by Sasha Riess | 06.04.26. | Wellbeing
Spaying and neutering dogs were considered for decades a routine and almost mandatory practice of responsible ownership. However, modern veterinary science and new research are now questioning this approach, pointing to serious long-term health consequences for dogs and cats.
How the Professional View on Spaying and Neutering Has Changed
For many years, it was believed that the ideal time to neuter a dog was around the second year of life, after growth and development were completed. Yet, long-term experience in working with dogs, monitoring behavior and health issues, and reviewing scientific studies have shown that routine spaying and neutering dogs is not a universal solution.
Today, there is a growing emphasis that these procedures should be viewed exclusively as a therapeutic model, not as a preventive measure applied without individual assessment.
WSAVA Changes Recommendations: Spaying Only When There Is a Medical Reason
The World Small Animal Veterinary Association (WSAVA) has officially changed its recommendations regarding spaying and neutering dogs. In an executive summary published in 2024, it states that due to increasing evidence of harmful health effects of traditional gonadectomy, responsible owners are encouraged to leave dogs and cats intact unless there is a clear medical reason.
Special attention is drawn to the increased risk of:
WSAVA emphasizes that spaying and neutering dogs younger than six months is not recommended, as it significantly increases the risk of long-term health consequences within the human dog relationship.
When Spaying and Neutering Dogs Is Justified
According to modern guidelines, these procedures have justification:
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In cases of malignant diseases of the reproductive system.
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When there is a clear therapeutic reason.
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In special circumstances such as shelters, with the use of alternative methods that carry lower health risks.
WSAVA changes its position on routine gonadectomy.
WSAVA also points out that although population control is important, it is not clear whether mass low-cost sterilization programs have truly reduced the number of abandoned animals, nor whether TNR programs bring long-term results.
Responsible Ownership Means an Individual Decision
Spaying and neutering dogs are not a question of morality but of medicine. A modern approach requires individual assessment of each dog, its health, environment, and real risks. Routine decisions without analysis are no longer in line with current science.
At Integrative and Holistic Grooming Education, we advocate for decisions based on biology and individual needs. Respecting the dog’s hormonal integrity is a key part of the Order of Harmony. Explore our philosophy: Linktree Sasha Riess
by Sasha Riess | 02.04.26. | Emotions
I used to be fully in favor of sterilization and castration in dogs—but now I ask myself: is it truly care, or fear? This isn’t just about dogs—it’s about us, and about how deeply we respect life within the human dog relationship.
My Journey: From Advocate to Questioning
When I first heard about mass sterilization and castration programs, I was convinced it was the right path. I believed it was a humane act, a responsibility toward society, a way to reduce animal suffering. I was a loud advocate—waving the flag of the “greater good.”
But today, after years of reflection, dialogue, and personal growth, I ask myself: Was it really for the dogs’ sake, or was it my own need to control something I didn’t understand—neither in them, nor in myself?
The physiological and emotional consequences of sterilization and castration
What does sterilization really do to dogs? More and more research shows these are not “simple surgeries.” When we remove a dog’s sex hormones, we don’t just eliminate reproduction—we disrupt a hormonal axis that shapes behavior, emotional stability, bone health, muscles, and the immune system.
And yet, it’s often done without deeper awareness. Is it really for them, or simply easier for us? It’s easier to live with a dog whose emotions are dulled, whose instincts don’t challenge us, whose energy doesn’t disturb our comfort. But have we truly made that dog a “better companion,” or have we turned him into something nature never intended?
The Pressure Behind a “Personal Decision”
Sterilization and castration are deeply intimate decisions—choices that permanently alter a dog’s life. They require awareness and responsibility, not slogans, pressure, or collective campaigns. It’s not a matter of activism—it’s a matter of conscience.
Understanding activism between care and sterilization and castration control
I was part of that wave. I loudly supported sterilization, believing it would solve the problem of strays and suffering. But over time, I realized that much of that activism comes from something deeper—not just care, but an unconscious urge to control, to “fix” what may not even be broken.
In the human dog relationship, this aggressive, often unknowingly violent call for sterilization and castration isn’t always rooted in understanding—but in an inner restlessness that drives us to “correct” the world, perhaps because we don’t know how to heal ourselves.
Hidden Patterns Behind the Passion
Through years of work with people, I began to notice repeating emotional patterns behind this zeal:
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Some try to impose order over the chaos they grew up in.
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Some were taught that love must be earned through “proper behavior,” and use sterilization as a way to prove their value to society.
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Some unconsciously punish—themselves, others, even animals—out of unhealed pain.
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Some carry generational trauma, fear of life, or unwanted parenthood—and project that fear onto dogs, denying them reproduction.
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Some who were abandoned project their sorrow onto abandoned dogs, trying to save them to heal their own wounds.
