# Spaying Gracie



## bethh (May 13, 2019)

Gracie is being spayed this morning.  Its with mixed emotions but I know its for the best due to Chewy's heart issue.  Any suggestions for her aftercare?  Its not my first dog to be fixed but its my first LGD.


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## Rammy (May 13, 2019)

I work for a vet and the advice they give is to keep them quiet, no jumping, running, getting exited, for about ten days. Watch for swelling or discharge around the surgery site. Also keep an eye out for anything out of the ordinary like loss of appetite or being lethargic.
I dont think you will have to worry much. Most surgeries like this go smoothly with no complications. Im sure your vet will go over instructions for aftercare with you when you pick her up.


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## AmberLops (May 13, 2019)

I'm a vet tech and what @Rammy  said is spot on!
No running, jumping, playing for 10-14 days. If you have Chlorhexidine you could put on it that works great for speeding healing and preventing infection. Just keep an eye on her and she might be tender for a while


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## bethh (May 13, 2019)

Rammy said:


> I work for a vet and the advice they give is to keep them quiet, no jumping, running, getting exited, for about ten days. Watch for swelling or discharge around the surgery site. Also keep an eye out for anything out of the ordinary like loss of appetite or being lethargic.
> I dont think you will have to worry much. Most surgeries like this go smoothly with no complications. Im sure your vet will go over onstructions for aftercare with you when you pick her up.



Thanks, I also work for a vet.  I was wondering more about the LGD aspect.  She’s outside all the time, watching over everyone and will now have to be crated so that she doesn’t exert herself.  Also if anyone has noted any changes in their LGD after spaying.


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## Rammy (May 13, 2019)

You'll probably want to keep her kenneled until she gets healed up. Laying in the dirt isnt a good idea. She wont and shouldnt try to guard anything til she gets her stitches out for risk of pulling out the stiches, getting it infected, or a blood clot. We had that happen once when a client didnt follow instructions and his dog passed from a bloodclot. Id keep her on forced doggie vacation til she heals. 
As far as personsality goes, I havent noticed much change in that after thier hormones settle.


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## Baymule (May 13, 2019)

Our GP, Paris calmed down a lot from being a physco dog to a much calmer dog that now plays with our farm dog instead of wanting to take his head off. She still guards fiercely but is a lot sweeter personality, and believe me, that’s an improvement!


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## Ridgetop (May 15, 2019)

You need to confine Gracie in a kennel situation after she comes home from the surgery.  A crate will not let her stretch out and she will have to lay on her stitches and incision.  If you can't fix up a kennel run you can buy portable clip together runs at Lowes and TSC.  It is a good idea to have one anyway, in case you need to confine your dogs when loading stock, etc.

A kennel run will allow her to move around without too much activity.  it can also be used for injured goats that have to be confined.  We use ours all the time for all kinds of uses.  Poor Angel is locked up in it at the moment because she hurt her shoulder and the vet said she is not to move around too much.


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## bethh (May 15, 2019)

Surgery was tougher than we expected.  She was under for over 2 hours, her temp dropped as well as her blood pressure.  She had a bleeder that they had a hard time locating.  They weren't able to do her gastroplexy because they couldn't keep her under any longer.  She is feeling much better so much so that she jumped over the gate in the laundry room where she has been residing.  I had to take her on my morning chores.  We are going to have to get out the huge dog crate so we can contain her when we aren't around.  Keep me in your prayers.


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## Baymule (May 15, 2019)

No pics showed up.


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## bethh (May 15, 2019)

Baymule said:


> No pics showed up.


Try again


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## AmberLops (May 15, 2019)

Aw she looks so bummed!
She's a beautiful dog. I'm glad she's okay after that tough surgery 
I know how that goes...I was monitoring my dog under anesthesia when he got neutered and he was under for almost 3 hours and everything that could possibly go wrong did go wrong.
I hope she recovers quick and soon she'll be back to her normal self and doing her LG duties!


