To neuter or vaccinate? General Chat

After I lost Pereg my Vet initially said he thought an older adoption/rescue might be easier for me to cope with than a young puppy, but on second thoughts he realised that there would be no knowing if an older rescue might be a wheel chaser, whereas a young puppy would never know me as anything but a wheelie. And both Baby Ziva and then Tikva seemed to instinctively know that when they heard the beep of my chair being switched on, it meant that I was going to move.

In addition, I have always used the word "move" meaning 'out of the way' if I am moving around on my chair, and "mind" meaning 'careful' for if I am on my crutches in the bungalow.

With some bitches it is very difficult to even see when they are in season, let alone notice any signs beforehand. Lexi was a very good example of that and it was only because I was well used to bitches when I used to breed Griffons that I noticed the one tiny drop of blood on her vulva. She never bled any more than that, nor did her vulva swell.

Pereg did not show any signs beforehand - she just came full into season one night [on my bed, with pale apple green sheets on it ] and her vulva swelled like a balloon.

Both were five-months-old at the time. Lexi was small [around 5-5½ kilos] and Pereg was probably around twice that. I do not think that size had anything to do with their differences as my Griffons were all around the same size, and they all tended to be different with regard to age of first season, length of time between seasons, and whether they were almost invisible ones or heavy ones.

oh,seems its harder than I thought to identify. Guess I was thinking their seasons would be like our periods but not as often! I might just have to leave it to fate and see what we end up with, rather than look for a specific breed puppy.

But not all women are the same either, are they. Some are regular, some are not. Some have light periods, some have heavy ones. Some suffer from PMS, some do not. Life is not equal for everyone - there is variety in everything.

The same with bitches and their seasons. I thought at the time that Tikva was too young to be spayed at six months, before she had had her first season, but I have known and trusted my wonderful Vet for a long time so took his advice. She has matured physically [she is now 2 years and 3 months old], with rock solid bones and muscles, and most of the time she has matured mentally. But she still has occasions where she is puppy-like when I am playing with her, which is fun for both of us, so spaying obviously has had no affect on her whatsoever.

So you see you have three things to consider Katie. Not just vaccinations and spaying/neutering, but whether to get a young puppy who will have never known you as anything but a wheelie, or an older one who might be a wheel chaser.

Whatever you decide I hope you get whatever you want and that JJ and a new addition will be happy together.