When Laura Howe’s eight-year-old golden retriever, Pearl, is in heat, male dogs for miles around her western Montana home might catch a whiff of pheromones on the breeze.
Unlike the vast majority of pet cats and dogs in the US, Pearl goes through hormonal cycles tied to fertility. She underwent an ovary-sparing hysterectomy as a puppy, so she can’t get pregnant, but twice a year, she gets extra-affectionate and starts waggling her behind at the other dogs in the family.
