diff --git a/advanced_alchemy/repository/_async.py b/advanced_alchemy/repository/_async.py
index c03323d6..d1e7726a 100644
--- a/advanced_alchemy/repository/_async.py
+++ b/advanced_alchemy/repository/_async.py
@@ -218,6 +218,8 @@ async def update(
         auto_expunge: bool | None = None,
         auto_refresh: bool | None = None,
         id_attribute: str | InstrumentedAttribute[Any] | None = None,
+        load: LoadSpec | None = None,
+        execution_options: dict[str, Any] | None = None,
     ) -> ModelT: ...
 
     async def update_many(
@@ -1109,7 +1111,6 @@ async def count(
         """
         with wrap_sqlalchemy_exception():
             statement = self.statement if statement is None else statement
-            fragment = self.get_id_attribute_value(self.model_type)
             loader_options, loader_options_have_wildcard = self._get_loader_options(load)
             statement = self._get_base_stmt(
                 statement=statement,
@@ -1119,7 +1120,7 @@ async def count(
             statement = self._apply_filters(*filters, apply_pagination=False, statement=statement)
             statement = self._filter_select_by_kwargs(statement, kwargs)
             statement = statement.add_criteria(
-                lambda s: s.with_only_columns(sql_func.count(fragment), maintain_column_froms=True).order_by(None),
+                lambda s: s.with_only_columns(sql_func.count(text("1")), maintain_column_froms=True).order_by(None),
             )
             results = await self._execute(statement, uniquify=loader_options_have_wildcard)
             return cast(int, results.scalar_one())
@@ -1133,6 +1134,8 @@ async def update(
         auto_expunge: bool | None = None,
         auto_refresh: bool | None = None,
         id_attribute: str | InstrumentedAttribute[Any] | None = None,
+        load: LoadSpec | None = None,
+        execution_options: dict[str, Any] | None = None,
     ) -> ModelT:
         """Update instance with the attribute values present on `data`.
 
@@ -1152,6 +1155,8 @@ async def update(
                 :class:`SQLAlchemyAsyncRepository.auto_commit <SQLAlchemyAsyncRepository>`
             id_attribute: Allows customization of the unique identifier to use for model fetching.
                 Defaults to `id`, but can reference any surrogate or candidate key for the table.
+            load: Set relationships to be loaded
+            execution_options: Set default execution options
 
         Returns:
             The updated instance.
@@ -1165,7 +1170,7 @@ async def update(
                 id_attribute=id_attribute,
             )
             # this will raise for not found, and will put the item in the session
-            await self.get(item_id, id_attribute=id_attribute)
+            await self.get(item_id, id_attribute=id_attribute, load=load, execution_options=execution_options)
             # this will merge the inbound data to the instance we just put in the session
             instance = await self._attach_to_session(data, strategy="merge")
             await self._flush_or_commit(auto_commit=auto_commit)
diff --git a/advanced_alchemy/repository/_sync.py b/advanced_alchemy/repository/_sync.py
index 0ac59978..ca3becca 100644
--- a/advanced_alchemy/repository/_sync.py
+++ b/advanced_alchemy/repository/_sync.py
@@ -219,6 +219,8 @@ def update(
         auto_expunge: bool | None = None,
         auto_refresh: bool | None = None,
         id_attribute: str | InstrumentedAttribute[Any] | None = None,
+        load: LoadSpec | None = None,
+        execution_options: dict[str, Any] | None = None,
     ) -> ModelT: ...
 
     def update_many(
@@ -1110,7 +1112,6 @@ def count(
         """
         with wrap_sqlalchemy_exception():
             statement = self.statement if statement is None else statement
-            fragment = self.get_id_attribute_value(self.model_type)
             loader_options, loader_options_have_wildcard = self._get_loader_options(load)
             statement = self._get_base_stmt(
                 statement=statement,
@@ -1120,7 +1121,7 @@ def count(
             statement = self._apply_filters(*filters, apply_pagination=False, statement=statement)
             statement = self._filter_select_by_kwargs(statement, kwargs)
             statement = statement.add_criteria(
-                lambda s: s.with_only_columns(sql_func.count(fragment), maintain_column_froms=True).order_by(None),
+                lambda s: s.with_only_columns(sql_func.count(text("1")), maintain_column_froms=True).order_by(None),
             )
             results = self._execute(statement, uniquify=loader_options_have_wildcard)
             return cast(int, results.scalar_one())
@@ -1134,6 +1135,8 @@ def update(
         auto_expunge: bool | None = None,
         auto_refresh: bool | None = None,
         id_attribute: str | InstrumentedAttribute[Any] | None = None,
+        load: LoadSpec | None = None,
+        execution_options: dict[str, Any] | None = None,
     ) -> ModelT:
         """Update instance with the attribute values present on `data`.
 
