I have a female GSD that is nearly two years old, and I am about to get her spayed. I don't plan on breeding her(I'll leave that to the pros). I was wondering what the general concensus was on this. Will it affect her drive, tempermant or personality?

I do not know the general consensus but when I talked with a number of SAR people (inlcuding a contact with Fidelco) they recommended min 1, best 2 heat cycles before spay -- so I would think you were there.

You certainly need drives and working ability for SAR but not sure about the protection work impact or not.

We have three female dogs on our team that were spayed before their first heat cycle with no drop in drive, mine being one of them.

One of these dogs (GSD from Czech lines) has worked herself into heat exhaustion and her handler has to be extremely careful as she does not exhibit any signs prior to collapse. Her handler is a veterinarian and was totally taken by surprise when the dog fell into heat exhaustion. She went from happily tracking to stumbling without any other signs. My dog, a Malinois, would do the same if I let her.

We expect all of these dogs to be able to meet the Ontario Provincial Police Canine SAR standards within the next year. All are young dogs, mine is just turning 15 months of age the end of this month.

I have never understood how if the drive to perform is in the dog to begin with, how not getting a blast of estrogen is going to reduce that drive. I do, however, understand the use of sexual tension in doing protection work which is something totally different.

I have heard that some dogs are less focused and remain more "puppyish" when spayed early but that's not the case either with these three dogs. Did 3 people with dogs from separate lines just luck out with exceptional puppies? I honestly can't say. I do know that I won't ever have to worry about puppies, not being able to field my dog twice a year, and that I won't ever be accused of my dog being a "distraction" to intact males working in nearby proximity.

Natalie Heath

I haven't found any problems with spaying my female sled dogs. The girls that I have made "PC" (usually after at least one heat cycle) are tough little nuts and very focused on the work. Some intact females can get a little goofy due to "seasonal" swings and spaying avoids that at least, also no worries about pyometra, too.
Hey, I got myself spayed and I still work just fine! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

I do, however, understand the use of sexual tension in doing protection work which is something totally different. Pardon?

This isn't facetious.

I spayed my female at the age of 2. It did not effect her drives, temperment,or attitude one bit. She is still a kick a$$ B%#@&^!!!!

Pardon?

This isn't facetious. Someone once explained to me that one reason to keep a dog intact, in particular males, is to use sexual tension or aggression in protection work. I understood the reasoning behind the theory as it was explained to me. I can't remember all of the details but it made sense at the time.

I don't do protection work so maybe misunderstood or was misinformed.

Natalie

Natalie wrote: "I have never understood how if the drive to perform is in the dog to begin with, how not getting a blast of estrogen is going to reduce that drive. I do, however, understand the use of sexual tension in doing protection work which is something totally different."


Drive to perform isn't the type of trait that is affected by the sex hormones, neither is it going to affect the chances of a dog overheating. Females don't have the same hormones as males and early spaying just won't have the effect on their sexual maturation process, and indirectly working ability, that nut cutting has on males.


Sexual frustration isn't used at all in protection, but the results of sexual maturation and their affects on the mind and body of the dog are. (only place I've seen sexual frustration used in is obedience) A big part of reaching sexual maturity for the canine is having the ability to physically compete with others for breeding partners. That means fighting, that means aggression, dominance, and hardness. . .all things that I firmly believe are "cut" down if you razor Fido's sack marbles before they do their job of growning an adult.


But thats males, with females the affects are almost nil. . .although I too would wait till around 2 years or so. . .just for the helluvit. I have read some studies that suggest some brain development is affected if sexual maturation is dinked with too early.

Vancamp wrote:

Drive to perform isn't the type of trait that is affected by the sex hormones, neither is it going to affect the chances of a dog overheating. Females don't have the same hormones as males and early spaying just won't have the effect on their sexual maturation process, and indirectly working ability, that nut cutting has on males. There seems to be a misconception about that out in the world then. When I decided to spay my female before her first heat, I had several people tell me that I was going to kill her drive.

My comment regarding heat exhaustion wasn't that a female that was spayed early is more likely to overheat, but rather, that particular dog's drive is so high, despite an early spay, that she will work herself into heat exhaustion if her handler isn't careful with her. This dog just won't quit unless her handler forces her to take a break.

We had a hotter than normal summer here this year and I had a difficult time getting my girl to drink when she felt she should be working. I ended up using baited electrolytes and literally poured them down her throat. When we were just out on a walk there was no problem getting her to drink but when training, it was a totally different story.

I'm just trying to get the point across that an early spay doesn't appear to affect a dog's drive to perform.

There are pros and cons to spaying early and to waiting. For me, I felt that the pros of an early spay outweighed the cons.

Natalie