Episode 36 - Owning a Borzoi - when to spay your Borzoi!

[@esperborzoi]

Just to clarify, not all the vets we spoke to recommended doing the spay early. In fact, they all had opinions one way or another on it. It's been a tough road to navigate, but we've decided to go with what our breeders recommended, as they have the most experience with the breed and are animal specialists themselves.

[@Toastermrvl]

omg the pillow rest is so cute!!!!

[@AngieRival]

I was told to wait until Arlo is 2. My vet agreed and said wait as long as you can.. Cheers from Australia!!!

[@catejohnston3232]

I've always heard that, if you can, you should wait a bit longer with any larger breed. We have a male Silken Windhound (you should check them out if you haven't heard of them, they are very close to a Borzoi both in terms of looks and personality- just a bit smaller (ours is 25" at the shoulder)) and the breeder asked us to wait until he was 18 months old to neuter. He's currently 13 months old and we've had no issues so far, in fact he's the carefullest, most polite dog I've ever seen :) From past experience I'd definitely recommend going to a vet that uses the skin glue and internal dissolvable stitches or looking into a reputable local clinic service. Often there are animal spay/neutering clinics that do a great job, have vets with tons of experience doing the surgery, tend to be lower cost, and you are supporting a great cause.

[@esperborzoi]

Fantastic info!!!! Thank you!

[@CuSidhe]

Both of my Borzoi are intact males. One is 3 years and the other will be 1 year next month, and I will NOT be neutering them unless there is a medical need to remove the testicles. If I decide to sterilize them, I'll be opting for a vasectomy instead. There's several reasons why: - I actively show and compete with my dogs, so them being intact (and no, a dog is ineligible to compete in conformation if they are vasectomized) are a must in order to do so - My youngest will potentially be my foundation sire - More and more studies are showing that spaying and neutering is not nearly as beneficial for a dog as previously thought. Here's a link (also contains links to multiple studies) that goes into it: www.grandfuturekennel.com/spaying-and-neutering-on-american-bulldog/?fbclid=IwAR3NXB-52eDacup02YSgfzgEActyzMVH-oDz9eHo84a_IOrSaBsJ4tCyrss - Borzoi are not known for same sex aggression due to the very nature of their breeding and purpose, so having multiple intact animals isn't a problem. Careful management when a bitch goes in heat to prevent unwanted pregnancy can easily be done if you have a mixed household If someone wanted to neuter their male, I would suggest that they wait until they are AT LEAST 18 months, if not longer. Males tend to take longer to mature than the females, so neutering them too early can have a bigger impact on their growth.

[@esperborzoi]

Such great info! Thank you!!!! I know here to start looking. I really appreciate the time you took to write this.

[@CuSidhe]

@@esperborzoi Happy to share! There's so much new information coming out of the veterinary world these days, it's mind-blowing! And I do want to add that I'm not against spaying and neutering because sometimes having intact animals just isn't for everybody. But, like you said, Borzoi (and large breed dogs in general) have some special exceptions. I absolutely love what y'all do when it comes to breed education! I've met so many people that recognize what the boys are because they know the "leetle Russian lady", and it makes me so happy

[@esperborzoi]

@@CuSidhe Thank you! I'm doing my best. I realized once we started blowing up on Tiktok / Insta I wanted to do my best to get accurate information about the breed out there. I'm not saying I'll be 100% right, but I'll do my best and amend as I get corrected. haha.

[@CuSidhe]

@@esperborzoi You're doing amazing! I wish that more people would do what you're doing because it's such a fun way to show people all of the amazing breeds out there. 😁 I'm planning on doing a series on the sporting side of Borzoi (and sighthounds all across the board) because I was so inspired watching your TikTok and KZbin 💜

[@Toastermrvl]

You should make a video where you play hide and seek with them!!

[@mayqueenslithers4078]

All breeds should be allowed to fully grow before alteration. Ovarian sparing spay is a great alternative.

[@Muckas87]

A question I've been thinking about today: How are borzois compared to other dogs as hiking companions? In my mind I've been guessing that they probably shouldn't carry too much weight since their bodys arent really built in that way, but otherwise they should be fine? as long as you prevent them from racing around sice they might burn all of their endurance? about the weight thing I was thinking about horses for a moment, as we generally say that a rider and saddle should weigh less than 10% of the horse for it to be sustainable in the long run, perhaps that might be an ok weight ratio for infrequent hikes (hoping for the dog to be able to carry it's water and food and possibly bedding) (for context: I'm hoping to get a zoi puppy in a few weeks so I'm researching like crazy but don't really have experience with the breed, only have some other types of sight hounds in the family)

[@esperborzoi]

Hey There! Sorry I just now saw this. Healthy adult borzois can easily do a full day of hiking, they might not want to, but they can do it. Temperature will definitely play a roll, if it's cool enough they can go much longer - the heat really seems to tire them out, and you need to be careful with overheating. In regards to weight, I've been told that it is bad for borzois to have weight on their back, but to be completely honest i have not researched that enough to give a definitive answer about small stuff like waters and what not - I wonder if you could get a pack that distributes the weight more on the shoulders (total speculation here).

[@AmberMakowicz]

There is scientific data suggesting a connection between sex hormones and the development of the growth plates in mammals (in general), where the hormones play an important role in the closure/fusion of the plates. In large/giant breed dogs, specifically, the dogs' legs continue to grow for a long period before their bone plates fuse and damage to these growth plates can cause bone and joint health issues. In smaller dogs, that are less than 50 pounds or so, the growth of the limbs is complete around 6 months of age. However, in large and giant breed dogs, this longitudinal growth can span from 10 to 18+ months. Spaying or neutering your large breed dog before 6 months has been linked to increased bone and joint problems as they age (see as an example: journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0102241&type=printable). While historically, vets and even breeders have always suggested spaying or neutering before 6 months of age for other health reasons, this new research is starting some of the more enlightened to delay this until 1.5-2 years of age in these larger/giant breeds for BOTH males and females. Nonetheless, the risks associated with intact animals is even higher, so it is still recommended that you DO fix your pet, but delay this for the first year at least. I hope this helps explain the biology behind why there is confusion about this topic.

[@esperborzoi]

Amber Makowicz such great info! Thank you, going to read this now

[@AmberMakowicz]

@@esperborzoi Sorry, I just realized the link isn't working. the article is Hart et al. 2014 Plos One 9:e102241

[@esperborzoi]

@@AmberMakowicz nice! got it, thank you!

[@AuLily1]

I had a male Borzoi and waited until he was 18 months old.

[@laurend.statham1742]

So I mean, I have an intact female who turned 11 on Easter and who just finished another heat cycle. It’s not as if I’m going to get her fixed now at this point considering her age alone, but I do worry that every time she completes a cycle since she experiences bouts of nausea that lasts for a day or two. all in all she’s otherwise a healthy Babushka and demands compote even still though I personally think spaying a female is still recommended.

[@esperborzoi]

Aww sweet baby!