by Betty Carew

Created on: January 29, 2010   Last Updated: January 30, 2010

The most obvious reason why you should spay your female dog is to keep her from adding to the over population of puppies that you find in shelters and rescue centers today. Although this may be the most obvious reason it is not the only reason to have your dog spayed. Spaying is perhaps the best thing you can do for your companion. It will help prevent your dog from sickness, help with her behavior, prevent urinary infections and even help to prevent breast cancer.

Heat cycles

Your female dog will go into heat approximately every six months. These cycles start when your puppy is approximately six months old and then the cycle repeats every six months after.  This can affect your dog in her behavior when hormones start to take over her body. Male dogs can smell a dog in heat from long distances and it is not unusual to have one or two males show up on your property looking to mate with your female. Your female dog will not help the situation as she is following her urges. This can lead to your female dog getting loose and wandering far from home. You are also saving her from the complications that some dogs endure while having their puppies. This can all be changed by spaying your female dog and giving her the peace of mind that she deserves.

Diabetes

Diabetes is caused by many factors in dogs and unspayed dogs are more prone to diabetes mellitus which female dogs are susceptible to. Spaying stops the interaction of the hormones with the blood sugar levels and in turn this helps stabilize your dog’s metabolism. Once your dog is spayed the hormone levels are greatly reduced and in turn can reduce the chances of your dog getting diabetes. Diabetes can be dangerous to your dog as well as being expensive for you to control. Spaying can reduce the risk of this problem before your dog contracts diabetes or after she contracts it. Either way spaying is a positive thing when it comes to diabetes in your dog.

Urine infections

Spaying your dog can reduce the amount of certain urinary infections that unsprayed dogs can contract. Some of these urinary infections can be mild but if your dog contracts pyometra it can become a very serious infection of the uterus which sometimes can lead to be a life threatening infection.

Risks of having puppies

Spaying your female dog can remove the dangers that some dogs encounter when having puppies. Two of these risks are dystocia which is a difficult birth and eclampsia.  Dystocia causes some female dogs to have a very

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