I hate the thought I am making my bitch uncomfortable by not desexing her and letting her be in season. She seems quite settled, but I worry she might be in pain as sometimes she'll pace back and forth for a bit.

Do you think bitches are in pain when in season?

I had no means of knowing with mine other than when in pain, my hounds tend to 'shake'.   And I've not ever seen that.   Any 'pain' however could be down to not being able to mate when they are hard-wired to find a mate, when ready and that may be why the pacing.   I certainly don't think they suffer with cramps in the same way a human woman can.

My reason for spaying, usually when retired, was mainly so there wasn't the need to confine them twice a year for 3+ weeks, with the added disruption to the others, and I always had in mind the fact that it was more likely they'd develop a female cancer if left entire - much as since mine were usually over 7 when spayed, that risk was pretty much going to still be there.    Plus the risk of a pyometra.

I doubt that they're any more in pain than we are when we ovulate and have periods. It makes sense if you're not going to breed from her to spay her (it's not de-sexing, she'll still be female!) after she's had a season or two and is fully mature. It removes the risk of life-threatening pyometra in the future.

No more of a problem than us with a period and probably much less.also a bitch will show alsorts of behaviours trying to mate wgich shouldn't be considered physical pain.  I wouldn't consider spaying early to avoid a twice a year season unless there were real.medical problems. Early spay could cause far more problems. As said it's not desexing although I know it's a common term out of the UK it's similar to us having an hysterectomy and that won't make u gender neutral .I hope !!

Behaviourally mine are absolutely no different when in season.

> It makes sense if you're not going to breed from her to spay her

I would definitely have her spayed if she wasn't a 'vulnerable native breed'. The plan is to do health tests (hips, elbows, eyes) & go to a few shows before her next season in Jul/Aug. If her health results are excellent, and she does well in her shows, she will be bred from in the future. She's only just turned two.

> it's similar to us having an hysterectomy

If only! I've always said I'm not having children, I'm having puppies