Smooth fox terrier - sterilising

[djsolya86]

Dear Fox terrier owners!
I am writing from Hungary and I have a serious problem I would like to ask your help.

I have a cute 7-months old female smooth fox terrier. I must sterilise her because I don't want puppies, and I know that sterilising keeps her in excellent health, preventing from cancer.

I do not have any friend with fox terrier in Hungary, and I would like to know if she changes in mood and personality after sterilisation.
She is really playful know (because she is still a puppy), and I don't want to loose her personality she has now.

Any expereiences from other fox terrier owners?

I will really appreciate your kind answers. Please write reasons for sterilising and against it.

Orsi from Hungary

[Ari_RR]

Hello Orsi

You may want to take a look at this thread -> viewtopic.php?f=4&t=13752

My 2 cents (I have a male dog, not a fox terrier, and I don't have a lot of experience, so this is really 2 cents worth) - there are side effects of early spaying/neutering. If your girl finds herself freely roaming the streets of Budapest with no human supervision, among unknown/unneutered males - then perhaps spaying her is the only way.. But if you have control over where she goes, when, whom she meets and plays with - then I would suggest waiting, and in the meantime preventing accidental matings by managing the environment (essentially keeping her away from free roaming intact males when she is in season)

It's really great that you think this through before doing it - this one cannot be undone!

But stand by - experts will be along soon.

For what it's worth - we spayed our little Himalayan when she was very young, that was about 2-3 years ago, and and she never regained the playful personality that she had before the operation.

[djsolya86]

Dear Ari_RR,

Thanks for your advice, I will look through the thread you mentioned.
I don't want my little "clown" to loose her playful personality! I love her just as she is, but I would like to avoid "accidents" with male dogs coming into my house... Of course we are attending training classes at a dog training school in my hometown, but if you know fox terriers, there is no obstacle for them to go where they want to, if nature calls

I am still waiting for advice.

[Nettle]

You've had the best advice.

It's perfectly possible to keep your dog away from other dogs IF you are totally committed to it, but we here can't see what it is like where you live.

If stray dogs come into your house all the time and you can't stop that, then you do risk your dog becoming pregnant when she is in season.

If dogs are allowed to roam the streets where you live, then they are a risk to your dog.

Tell us what it is like with dogs where you live, and how you keep yours, and we can offer the best advice for your circumstances.


Don't let anyone tell you that you can't do this or that with terriers - because you can do whatever you want or need to do.

[djsolya86]

Dear Nettle,

Thanks for your post.
I live in a house which has a great backyard. The garden is separated around with wired fence, no holes on it. Our neighbour has a german shepherd and he often jumps into our garden by the fence (the fence is very tall, but it doesn't matter for him), and I am afraid of this dog especially. I know that in season dogs often try to escape, and I am also afraid of this (she will scratch under the fence or something.)
In the backyard Myrtill (that's the name of my dog ) has an own building where her dog house stands, and it can be closed If I want, but this room is too small for her to be closed there all day long.

I really hope that you have an advice for me

[OnceInAWeil]

Hi Orsi,

Someone recently sent me these articles that I think have very important information about the effects of spaying:

http://www.caninesports.com/SNBehaviorB ... apShot.pdf

http://www.doglistener.co.uk/neutering/ ... ring.shtml

Basically if you must sterilize, it is best to wait until the dog is fully grown. However, sterilization can change the dog's personality. If you want to see how spaying would affect Myrtill's behavior, you could try a chemical castration. This is temporary and lasts weeks/months depending on what kind you do. It would give you a chance to see if and how her behavior would change if you got her spayed.

From the second link:

Think long and hard before making a decision on either peer pressure or vet advice before embarking on this option. Their are alternatives which could give you strong indicators how your dog will be affected by this procedures.; TardaK is a short term chemical castration lasting approximately five weeks. However I feel it is not as positive as a new chemical castration such as suprelorin that in a small dog could last 10 months and a large dog six months.

Also, is there any way you could ask your neighbors to keep better track of their german shepherd? A big dog that can come into your yard whenever he pleases doesn't sound very safe for your girl!

[Alvater]

Has your ***** had her first season yet? It should be coming.

If she was my dog I might let her to be operated when she is a year old. We don't though have free-roaming males behind every corner here. And the very few I've met have been easy to shake off.

Only one of our bitches has been sterilized and that was because she had uteritis. She was also an older dog, about 7 or 8 years at the time. What happened to her (a long-haired breed) makes me think twice if I'll ever sterilize Alva. Belinda grew an enormous coat that was soft and fluffy and needed a lot more care than her previous moderate shed-brush-and-go fur. And as a rough collie, Alva's coat is even now abundant and pretty soft, what if it grows and softens as much as Belinda's did.

But your dog is short-haired and smooth so you should not get into brushing problems.

Belinda's temperament did not change. Well, she was then equally dog aggressive when she had no heats that made her sometimes friendly towards males. She was also a pretty calm dog anyways.

[gwd]

Only one of our bitches has been sterilized and that was because she had uteritis. She was also an older dog, about 7 or 8 years at the time. What happened to her (a long-haired breed) makes me think twice if I'll ever sterilize Alva. Belinda grew an enormous coat that was soft and fluffy and needed a lot more care than her previous moderate shed-brush-and-go fur. And as a rough collie, Alva's coat is even now abundant and pretty soft, what if it grows and softens as much as Belinda's did.

this is one side effect that vets NEVER mention. some breeds are especially prone to what, we in show circles call, 'spay/neuter coat' ........as you said, it's soft, fluffy, and the wrong texture. it mats at the drop of a hat and looks like cotton candy. irish setters can turn from a deep rich dark mahogany to a fluffy, fuzzy, cottony light pumpkin color.

here is an example of a groomed golden with correct coat:



and here is golden with spay coat:

[Nettle]

The German Shepherd coming into your garden makes it very difficult for you. Can you build a secure pen for your dog that is big enough for her to run around in but keeps her safe? It would need a roof on it and the bottom part set in concrete so the GSD cannot dig under. The best thing would be if you could raise your own fence and put an overhang at the top so the GSD can't come in, but I appreciate that this might not be easy.

It would be better in your situation to have your b itch spayed once she has grown up, which should be about 2 years old. Then it should not make a difference to her personality, but it will affect her coat and she will put on weight more easily. However it sounds as if you have a problem with roaming dogs, and we have to compromise on what we want sometimes.

[djsolya86]

Dear Guys,

Thanks for all the advice you gave me, but I finally decided to spay my dog and the operation will be done today. I hope that everything is gonna be fine with my little dog I'll come back with information about her recovery.

[djsolya86]

Dear Everyone,

spaying my little b itch went fine. Everything seems to be okay with her, full recovery only lasted 5 days. I experienced a little bit of change in her attitude: in the open area now she is more likely to listen to me than she used to. So I have positive experience about spaying my dog Thanks for your advice guys!