Omelet wrote:
> In article > ,
> Dave Smith > wrote:
>
>
>>Omelet wrote:
>>
>>
>>>Last time I had a dog come into heat prior to spaying, a neighborhood
>>>stray dug into the yard, bred Misty, peed all over her and the front
>>>porch! It was a royal mess.
>>
>>Our Bouvier came into heat shortly after we moved to this house. I had
>>built a kennel for her and she spent most of the day in the kennel while
>>she was in heat. We discovered that there were a lot of male dogs
>>roaming around, and they spent a lot of their time hanging around our
>>house. I didn't know whose dogs they were, but knowing what a male dogs
>>can be like around a bitch in heat I used to take a shotgun with me when
>>I took her back and forth to the kennel. Luckily I never had to use it
>>and she was spayed shortly after that first heat.
>>
>>Friends on mine had a runted female Great Dane. She was normally a very
>>well behaved dog, but she was a slut. Every time she was in heat she
>>managed to sneak out of the house and have a tryst that ended up with a
>>litter of big puppies. They didn't want to have her spayed but ended up
>>doing it.
>
>
> IMHO unless you are an actual breeder, it's irresponsible not to
> spay/neuter. The cost of the surgery will more than be made up for if
> you have to raise a litter.

We left Scully intact until she was 2 1/2, pending OFA and eye exam
results. She passed both with flying colors. She was beautiful,
gorgeous, healthy, excellent temperament and could do everything a BC
was supposed to be able to do. The breeder who'd produced her promised
a stud that was a match for her in every way, had a waiting list of
buyers for prospective puppies.

And I couldn't. Not with healthy border collie adults and puppies
waiting for homes. Not knowing that if the goal was more dogs just like
her, that her sire and dam were still intact and of breeding age. Not
knowing that if I bred her that I was exposing her to the risks of
pregnancy and delivery; that I might be burning her candle at both ends.

And so we had her spayed. I love the idea of being able to have a
daughter of hers to raise and train. But it wouldn't be Scully. There
will never be another like her.

But when I look at the sea of orca colored dogs at any given tournament
I see all of the border collies I've known and loved, there in the
spectrum of the breed. Duffy's ears, Connor's build, Rocky's eyes,
Molly's way of moving, Bonnie's markings and coat, Tessy's shy gaze.

A friend from another team comes to our crating area at every tournament
to pet Zane, because when he lays his ears back he looks just like her
boy Cruiser who passed three years ago, and she holds my hand and looks
at the thin white scar across the back of it. I got it playing ball
with Cruiser at Springfield in April of 2002. He didn't bite me, I
basically stuck my hand in his mouth and scratched myself on his fang.
Cruiser left a mark on my hand. The others left marks on my soul.

That's the advantage of owning and loving a pure bred dog. Like any
other dog, pure bred or mutt, each one is unique. But with a pure bred
dog, a border collie, you can look out across the breed and see all of
the traits that made your dog what he or she was, carried forward in
various combinations. And that's somehow comforting.