I have had cocker spaniels for 55 years.
I have never spayed for convenience, I have always had girls and consider them coming into season up to twice a year and avoiding pregnancy just part of the responsibility of having girls. Otherwise I would have had boys.
I have spayed a couple of girls for medical reasons and certainly but not for the fact that they were messy when in season. And it did ruin their beautiful silky coats, it turned them into wooly bears that needed clipping every 3 months.
I can never understand why people get themselves a female puppy and as soon as possible they spay them!
We have had one boy that again we kept entire, he belonged to my daughter but when she lost her job and had to move back home the dog had to come back with her. And here he stayed. Hmm!!
The love,loyalty and affection was probably better than the girls but that could have been because he was first of all a single dog.
When various girls game into season we managed him accordingly, there were times that he had to take a break and we needed one too, so he would go to our local boarding kennels where he was quiet happy, but always pleased to come home again. We never considered castrating him.
Health wise regarding whether to spay or not, I think the benefits hardly outweigh the problems that spaying can potentially cause during a lifetime. And of course we have that one other risk, the one where we could loose that beautiful silky smooth coat.
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