Someone posted this question on another thread and it did not get answered and it just got me thinking. What is someone just wanted to show but not breed so they spayed the bitch? How would a judge ever know that they were looking at a bitch that was no longer intact? Is that even possible to know?

They wouldn't. Just like they wouldn't know if the dog had been surgically altered, or had illegal dentistry, or had been dyed. It is a matter of honor.

My spayed bitched have different coat texture than my intact girls, and it is definately not "correct". The coats on the spayed girls are very smooth, soft, and almost silky. No judge wouldn't put up these girls because of this, so why would anyone bother to show an altered female?

My girls also have coat that have been spayed, great coat in fact.

Showing a spayed or neutered Lab in anything but Veterans, talk about dishonest. Let's get the judges to feel bellies on the girls; they can feel the surgical scar LOL

Beats me why someone would want to cheat and risk fines and losing AKC priviledges just for some pretty ribbons but I know it happens. I happen to have a dog that has gone Reserve to a dog owned by someone that continues to show another one of her dogs that is ineligible for competition. I know that if she was found out, that dog would lose his points but what I don't know is if her other dogs being shown at this time would lose their's since she would lose her showing priviledges...hmmm, mine could be close to finishing if we could move from reserve to winners
I don't play that way but if she ticks off the wrong person, she might get that letter from AKC

My old spayed girl has a gorgeous coat. My vet's wife's Corgi swallowed a quarter. They took an X-ray to see where the quarter was & removed it. Of course the scar looking like a "spay" scar so we started carrying her X-rays around that showed the quarter just in case any judges ever felt her tummy or anyone ever questioned it. No one ever did and she finished with no problems.

Hmm. Now you got me wondering about my girl's coats, lol. I never thought much about it, I just figured it was a hormonal thing. Their normal in every other way...

i have just finished showing a spayed bitch in veterans for this year
her coat is no different than before. she loves to show and even has a BOSS at a independent speciality this year plus multi best in sweeps.
she cannot be shown in regular veterans at a non independent spec only sweeps.
and no you wouldnt know if she was spayed or not, its up to us to show her in the right class,.

My girls who have been spayed have thick coats but definitely a different texture. A lot softer (almost like it's all undercoat) and they shed all the time. I've had a repro specialist say this is what happens. It doesn't happend immediately and can sometimes take a couple years.

A sugical scar can also be from a c section or any other number of sugical procedures, not just from a spay
Aloha,
Jackie