Riverwind Shilohs

02/24/2026

10/27/2025

*Preventing unwanted litters is a goal we all share—but it's time to rethink the surgical approach. Hysterectomies and vasectomies, which preserve hormonal balance, can safely be performed as early as 8 weeks of age, making dogs sterile without disrupting their natural hormones.

New peer-reviewed study published in Nature:

How a dog’s lifetime exposure to his own hormones (before being neutered) affects how well he handles aging and frailty later in life.

Study Background

• Frailty = when older dogs (and people) become weaker, less resilient, and more prone to illness and death.
• Most research looks at how to prevent frailty — this study looked at what makes some dogs bounce back better after frailty sets in.
• The focus was on the HPG axis — the hormonal system that produces testosterone and controls reproduction.

Key Findings

• Dogs neutered very young (before 2 years old) had:

o A much higher risk of death once they became frail.
o About 16% higher mortality for every small increase in frailty.

• Dogs kept intact longer (more than ~10 years) showed:
o No increase in mortality linked to frailty.
o Their hormones seemed to “buffer” the negative effects of aging.

• Each extra year of natural hormone exposure reduced frailty-related death risk by ~1%.

What It Means

• Hormones from the te**es may protect against the worst effects of aging later in life.
• Removing them too early could make dogs less resilient to age-related decline.
• Frailty isn’t just about getting old — it’s also shaped by early-life events like the timing of neutering.
• This supports a “life course” view: what happens early in life affects health decades later.

Why It Matters

• The study suggests timing of neutering might influence how well dogs age.

08/27/2024

Happy 11th birthday to our loving and loyal Ruby Moon! She had a great day but wasn't very happy with her birthday crown. She shared her rare cheese burger and birthday cake with her nephew, Bo. She couldn't resist taking one of the bone cookies & scaping some of the icing off before the pictures. You can get by with a lot when you're in your golden years! Bo couldn't resist stealing a piece of cake before Ruby had her piece. Lol

02/12/2024

This sweet boy is looking for a new home through no fault of his own. He's lived on acreage so is used to that lifestyle, is very stable, and has a wonderful personality. He is the breed pick male from Guardian Kennels 2020 Matsu/Django litter.

The breeder would like for him to go to a home that is willing to keep him intact for stud services (which will mostly mean taking him to a vet to be collected when needed.) The only outstanding testing he needs is a temperament test (by video or by a certified evaluator) and a DNA swab for BetterBred.

OFA Good hips
OFA normal elbows
Holter clear (0,0,0)
DM clear by parentage

Currently located in Winfield AB (South of Edmonton)

All inquiries should be directed to Vanessa Dutton at Guardian Kennels (Shiloh Shepherds)

12/15/2023

Bo & his squirrel adventure...

12/08/2023

Did you know:

If you have a pacemaker, you can put it in your Will to have your pacemaker donated to a dog in need after you pass. Pacemakers cannot be donated to another human, but they can be donated to dogs with cardiac issues who would depend on it to stay alive.

You can have the pacemaker brought to a vet of your choice. So many of those get thrown away and dogs die because people don't know they can do this. It even saves the dog's owner the cost of the actual pacemaker which sometimes means the difference in being able to afford lifesaving treatment or not.

12/08/2023

The Oklahoma State University College of Veterinary Medicine would like to give canine owners insight into the canine respiratory disease outbreak that is occurring in the United States.

07/13/2023