

Ed Frawley is the founder of Leerburg. He has been training dogs since the 1950s. For 30 years, Ed bred working bloodline German Shepherds and has produced over 350 litters. During this time, Ed began recording dog training videos and soon grew an interest in police service dogs. His narcotic dogs have been involved in over 1,000 narcotics searches resulting in hundreds of arrests in the state of Wisconsin. Ed now solely focuses on producing dog training courses with renowned dog trainers nationwide. If you want to learn more about Ed, read about his history here.