Spay surgery provides both behavioral and medical benefits to your dog. Additionally, spaying your pet will help you avoid unwanted litter and control pet overpopulation. While a spay neuter hospital Mississauga will often consider six to nine months as an ideal age for puppies to get spayed, pups as young as eight weeks old can also be spayed as long as they are in good health. Adult dogs can also be spayed, although there risk of post-operative complications slightly increases.
Let’s have a look at the some of the behavioral changes spaying offers to your dog.
Dogs reach sexual maturity between 6 and 12 months of age. During this time, females produce a gush of the hormone estrogen and start the reproductive cycle, which results in heat cycles. When in heat, a female will be approachable to breeding with male dogs. Most females experience two heat cycles each year.
Spaying your dog won’t affect her friendliness, working abilities or personality. However, getting your dog spayed can affect many behaviors associated with her heat cycle.
You may see a reduction in the following behaviors after you spay your pet.
– Roaming
During her heat period, a female dog will often try to escape home in search of male partner(s), which puts her at risk of getting lost and injured. By getting her spayed, you will reduce or eliminate her urge to roam while in heat.
– Frequent urination
When in heat, females tend to urinate more often to attract male dogs with its scent. Not only will this attract male dogs from the entire neighborhood, but it can also lead to urine stains on your carpet and furniture. Spaying your pet will eliminate the need to frequently urinate and will also eliminate bloody discharge, both of which may occur during her heat cycle.
– Irritability
Each heat cycle brings significant hormonal changes in a dog. Some females become irritable or anxious and others might feel pain. Because spayed dogs don’t have to go through these hormonal changes, their behavior may be more consistent.
– Aggression
Females may show less aggression towards dogs and humans after they’re spayed. By getting your pet spayed, you can also eliminate the chances of hormonally driven defensive behavior. Female dogs will sometimes behave aggressively if other pets or people try approaching or touching their puppies. Some females who don’t become pregnant during a heat cycle will sometimes experience a “false pregnancy.” Female dogs experiencing a false pregnancy will often “adopt” objects and treat them like their puppies. They may also guard the adopted objects as if they were real litter.
To prevent the above mentioned behaviors from developing, it’s best to have your dog spayed before she reaches sexual maturity. Even if you are unable to completely eliminate these unwanted behaviors, they might reduce to a great extent after she’s spayed—and spaying will anyway benefit her physical health.
If you would like to get your female dog spayed, bring her to our spay neuter hospital Mississauga. Our vets offer both dog and cat spaying Toronto services. Contact us to schedule an appointment.
