Quote Originally Posted by howlyip
Dixieland, even though she is older, spaying will still help, no it will not help right away as she has already started to try and do things a certain way, it is in her mind to do so, however my belief is that spaying a dog at any age, except perhaps over 10 or close to can help with issues such as these that Mini is displaying.
Reason being, get those hormones out of there, we all know how hormones can control our behaviour, just get them out of the way, let her body work them out of the system and she won't have to fight those to behave.
I believe that all dogs should be spayed or neutered around 6 months of age unless they belong to reputable breeders who plan to use them for breeding. Note I said reputable breeders (not backyard breeders in it for the money). However, having this done to correct behavior issues after the dog matures IS futile. We are not talking about a human cycle where every 28 days you have hormones coming into play. Female dogs only come into a cycle every 6 to 12 months!

Regardless of wether you agree or don't, it is important the owner realize the real issue is that the dog needs stronger alpha companionship, discipline, activity and exercise. This dog's behaviors have more to do with these issues along with it's heredity and breed characteristics than the fact the dog is intact. These are issues that come into play every day of the dogs life and not just when it is in season.

That being said though, I do believe Mini IS NOT a good candidate for breeding with known dominance aggressive behaviors. For this reason, she should be spayed.