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Our dogs have always been spayed for two reasons 1) no unwanted puppies 2) to reduce the chances of them getting mammary cancer.
Our current dog, Flye, came to live with us when she was 8 years old (she's a rescue) and we were told she had been spayed (she even had the little scar on her tummy).
A short while after we had her, she started becoming very attractive to male dogs (both neutered and entire males). We took her to the vet on numerous occasions who eventually suggested that part of her ovary may have been left inside when she was spayed.
Eventually we were referred to a specialist vet who scanned her and said they could see abnormalities around her bladder and they booked her in for exploratory surgery.
During the operation, we got a call from the vet to say that when they opened her up, they discovered that she had never actually been spayed and was in quite a mess inside. She also had a small tumour on her ovary.
So she was spayed and had the tumour removed and since then, she's been problem free.
Had she ever come into season, we probably would have realised that something was up inside but the attention from male dogs was continuous rather than being intermittent as it would have been had she come into season.
Of course we were very confused as to where the scar on her stomach had come from and why we were told she'd been spayed when she hadn't. Both her previous owners (one of whom was a vet) have passed away so we're not able to ask them. Had she been spayed at a younger age, it would have saved her all the problems she had.
As I mentioned earlier, spaying a bitch before she is 18 months dramatically reduces the risk of them developing mammary cancer. Sadly, our last dog, Fen, wasn't spayed until we adopted her at two years old (she was also a rescue) and she died from mammary cancer aged 12.
Unless you intend to breed with your dog (which I feel should be restricted to licensed breeders only) I believe they should be spayed or neutered. Hormones build up in un-neutered males if they are not bred and it leads to serious confusion and often aggressive behaviour in them which is entirely unfair.
At our local country park, there is a man who walks his chocolate Labrador and he has flatly refused to have him doctored. He is a big dog and he has hurt several other dogs (my own included) by trying to mount them.
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