Spaying Your Female Labrador Retriever
| Good reasons to spay your female Labrador Retriever |
For a female dog, you can call it spaying or neutering. Both terms refer to a hysterectomy, which means removing the uterus and ovaries so your Labrador Retriever no longer comes into heat and cannot have puppies.
| Just don't say spading! This common mispronunciation makes people who know better giggle! Spading is for a garden bed. |
Spaying prevents future health problems.
 Spaying offers 100% protection against uterine infections. Pyometra and endometritis are common in unspayed Labrador Retrievers and these infections can be deadly.
- Spaying offers 100% protection against false pregnancy. Some unspayed females react to their heat period by acting as if they've been bred. Their belly actually gets larger and they may produce milk. Unfortunately, the hormonal changes associated with false pregnancy are very stressful and can leave your female Labrador Retriever susceptible to illness and infection. And if she's had one false pregnancy, she's more likely to have another.
- Spaying offers partial protection against breast cancer. Unspayed Labrador Retrievers have a 1-in-4 chance of developing a breast tumor at some point in their lives. In spayed Labrador Retrievers, the chances drop to 1-in-15 (if spayed just after her first or second heat period).
Spaying prevents all the risks of pregnancy.
Getting pregnant and giving birth can endanger your Labrador Retriever's life. Even if you don't PLAN on breeding her, if she accidentally gets out, or if an unneutered male accidentally gets in, the result is the same.
Unspayed Labrador Retrievers come into heat two or three times a year. Each heat period or season lasts about three weeks. During the first week or so, males will be very interested, but your female will not allow breeding. During the second week or so, she will allow pretty much any male to breed her, as this is her fertile time. During the final week or so, as she goes out of heat, she will be less willing to breed.
Spaying prevents the nuisances of heat periods.
During a heat period, your Labrador Retriever will have a bloody discharge, which can stain her coat and your carpets and furniture. Her private parts swell and she may spend a lot of time licking them. She may flirt shamelessly with other dogs (even other females), presenting her rump and encouraging other dogs to mount her. She may mount other dogs herself or hump pillows or stuffed toys.
| All of this can be embarrassing to you, to other family members, or to guests! |
Spaying prevents the need for vigilant confinement.
If your Labrador Retriever is in heat, you can't leave her alone in the yard for a single minute. A female in heat can be smelled from a long distance away and fences mean nothing to a lust-crazed male. Indeed, you may have to curtail walks altogether, as amorous males can be very persistent and difficult to beat off.
Spaying prevents the upsetting of plans and schedules.
Vacations and trips may have to wait. There are too many opportunities for escape. Friends and relatives may not appreciate a visit when your Labrador Retriever has a discharge or will leave tempting scents on their doorstep. Leaving an unspayed female with a pet sitter is extremely risky because of the extreme requirements for vigilance. And I don't recommend boarding kennels at all -- most of them require a boatload of annual vaccinations.
Spaying often means lower license tag fees.
In many communities, license tag fees are lower for spayed females.
| So there are many good reasons for spaying your female Labrador Retriever. |
BUT...
there are some RISKS, as well.
Before you spay your female,
there are some things you need to know.
| Before you spay your female, you need to know... |
- The DISadvantages of spaying. Yes, there are a couple.
- The RIGHT age your Labrador Retriever should be for spaying.
| Be careful here! The RIGHT age for spaying is NOT the age that many vets and breeders will tell you. Spaying at the WRONG age is a big mistake that can cause future health problems. |
- FIVE safety precautions your vet should take (but often doesn't!) for maximum safety during spaying.
| Sadly, dogs can and do die while being spayed because their owner didn't know enough to ask for these specific safety precautions. |
| I answer all of these questions about safe spaying in... |
Learn more!
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