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And some are so disconnected from nature and their own bodies that they attempt to “civilize” life itself—where natural rhythm should simply be allowed.
A Ritual of Control, Not Love
These patterns made me question everything I once believed. I came to see that sterilization and castration, in many cases, are not acts of care but rituals of control—born of fear, not love. What we often call “social responsibility” can easily become institutionalized detachment from life itself. When society enforces sterilization as a universal solution, it doesn’t create order—it quietly teaches denial of instinct, vitality, and natural identity.
The larger picture of sterilization and castration and our relationship with life
This isn’t just about dogs—it’s about us. It’s about how we treat what we don’t understand, what we try to dominate instead of honor. I believed I was protecting dogs, fighting for a noble cause. But in truth, it was easier to fight for something “righteous” than to face the questions within myself. Activism gave me purpose, justification, identity.
From Inner Conflict to Inner Peace
Over time—through silence, reflection, and deep inner work—I began to change. I discovered a frightened part of myself, one that sought safety in control and conviction. That part didn’t just want to control dogs—it wanted to control the world, as a shield against inner chaos. Once I recognized that, I began to truly listen. I started to meet dogs—not as projects to “fix,” but as beings with needs, rhythm, and dignity.
Impulse vs. Calling
Then I understood the difference. Impulse comes from unrest—from the need to calm one’s own insecurity. Calling arises from peace—it listens, connects, and unites. Impulse shouts for validation. Calling whispers—it builds bridges. That awareness changed everything: how I see dogs, people, and myself.
In every dog’s run through nature, there is a pure joy of existence—a freedom that reminds us what it means to truly live.
Awareness and Education — The Real Path to Change
Sterilization will not stop violence or abandonment—it never truly has. But awareness can. Real, personal, heart-centered awareness transforms everything—because it transforms us.
So perhaps we should pause and ask: What drives us to take away from others what we haven’t yet learned to embrace in ourselves? Maybe, by denying dogs their natural wholeness, we mirror our own loss—the disconnection from what it means to truly live.
To Live Means to Feel
As long as we don’t see this, we’ll repeat the same patterns—unaware, unawake. To walk, breathe, and eat isn’t to live. To live means to feel, to choose, to have a voice. Just as a human who has learned only to endure forgets how to return to themselves, so does a dog, once stripped of its essence, lose the fullness of life.
A Call to Honor Life
So—let’s protect life. In ourselves. In dogs. In others.
At Integrative and Holistic Grooming Education, we believe that precision in nutrition and health is a reflection of our care. When we measure with love, we feed the soul. Explore our philosophy: Linktree Sasha Riess
by Sasha Riess | 03.02.26. | Behaviour
When a female dog is in heat, the first question owners ask is how to calm the hormones. However, it is important to say the truth immediately. Hormones do not calm down. They do their job. Just like in humans.
Hormones Do Not Calm Down: They Have Their Role
The heat period in a female dog in heat is a natural biological process. It is not a disorder, a problem, or a state that needs to be switched off.
Hormones in this period:
Just as a woman goes through phases of her cycle that cannot be turned off, a female dog goes through her own hormonal rhythm.
Why Trying to Calm Hormones Leads in the Wrong Direction
When we search for ways to calm the hormones, we are actually trying to control a natural process or avoid our own discomfort. But the dog is not asking for her hormones to be shut down. The dog is asking for a stable environment.
Practical Steps to Help a Female Dog in Heat
What helps is not working on hormones. What helps is working on:
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Structure.
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Routine.
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Consistency.
The biggest role in this period is our discipline. Not the discipline of the dog. The discipline of the human.
Routine and Clarity Instead of Attempts at Control
When a female dog in heat feels clear rules, it reduces stress. Predictability brings safety, and a calm human stabilizes the dog. A dog reacts to your behavior, tone, tension, and presence. Not to explanations.
A female dog in heat is not asking you to calm her, but for you to be calm.
A Manual as a Tool for the Human, Not for the Dog
If you do not have a clear behavioral system, heat will simply bring it to the surface. That is why these moments are not a time for experiments, but for consistent behavior according to rules that already exist.
A manual is not meant to fix the dog or stop hormones. It is meant to:
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Stabilize the relationship.
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Give you a behavioral framework.
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Help the dog rely on your safety.
Hormones Pass, The Relationship Remains
Heat has a beginning and an end. Hormones will withdraw on their own. What remains is how you behaved, how stable you were, and whether you were a support or an additional source of stress.
A female dog in heat is not asking you to calm her. She is asking you to be calm.
This understanding of a dog’s emotional and physical state is at the heart of everything we do. At Integrative and Holistic Grooming Education, we teach people how to apply these principles of stability and care in their everyday lives with their dogs, helping create calm, healthy, and happy results.
