Hello,

My vet recommended letting my pup go through her first heat before spaying her because new research has shown that it helps the bones more than it increases the risk of breast cancer. Most of the material I’ve read confirms this.

She’s 8 months now and is finishing up her first heat. They’re recommending doing the surgery in a month but what I’ve read is two months? Any advice?

I’ve also never had to take care of a dog out of surgery, any tips on what I should and shouldn’t do?

Please help an anxious dog Mom out!
Thanks.

Since a lot of the newer research is centered around the benefits for a growing dog it seems best in my mind to let the dog finish growing and then spay, so wait until a year old and then schedule the spay. At 8 months now that would put you out at least waiting the two month mark. Pups are mostly done growing up anyway at around the one year mark. After that they are mostly just filling in.

As for the surgery the vet will say do nothing for two weeks (or at least they used to). Most dogs will be somewhat calm the night they come home and the next day it's like nothing happened to them at all. I tend to shoot for no rough play for a week, but for the most part we are continuing life as normal within a couple days of surgery just doing our best to not let any licking of the sutures happen and keeping clear of playing in water/mud or rolling a bunch in the grass.

Since huskies are medium breeds, I agree with Jenn that they are pretty close to fully growing height wise at around a year old. With that in mind, I would also assess how big the parents are, huskies, for the most part, should be at 80% of adult weight at around 8-10 months old. If she is 80% of the parents weight, then pretty safe to say she is close to being done growing. My gsd, which is slightly larger breed of dog compared to huskies, had her first heat at 10 months, old and I had her spayed at 13 months old. She was at that age just about 80% of adult weight, and I also agree to wait 2 months after their heat to do the surgery. Timing is everything, since females may have their next heat 6 months from their first, and some as early as 4 months from their first heat.

The second question, depends on what type of spay and what type of sutures. My gsd had a much more traditional spay, and was given some pain relievers in which I gave in the evening to keep her settled. Her spay scar was much longer than my husky mix girls, and I therefore did restrict her for the full 2 weeks. I checked the sutures a couple of times a day, did not allow to lick, no jumping and playing. Very important to kept sutures dry and clean. My husky mix had a lot of issues with her spay, and her scar is way smaller than my gsds, and I believe with her we restricted activity for about a week. Either way, follow the vets instructions, because in reality no 2 vets do the spay the same way, for whatever reason. If they so no activity for 2 weeks, then follow that advice. You do not want the sutures to open up. If your girl is a jumper, and prefers getting on the couch or bed, and you have her crate trained, I highly recommend that she is confined to the crate for the healing process, it is my understanding that forward jumping, like getting up onto a high bed, is what pulls on the sutures.

As for after spay care...I got my first girl spayed at a new for us vet, in a new town, living in a new apt. Left her in the morning to be picked up the next day...went about my business, away from home until late in the evening. Arrived home and...my dog was in the apartment, looking out the storm door. WTF?!!? After they left for the day and after she woke from the anaesthesia, she broke out of their most secure cage, dived through their glass storm door, walked (or ran, who knows) the 5 ish miles home. My neighbor saw her outside and opened my door to let her in.

The vet office was horrified, worried that she might rip open her stitches and bleed to death. Nope...as spiffy and perky as a puppy! I would not worry a whole lot, hard to keep these guys quiet.