I have a strong interest in Labradors as pets and working them on a shoot as a hobby.
I have had female Labs all my life. I have taken the last two (one chocolate, one black) shooting, both of whom were spayed and observed no odd behaviour from the male dogs we met shooting.
When I take my friend's female chocolate Lab (Finn) on a shoot all the male dogs behave as if she is in season, ie they follow her around with their noses up her backside, try to mount her and generally are a pain in the rear. This week, two of the males had a set-to over her when one tried to sniff her, which another didn’t approve of as he had his eye on her. It is beginning to be a problem rather than just a nuisance.
Finn is eight years old. She had a litter of pups when she was three and then was spayed. This happens every time I take her, October, November and January (I didn’t take her in December). Finn usually ignores the dogs who are pestering her, although sometimes she might snap at them. (I have taken Finn shooting since she was a pup, I think this behaviour started after she was spayed, as far as I remember, and gets worse as time goes on.)
The male dogs react similar to her daughter Kasey, who is also spayed and is five years old, but they are not so insistent with Kasey.
Could someone please explain what is happening? Will I ever be able to take Finn to enjoy her day out without being pestered?
Tracey Hammond, by email
please get the dam health checked. It is very likely that she has a low grade uterine infection that has been present for some time. These infections, however minor, are very addictive to male dogs as they often mimic season smells.
ReplyDeleteps if Kasey lives with Finn some of the same smell will be present on her too.
ReplyDeleteI cannot say what causes it, I'm afraid, but in relation to the last comment, surely it cannot be a uterine infection as if Finn has been spayed then her uterus will have been removed (along with ovaries, etc)!
ReplyDeleteI have experienced entire male dogs being quite interested in my neutered males at times (as if they were females), but not nearly as intensely as you've had with Finn.
Hope someone knows what's going on!
What type of spay did she get? Sometimes just the ovaries are removed leaving the uterus
ReplyDeleteThe smell is likely to be coming from the anal glands not the genito-urinary system. Have the anal galnds of both dogs emptied and see how that goes. The underlying cause of the anal gland problem is nutrition. The glands become overfull usually when a low-quality food is being fed. (Most people think that a high fibre diet which produces lots of faeces keeps the anal glands clean but that is not correct.) A high quality food such as those from Burns should be helpful in keeping anal glands clean and healthy.
ReplyDeleteJohn Burns BVMS MRCVS
Burns Pet Nutrition
The comment about a uterine infection may still be true. Even a complete hysterectomy will leave a stump that may get infected. Or maybe she has a urinary infection such as cystitis. You may not have noticed any obvious external symptoms, especially if she is a resilient dog but may still smell appealing to other dogs.
ReplyDeleteThank you for all the above comments. I have passed them on to my friend, Finns owner who has made an appointment for her vet to check out these suggestions. I will let you know if we get an answer. I'm afraid I can't let you know if any thing cures the problem until the start of shooting in October.
ReplyDelete