Can a spayed female dog still attract males?
Answer: Sometimes a piece of ovarian or uterine tissue is left behind during the spay surgery, and this may cause her to go into heat and attract males. Not saying this is the case, but it may be a possibility.
What is an ovariohysterectomy? and how does it play a part In a dog’s hormones?
Spayed females go through ovariohysterectomy or OHE which is a medical procedure the removes their reproductive capacity.
With the removal of her reproductive organs, the hormone production of progesterone and estrogen also comes to a halt. These are the responsible hormones for putting her in a cycle of heat.
Males don’t usually have any interest in females unless she is in heat and gives off pheromones. Male dog noses have more than two hundred million receptors and they know when females are in heat.
So you can’t really blame me for wondering how on earth a spayed female dog attracts males.
My dog was spayed, with her organs for reproduction removed and her hormone production and heat cycles halted. It just doesn’t add up.
I did some research and as it turns out, there are possible explanations for this.
One explanation may be that an undiagnosed medical condition may be causing your dog to smell like she is in heat.
Conditions such as vaginitis, infections of the vulva or cervix, and possible infection of the bladder could cause her to attract males.
Another possible reason is that tissue remnants were left behind causing her to act like she is in heat. Small parts of the ovary tissues could be left behind during the spaying surgery.
These can grow and trigger hormone production similar to a cycle of heat. If there was a successful removal of the uterus, technical your dog won’t be able to get pregnant even if she has found a mate.
Your spayed female dog might also still attract male dogs if the pheromones the males are picking up are not hers.
A dog that has been neutered correctly is not supposed to act as if she is in heat nor ever actually be in heat.
However, if the neighbor’s dog is in heat, a male dog could be attracted to your spayed female dog by mistake. The male dogs re-directed his pent-up needs towards your dog.
Can a spayed dog still get pregnant?
Spaying is the term commonly used to describe surgery performed on female dogs called an ovariohysterectomy.
In this type of surgery, the uterus and ovaries are completely removed to sterilize female dogs. Some vets also perform ovariectomy where only the ovaries are taken out. This will mean that the spayed dog will unable to get pregnant.
Generally, the recommendation is that all female dogs get spayed. The advantages and benefits you get from spaying your dogs will help control dog populations.
There is new evidence that recommends delaying surgery for larger dog breeds, however.