Research Project
Researchers: Anne Fawcett , Bethany Wilson , Melissa Starling , Professor Paul McGreevy
Brief description
Spaying of female dogs is a widespread practise, performed primarily for population control. While the consequences
of early spaying for health are still being debated, the consequences for behaviour are believed to be negligible. The
current study focused on the reported behaviour of 8981 female dogs spayed before 520 weeks (ten years) of life for
reasons other than behavioural management, and calculated their percentage lifetime exposure to gonadal
hormones (PLGH) as a proportion of their age at the time of being reported to the online Canine Behavioral
Assessment and Research Questionnaire (C-BARQ).