Whoa there Tonto You should take a chill out pill-don't bother apologising I've a very very thick skin. I suggest before jumping onto the computer after half reading a post & replying suggesting that after 52 years of owning dogs that I have never heard of pyrometra you take the time to fully read other's advice posts.

Right where do I start with my experience of rescue ????

Not wishing to bore the underpants off you I won't go back to when I started being involved in rescue(1961), but to 1 or 2 of the more recent ones.

I've been actively involved in GSD rescue since I was 11 years old. I then helped my father to collect unwanted dogs, raise money & homecheck. When I was 16 I started to help retrain rescue GSDs for the then only rescue for GSDs in the north of England.

I have managed to take starving GSDs from homes that the RSPCA(even with the police being involved)were too frightened to approach the dogs let alone the owners. I have helped nurse the dogs back to health retrain & overcome their issues(without the use of any adverse training)& see them successfully rehomed.

I have took a 12 kilo 14 month old GSD bitch from a home of a known drug dealer & left her erstwhile owner laid on the floor clutching his man bits as a reward for illtreating the bitch. She was on the verge of dying being less than half the weight of an average GSD

I took 3 GSD 8 week old GSD puppies that weighed a total of 7 kilos in weight despite having been told they were £250 each & that they would not be let go without payment(another druggie owner)& never handed over anything.

Add to this the dogs I have owned that have been rescued by me I think I have a just a little rescue experience.

Tomorrow I go to assess an unwanted GSD bitch that is allegedly out of control & very aggressive-I'll be going on my own BTW without a man to hold my hand.

FYI my user name is Joedee(my dog who died 2 weeks ago)My name is in my signature

Not read whole thread but yes, depending on the individual dog/breed the presence of an in season bitch (or even out of season) can still engender the same behaviours in neutered dogs as in entire ones.

Just as some entire dogs appear to be totally uninterested/unaware of bitches in season so can some neutered ones react like stud dogs! I know, I had one that did just that!

Thanks for this info Joedee its something I did not know & could explain the problem we have with one of my friends dogs always being the one mounted by her foster dogs.
Oops sorry Dyanne just read post explaining your name.

Can I just clarify something, are you saying Dyane that male dogs produce female hormones until and unless castrated?

I can only speak from my experience where my first dog was neutered at 18 months. He would get unwanted attention from males at times and the same has happened with Dylan, also neutered aged 18 months.

Alfie will be 6 months next month and will be neutered then. I have to abide by the rescue's wishes and I'm happy for this to happen to him.

Lily has had 2 seasons, as I sort advice despite my vet wanting to spay her at 6 months. She has suffered terribly since last August with mood swings, lethargy and being much quieter than usual. She actually came into season in November, but it's only the last 2/3 weeks that she has been totally back to normal as she had a phantom pregnancy too. I would definitely spay a bitch after her first season given the experience I've had. That would be my personal choice anyway.

LOLOL

All mammals produce male & female sex hormones in the form of Testosterone, Progesterone & Oestrogen-in males the testes produce both hormones-but Oestrogens are also produced in the Adrenal gland, the liver, the mammary glands-so remove the testes means no more Testosterone but continued Oestrogen/Progesterone production.

The other female hormone Progesterone is also produced in the Adrenal gland. In females Testosterone is produced in the ovaries & again the Adrenal gland.

Simples LOLOLOLOLOL

My bitches have never attempted to get out and mate,, and I have an entire male in the house too. He's just had the Suprerolin implant a few weeks ago in time for her next season, just to hopefully take the edge off it and stop him being to stressed. I don't know why people say bitches will want to get out and find a mate, surely that's generalising? Most of my friends have entire bitches or dogs or both, and none have encountered this problem.

People will never agree when the right time to neuter/spay is... people should just do what they feel is right.

I have 3 neutered males and 2 females, one entire and one spayed. Before Jenny was spayed and she came into season, all the males were obviously interested but never did they become nasty with each other. On the contrary...they all tried to join in! Now Jen is spayed and we are waiting for Poppy to have a season before spaying her.
I always thought it was best to let a bitch have a season before neutering.

Thanks everyone for your veiws on the subject, its a bit of a lottery really by the sounds of it :S