A few days ago, we had our annual spay and neuter day! We’re fortunate enough to have Dr. Jeanne Olson come to the kennel and perform spays and neuters right at home. I should note, I have no relation to Dr. Olson, although I wish I did! She’s one cool lady. Dr. Olson travels to remote villages and offers her knowledge and skills at discounted rates in communities that don’t have a veterinarian. She regularly participates in rabies clinics or spay and neuter clinics for both dogs and cats. She has so much knowledge of both Western and Eastern medicine and has helped us many times when a dogs just seems off. So thank you, thank you to Dr. Jeanne Olson!

Ok, back to our big day. Spaying and neutering at home is a fantastic setup for us. First, the future patient is given a calming drug. About ten minutes later, the dog is ready for a dose of the anesthesia drug. Once out, we lift the pup up onto a table in the kitchen (which is different from the kitchen table I might add), and before you know it, they’re relaxing on the living room floor with an ice pack, no puppy making organs, and sleepily wagging their tail. Since the procedure is performed at home, the dogs get to wake up on familiar ground and don’t have the added stress of being in a new environment. Plus, with 13 dogs to spay and neuter, it makes my life easier to keep everyone home!

Spaying and neutering dogs is a key aspect in our kennel management plan. There are SO MANY benefits to spaying and neutering—

There’s significantly less chance of having unplanned litters. With 40+ dogs, mistakes can happen (and frisky dogs are good at finding ways to meet up). By spaying and neutering over half of the kennel, there’s a far less chance of an oopsie.
It helps dogs hold weight. Especially for the big males, neutering helps them maintain a healthy weight during winter.
Spaying and neutering can take the edginess off. Sometimes (not always), spaying and neutering can tamper down reactive and/or aggressive behaviors. This isn’t always the case, but it can certainly help.
Spaying and neutering reduces the risk of certain cancers and pyometra (a potentially deadly infection in a female’s reproductive tract).

Normally we wait until dogs are two to three years old before spaying and neutering; however, this time I did opt to spay and neuter a handful of the yearlings. With twelve athletes in the yearling class, if they were all intact, training could quickly turn into a MTV Spring Break episode. Plus, I already knew there were several who I did not want to breed in the future (primarily for health reasons or shyness).

So who were the special thirteen? Dr. Olson spayed/neutered Yoshi (4), Faff (4), Scarpa (3), Rose (2), Beesly (1), Smoky (5), Thresher (4), Bert (3), Watson (2), Sherlock (2), Dwight (1), Mose (1), and Mozzerella (1).

A BIG THANK YOU to Dr. Olson, without whom this wouldn’t have been possible!