Is Spaying Important To Great Danes?

Having Great Danes as additional members of the family means a lot to most dog lovers. Of course, a lot of people will be delighted to have these gentle giants wandering around the house, loving each ...

Having Great Danes as additional members of the family means a lot to most dog lovers. Of course, a lot of people will be delighted to have these gentle giants wandering around the house, loving each and every member of the family. Great Danes are indeed wonderful dogs and widely loved by many dog lovers around the world.

It is the owner's responsibility to provide proper nutrition, regular exercise and every little thing these creatures need in order to grow healthy, happy and to live longer. As part of being a responsible pet owner, dog spaying is an important task that must be done to prevent your female dog from health problems such as ovarian cysts, uterine infection, tumors of the womb and ovaries, abortion, whelping difficulties, caesarian section, ruptured uterus, injuries during mating and other related problems. Contrary to what others think as cruelty, spaying will not cause a dramatic change in your dog's personality but in fact, leads to longer and healthier life of a female dog.

Dog spaying, also called ovario-hysterectomy (OHE) is the complete removal of the female reproductive tract, performed under general anesthetic medicines. Through this procedure, the ovaries, oviducts, uterine horns and the uterus are removed. This therefore prevents your female Dane from becoming pregnant. Moreover, dog spaying also eliminates the heat cycle which happens twice in a year. The source of production of hormones such as estrogen and progesterone (which stimulate the heat cycle), is removed during the surgery.

There is no definite age at which spaying must be done, but it should best be done before your dog's first heat. Heat cycle depends on the dog's size and breed, usually somewhere between five to eight months. But many humane shelters and veterinarians prefer to go on with the procedure at a younger age, even as young as two months. Early spaying does not affect the growth of the puppy - be it in skeletal, physical or behavioral aspect. In fact, animals spayed at younger age often have faster recoveries than those spayed when they are older.

The cost of spaying a dog is small compared to the amount you are going to spend on food and other things she needed in her lifetime. Not to mention the damages on your favorite rug caused by her spotting when she is in season. Spaying a dog has indeed many benefits! Will you still believe that this is another form of cruelty?

Article Tags: Great Danes, Heat Cycle