My pup will be spayed after her first cycle she’s 8 months old and still hyper and kind of a moose when she’s excited and a lot of things seem to excite her. LOL Does that really calm them down some after having the procedure or is that just a tale?

Based on my last 3 dogs, pure lies. LOL.

Definitely helps with hormone driven behaviors but not entirely. Still quite young and will need a lot of mental and physical stimulation to stop being so hyper. Any reason you’re waiting for her to have a heat cycle? If you spay prior to first heat you can pretty much eliminate the risk of mammary carcinoma in the future

That’s what I was wondering.

I've always had my dogs spayed and it never seemed to change their character. GSP, beagle and labs.

The theory is the cycle is needed to balance the hormones for the future development/ balance ?

From what I found on line smaller breeds before they cycle (6) months but larger breeds more towards maturity ? She’s 40+ pounds now.

What breed?

A little bit of everything and yes theres some sheep dog somewhere in there.

I'm thinkin' a fair amount of Beagle too! LOL

Just had this discussion with our vet couple weeks back. Spay or not spay. Wife lost her 13 year old teddy bear to a uterus infection. Vet said old dogs just don't know that they shouldn't come in heat anymore.
We have never spayed any of our dogs and have only had one male. He was fixed because he had health issue early.
Im currently struggling with whether I want to spayed my pup. She has not had her first heat cycle yet. She will be coming up on a year old here in October. My son had his lab spayed after first heat cycle. Been saying dad just do it you won't be sorry. No dealing with dog making mess around the house. No having to watch every where you go when their hot. No acting stupid when your trying to hunt and dogs acting up. So from a handling point of view spayed or neutered dog shouldn't have that distraction to deal with. I think its become common practice with service dogs and search and rescue dogs. As far as when to have them fixed there is now some debate about that. Seem their is different age for different breeds.
Im thinking seen as I dont intend to breed my dog. Im probably going to have her spayed.
What I talked about the with my vet about that. Was how spayed and neutered dogs to me seemed to alway get heavier. He agreed that lots of people think their doing good by fixing their dog to extend their life. Then they dont run the or work them and they become over weight. Leading to whole different bunch health issues.
I know my son's lab is heavier than she should be. We haven't treated her any different that the past dogs.
I don't know.

MTCW

Mac

No it does not calm them down only age.

Unless you can't prevent her from getting pregnant, while she's in heat, I don't recommend getting her spayed. Spaying and neutering dogs makes them somewhat like the people most of don't like, that are sexually ambiguous. It generally kills a lot of a dog's drive. Males develop less muscle. Females are more masculine.

Keith

There are definitely new studies that show holding off on spaying can help with development and even help to prevent future incontinence issues.
I see a lot of folks who like to hold off on neutering and spaying larger breed dogs to help with muscle development. Which is important in protecting their ligaments.
I honestly don’t know what choice I would make if I were to get another young dog.
If it was a male I may not neuter it at all.
A female I would be afraid not to at some point , as the risk of pyometra listed above

Not knowing the correct answer, I can only say what our vet recommended.......

We have a small dog, 13lbs full grown. When she was a pup we asked about this and she (the vet) wanted us to get her fixed before her first cycle.
I don't know the reasoning.

That what my internet search said smaller dogs before they cycle before 6 months and larger dogs later first year or more so after they cycle.

Might be some pit in there she has the neck of a rut buck.

Thanks elsmasho..
This is what I was trying to get at with my post. Some new thinking on the subject.

Mac

My family has had female labs, spayed and not. Mine have been the not. The nots were a pita during heat cycles but stayed more athletic longer into their life.

I will add, spayed or not they would all live to about 11 after being hunted hard, from ruffed grouse to fetching goldeneye in icy November water.

I take her out for zoomies to burn off energy plus the has a golden doodle thats young and dumb so they entertain one another it’s good for them. The outside cats are her biggest distraction they make it tough to keep her attention. I took her to MO a few weeks ago and she was a different dog very focused less stupid.