frisbeegirl Posted November 5, 2012 Report Share Posted November 5, 2012 Hi, Keeva went to the vet for her checkup today. Everything awesome, she weighs 35lbs, hips are excellent also her eyes were checked. So............ the vet and I were discussing getting her spayed over the holiday as I will be home everyday with her. Keeva has had her first heat and usually I let my females go into heat twice. I told my vet about the sheep coming in the spring and that Keeva and I working with sheep now. And then she asked me if I really needed to spay her. I know that unlike other breeds it will not slow her down and keep her closer to home, neither of these are a problem.(she never slows down and never leaves home.) How many females are in intact? Perferably ones used in trialing and herding. Is there a study of spayed versus intact? Are they better workers? She was awesome when she was in heat a little unfocused at the end but extremely driven. I am not worried that she will not be as driven I just would like opinions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Billadeau Posted November 5, 2012 Report Share Posted November 5, 2012 IMO the only reason to keep a female intact for livestock work is if you (or someone you might sell her to) would breed her after she has been proven worthy (by work) of being bred. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frisbeegirl Posted November 5, 2012 Author Report Share Posted November 5, 2012 Thanks, thats what I thought. I have no intention of selling her no matter how she turns out to be. I guess the potential of breeding her for "high quality working dogs" would be the only reason to keep her intack, then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeltaBluez Tess Posted November 5, 2012 Report Share Posted November 5, 2012 If she was my dogs my criteira would be some of the following successful in Open trials and nationals level (top 20%) farm/ranch worker excellente hips/eyes/health clearance excellent temperement better than most of the dogs out there and worthy of passing on her genes natural worker than mechanical to name a few........ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NorthfieldNick Posted November 6, 2012 Report Share Posted November 6, 2012 One of my biggest considerations when I decided to have my older dog castrated, despite the fact that he is definitely "breed worthy": Will I, personally, honestly ever want to deal with breeding him to outside bitches, or to one of my own (that I didn't & still don't have)? My answer was no. I kinda hate raising puppies. I'd rather buy a 2 yr old than a pup. Nick's bloodlines are out there, his father's semen is available frozen. If I want more like him, I can find one. So I had him cut. It's a degree less management, especially at trials. I don't have to worry about being around intact bitches (although they seem to LOVE Nick!) There are lots of fantastic pups available, should you want another one. Unless you very seriously think your dog is going to be a stellar working dog, and you're willing to put in the time & money to prove it, I'd have her spayed. I know others might disagree, but the way my life works right one, the extra management is not something I want to deal with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liz P Posted November 6, 2012 Report Share Posted November 6, 2012 Bitches can be total idiots right before they come into season. Some of them are flakes and pretend like they have no idea what commands mean. For a working dog, I like a spayed female that has gone through a heat cycle. Intact females come with a whole set of challenges. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gloria Atwater Posted November 6, 2012 Report Share Posted November 6, 2012 Personally, I don't think being intact or not has a thing to do with a dog's ability to work. Some of the keenest dogs I've ever seen have been spayed or neutered, and some of the softer dogs have been intact. Plus, like Liz mentions, I've seen some females just go totally "blond" during their heats, and half their training just evaporates! So, I'd say that your decision to spay or not should be based purely on what works best for you and your living situation. ~ Gloria Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juliepoudrier Posted November 6, 2012 Report Share Posted November 6, 2012 One of my biggest considerations when I decided to have my older dog castrated, despite the fact that he is definitely "breed worthy": Will I, personally, honestly ever want to deal with breeding him to outside bitches, or to one of my own (that I didn't & still don't have)? My answer was no. I kinda hate raising puppies. I'd rather buy a 2 yr old than a pup. Nick's bloodlines are out there, his father's semen is available frozen. If I want more like him, I can find one. So I had him cut. It's a degree less management, especially at trials. I don't have to worry about being around intact bitches (although they seem to LOVE Nick!) There are lots of fantastic pups available, should you want another one. Unless you very seriously think your dog is going to be a stellar working dog, and you're willing to put in the time & money to prove it, I'd have her spayed. I know others might disagree, but the way my life works right one, the extra management is not something I want to deal with. This post was so good, I just wanted to repeat it! J. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frisbeegirl Posted November 6, 2012 Author Report Share Posted November 6, 2012 Again thank you all for your help. Makes my decision easy. Even if I were to breed her for all the right reasons I do not think I could bear to sell even one of her pups. That said good time to have her spayed already had one heat cycle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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