Things you should consider before Spaying or Neutering your dog

My sweet little pup is 7 months almost 8 months old, she is a pure breed beagle (the Lord blessed us). My husband and I had reached that point about at the 4 month mark on discussing whether or not to spay our little pup or to leave it be and if she has puppies she has puppies. Well over the few months of discussion we decided to spay her. Our reasoning was we adopted her into our family to be part of the family, not to breed her out, not to make a profit off of her other than her unfailing love and devotion. This past week she was spayed and I have to say these days of recovery have been trying on my patience and sanity but I know in a few more days we will be back to our normal routine....I hope. Anyway, through the process of the spaying, and recovery there are a few things you should consider before you schedule your pup for surgery.

1. Time of the year: We had our dog spayed right at the brink of spring where the weather is lovely, not realizing how much of a torment that would be for not just her but for us. If your able to try and hold of till fall or winter when they would be spending their time in the house most anyway. 
2. Consider who is there to help: I am fortunate in the fact that I live below my in laws so they were able to help me in my moments where I was ready to bang my head on a brick wall, make sure you have support team to keep you socialized and from feeling overwhelmed, consider their schedules and things occurring. That way your mentally prepared for the days you know no one can help.
3. Make sure your finances are in order: We have our dog on a pet insurance plan that included most everything when it came to getting her spayed, however we ended up spending roughly $55 between some pain medication, and a cone that would fit properly on her head and for some small items to keep her comfort level at maximum. If you know its a week you won't be paid or alot of bills get pulled and money will be tight try and reconfigure the date. 
4. Configure your house: Our dog since she is a beagle and is pure breed is very hyper, and loves to run, jump and climb. The first week they are to do NONE of these things, however how do you tell a dog to stop being a dog? Make sure you have baby gates galore to block off areas of temptation, currently as I type this I have a chair upside down on my recliner, and a serving tray and blankets piled on the couch to prevent her from climbing to see out the window. 
5. Make sure your have everything you need for their comfort: We had an extra queen size comforter that we used on our bed when she was first brought home as she was to small to sleep by herself at the time, so we slept with that comforter the weeks leading up to her surgery to ensure that it smelled like us (she sleeps in a crate now and has been for a couple months) then we set it up in the living room on the floor with pillows so she could burrow and feel comfortable while also sensing our presence. This may be a little extreme but as we have said before she's our child, while most people have children we do not so we pour everything we have in our doggy and then some. Also we had a flat changing pad for a changing table and stuck it on the bottom of her crate and then piled blankets on top of it to add extra comfort for her in her crate (She always has piles of blankets in her crate as she loves to burrow when she is sleepy) 
6. Have something to preoccupy yourself: Make sure you have a really good book, or project to work on while your pup is recovering it will prevent you from going insane, I was fortunate enough to plan my dog's surgery when my sister in law would be home visiting for a week from college so I had her to keep me company and remind me I'm not going insane, I'm just stir crazy. 

All in all recovery from her spaying has been frustrating to say the least she has good meds that make her feel no pain, but they also don't make her tired so she thinks she is her normal self and can run, jump and play which is trying on patience at times. I have to say keep in mind when your considering if you should spay or neuter your dog why you got the dog int he first place. Here are somethings to consider and discuss if your on the fence: 

1.  Why did we get this dog? As I have said we got our dog to be our little baby, we weren't looking for puppies or to make a profit off of her children, we were looking for her to be our one and only pup of a baby. 
2.  By getting spayed or neutered you are limiting the amount of infection they could come in contact with later on down the road. A family member of ours never got their dog fixed and now years down the road are faced with the need to fix her as she keeps getting infections when she is in heat
3. Do you have the patience and ability to deal with a dog in heat
4. Does your dog often come in contact with other dogs? This could set you up for puppies, not everyone has their dogs fixed that's why your having this conversation in the first place. 
5. Will you be prepared to handle taking care of puppies and keep in mind if you choose to go the puppy route your not guaranteed one amount of puppies some have 4 some have 10 some can even have 15 or more. I had a hair stylist who's dog had 15 puppies and the mother stopped nursing them so she had to feed each one hourly. It's a piece of work and it takes up a space as you have to have proper area blocked off for mom and puppies.

I'm not trying to convince you one way or another just make sure you don't jump into a decision not knowing an idea of the outcome that could happen. Remember dogs have feelings to, try to keep your dog and family in mind when making the decision.