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## Ridgetop (May 15, 2019)

Poor Gracie!  Surgery is rough on these dogs.  Not only is the surgery rough, but they want so badly to be back on the job.  I hope she gets feeling better soon.  I am surprised she is willing to stay in the laundry room at all.  She looks so sad like she is just waiting for someone to open the door so she can go back to work.

Anatolians are notorious for being sensitive to anesthetic.  My breeder told me when we wanted to spay Rika to tell the vet that they had to treat Anatolians like greyhounds.  Luckily my vet is familiar with greyhound sensitivity.


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## Baymule (May 16, 2019)

The cone of shame......no matter what you do, they look so sad. She will heal up, get over this and be back to work in no time.


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## Ridgetop (May 16, 2019)

So sad and embarrassing for her!  

She will be up and back on the job soon.  Neutering LGDs keeps their minds on the job instead of their hormones - especially males.  However they tend to pester the females and make it harder for them to work.  No matter which one is entire, someone has to be locked up or you lose 2 guardians.  With 2 females and 1 male like I have, poor old Bubba will have to be jailed when Angel comes in season.  If I kenneled Angel, Bubba would just moon around her pen and I would lose 2 guardians. 

I can't wait till she has 3 cycles and I can have her spayed.


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## bethh (May 23, 2019)

Its been a long road.  Gracie was in to see the vet every day last week. She went in for a quick check yesterday and the vet closed up a small area that had opened up with what seemed like a zillion staples.  My sweet girl never flinched.   I think we are on the road to recovery.  Of course, she would be shedding at the same time as trying to recover from her spay.  She has lost enough hair to make another dog.


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## Ridgetop (May 23, 2019)

I wonder if these LGDs tear open their stitches because they are active or just don't feel them.  Rika did the same thing with hers ad we had her kenneled for 3 weeks post spay.


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## AmberLops (May 23, 2019)

bethh said:


> Its been a long road.  Gracie was in to see the vet every day last week. She went in for a quick check yesterday and the vet closed up a small area that had opened up with what seemed like a zillion staples.  My sweet girl never flinched.   I think we are on the road to recovery.  Of course, she would be shedding at the same time as trying to recover from her spay.  She has lost enough hair to make another dog.


Aw poor baby! Glad she's doing better though 
Staples are pretty painless for dogs, even removing them the dogs don't seem to mind at all!
But when we get staples...ouch!


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## Baymule (May 24, 2019)

Hugs for Gracie! I get it on the shedding hair. I groom our GP's and I am white and hairy. Then I groom the hair off me and head for the shower.


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## AmberLops (May 24, 2019)

bethh said:


> Its been a long road.  Gracie was in to see the vet every day last week. She went in for a quick check yesterday and the vet closed up a small area that had opened up with what seemed like a zillion staples.  My sweet girl never flinched.   I think we are on the road to recovery.  Of course, she would be shedding at the same time as trying to recover from her spay.  She has lost enough hair to make another dog.


Stress will make them shed more too! Poor thing!!


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## bethh (May 28, 2019)

Baymule said:


> Hugs for Gracie! I get it on the shedding hair. I groom our GP's and I am white and hairy. Then I groom the hair off me and head for the shower.


Our yard looks like something lost its life with all the hair everywhere.


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## bethh (May 28, 2019)

Gracie got a clean bill of health today.  Doc wants her to continue wearing the cone for a few days in case the area where the staples came out is itchy so that she can't lick.  Chewy will be thrilled to have her back outside with him tonight.  We survived


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## Baymule (May 28, 2019)

Hooray for the clean bill of health! Gracie will be running and playing in no time.


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## AmberLops (May 28, 2019)

Congratulations Gracie!! You did it!


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## brashertreyshawn (Sep 7, 2019)

bethh said:


> Gracie is being spayed this morning.  Its with mixed emotions but I know its for the best due to Chewy's heart issue.  Any suggestions for her aftercare?  Its not my first dog Speed Test Scrabble Word Finder Solitaire to be fixed but its my first LGD.


Id keep her on forced doggie vacation til she heals.
As far as personsality goes, I havent noticed much change in that after thier hormones settle.


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