If you are not planning on raising any pups you should get her spayed. It does cause them to gain weight most of the time, but you should just hunt her more to run it off
. I believe it is the sensable thing to do so you don't have to worry with whether or not she is in heat and you won't have to put her up when she comes in heat. As far as the hunting drive, I have heard the same thing. However, I have two beagles that have been spayed and they hunt just as hard now, if not harder, than before they had been spayed.
