....that these days, when there are THOUSANDS of dogs in rescue, vets are giving out advice to breed, or spay - no inbetween.

Or is it a case that owners only hear what they WANT to hear and the temptation of puppies, for whatever reason, is too much?

I've been thinking of the recent threads. I wonder if it is a simple case of people misunderstanding their vets. I.e. the vet says "You need to spay your bitch or she may get ill -unless you're going to breed from her of course." Or it sounds better the other way around "Unless you plan to breed form your bitch you better spay her now or she'll get ill."

?? Maybe the vets are really just trying to convince owners to spay, and just don't put it very well?

I know my vet does trust my judgement after many years, but even he will at times say things like "I hope you won't be breeding from this one" if it has even a minor fault.

Yep. I would agree with that.

I just can't understand why so many folk want to breed.... I had a litter years ago and it nearly killed me LOL

My experience of vets is quite the opposite. With both dogs the vets were advising me regards neutering as soon as I took them in for their first vaccinations, having established that I do not intend to breed.

my vet was very keen to plant the neuter/spay seed. No need though-i decided on that before i got both of mine. Bu is getting his little plums off as a belated christmas present. How thoughtful i am :D

nicola

When I went to my new vet with my new pup the first thing I was asked was if I was going to neuter her when she was old enough. I told him that I would, once she was finished breeding. His answer was basically "Fine, you know where we are when you are ready" My old vets wouldn't dared have asked me the question. They knew better :D

When I took Nips to the vet for the first time (he'd actually already checked him at 3 days with his breeder) he said "Very fine pup but am I correct in suspecting you'll be having his nuts off in the New Year?"

He wasn't wrong but nobody is allowed to tell the pup that we'll be keeping the nutcrackers out for a while after Christmas. :)

LOL @ ChloeH

>I just can't understand why so many folk want to breed.... I had a litter years ago and it nearly killed me LOL

You and me both kiddo :D :D :D

Hi Marianne,

I'd agree - I think perhaps occasionally some of the message is lost in the translation ;)  Old wives tales of necessary litters are simply that and I shouldn't think many (any?) vets would endorse that view but I've met many an owner who continues to believe that bitches "need" a litter :(  Can't convert them all but I keep trying LOL.

Regards, Teri :)

Yep, I met an old retired guy out yesterday with his BC bitch who is now on her 3rd season, so guess what has been discussed for her next?    His sister says "It's cruel to have her spayed she has to have a litter first".   I did try & explain to him that is nothing more than an old wives tale but I don't know if that convinced him.

I did find out if he is going to breed from her he'll send her to someone else to raise the litter!

I have actually experience the opposite as well.  I have an unneutered boy who if a conformation dog, and whenever I go to a new vet's office, I feel like I get harassed almost about it.  They want to know why he's not neutered, and if I know that if he ever got out he could breed with another dog, and that there are health problems associated with not neutering, and on and on. 

my vets are the same, they seem to hound me (excuse pun) whenever i am in there, we took our pup at 8 weeks when we brought her home and my vets first words were , "make sure you have her spayed". we wwere always planning to as i dont have the inclination to breed at all.
My motherinlaw has a yorkie too who wasnt spayed, but went to visit a relative while she went on holiday, when she came back the dog was showing signs of being very ill, she was off her food and very mopey and grumpy. they left her for ages with no vet visit, and i said she was getting fatter, could she be pregnant? the answer was no. anyway a few weeks after that they woke up to find her screaming in pain, and after rushing her to the vets was told she was trying to give birth (i hate to say i told you so) she had to have a csection as the pups were obviously far too big and nearly died in the process.
my muminlaw was told after that a collie cross boy had had acess to her yorkie whilst she was away.
some people have no idea about the birds and the bees! but in her defence she said she thought the yorkie was spayed but couldnt she have asked???
the poor mite nearly died!
irresponsible matings drive me crazy!!

When my boy was a youngster he had a tiny lump on his foreleg, just a cyst, and the vet said 'shall I neuter him while he's in anyway?' I said 'he's doing pretty well in the show ring, so if you touch his bits me and his breeder will both go mad, don't you dare!!' :-D

None of the vets at our practice tell you to have a litter, we always point out the difficulteies involved in breeding. I do think they try to push spaying and neutering, but the vast majority of dogs we have in are not show quality and the owners have no idea, one bitch owner didn't even know what a season was, they thought the dog was seriously ill when she started bleeding at 8 months (but brought her in on day 3?!!)