@@ -1153,6 +1156,8 @@ def update(
                 :class:`SQLAlchemyAsyncRepository.auto_commit <SQLAlchemyAsyncRepository>`
             id_attribute: Allows customization of the unique identifier to use for model fetching.
                 Defaults to `id`, but can reference any surrogate or candidate key for the table.
+            load: Set relationships to be loaded
+            execution_options: Set default execution options
 
         Returns:
             The updated instance.
@@ -1166,7 +1171,7 @@ def update(
                 id_attribute=id_attribute,
             )
             # this will raise for not found, and will put the item in the session
-            self.get(item_id, id_attribute=id_attribute)
+            self.get(item_id, id_attribute=id_attribute, load=load, execution_options=execution_options)
             # this will merge the inbound data to the instance we just put in the session
             instance = self._attach_to_session(data, strategy="merge")
             self._flush_or_commit(auto_commit=auto_commit)
diff --git a/advanced_alchemy/repository/memory/_async.py b/advanced_alchemy/repository/memory/_async.py
index 51d83386..3fc7fb67 100644
--- a/advanced_alchemy/repository/memory/_async.py
+++ b/advanced_alchemy/repository/memory/_async.py
@@ -535,6 +535,8 @@ async def update(
         auto_expunge: bool | None = None,
         auto_refresh: bool | None = None,
         id_attribute: str | InstrumentedAttribute[Any] | None = None,
+        load: LoadSpec | None = None,
+        execution_options: dict[str, Any] | None = None,
     ) -> ModelT:
         self._find_or_raise_not_found(self.__collection__().key(data))
         return self.__collection__().update(data)
diff --git a/advanced_alchemy/repository/memory/_sync.py b/advanced_alchemy/repository/memory/_sync.py
index 044b0031..d85eec5b 100644
--- a/advanced_alchemy/repository/memory/_sync.py
+++ b/advanced_alchemy/repository/memory/_sync.py
@@ -536,6 +536,8 @@ def update(
         auto_expunge: bool | None = None,
         auto_refresh: bool | None = None,
         id_attribute: str | InstrumentedAttribute[Any] | None = None,
+        load: LoadSpec | None = None,
+        execution_options: dict[str, Any] | None = None,
     ) -> ModelT:
         self._find_or_raise_not_found(self.__collection__().key(data))
         return self.__collection__().update(data)
diff --git a/advanced_alchemy/service/_async.py b/advanced_alchemy/service/_async.py
index 017820db..9f393d28 100644
--- a/advanced_alchemy/service/_async.py
+++ b/advanced_alchemy/service/_async.py
@@ -503,6 +503,8 @@ async def update(
             auto_expunge=auto_expunge,
             auto_refresh=auto_refresh,
             id_attribute=id_attribute,
+            load=load,
+            execution_options=execution_options,
         )
 
     async def update_many(
diff --git a/advanced_alchemy/service/_sync.py b/advanced_alchemy/service/_sync.py
index e78cfd51..a4610f5b 100644
--- a/advanced_alchemy/service/_sync.py
+++ b/advanced_alchemy/service/_sync.py
@@ -504,6 +504,8 @@ def update(
             auto_expunge=auto_expunge,
             auto_refresh=auto_refresh,
             id_attribute=id_attribute,
+            load=load,
+            execution_options=execution_options,
         )
 
     def update_many(
diff --git a/advanced_alchemy/service/_util.py b/advanced_alchemy/service/_util.py
index d609186f..7b7fd4ca 100644
--- a/advanced_alchemy/service/_util.py
+++ b/advanced_alchemy/service/_util.py
@@ -22,7 +22,9 @@
 from advanced_alchemy.filters import LimitOffset
 from advanced_alchemy.repository.typing import ModelOrRowMappingT
 from advanced_alchemy.service.pagination import OffsetPagination
-from advanced_alchemy.service.typing import (  # type: ignore[attr-defined]
+from advanced_alchemy.service.typing import (
+    MSGSPEC_INSTALLED,
+    PYDANTIC_INSTALLED,
     BaseModel,
     ModelDTOT,
     Struct,
@@ -185,7 +187,7 @@ def to_schema(
                 offset=limit_offset.offset,
                 total=total,
             )
-        if issubclass(schema_type, Struct):
+        if MSGSPEC_INSTALLED and issubclass(schema_type, Struct):
             if not isinstance(data, Sequence):
                 return cast(
                     "ModelDTOT",
@@ -221,7 +223,7 @@ def to_schema(
                 total=total,
             )
 
-        if issubclass(schema_type, BaseModel):
+        if PYDANTIC_INSTALLED and issubclass(schema_type, BaseModel):
             if not isinstance(data, Sequence):
                 return cast("ModelDTOT", TypeAdapter(schema_type).validate_python(data, from_attributes=True))  # pyright: ignore[reportUnknownVariableType,reportUnknownMemberType,reportAttributeAccessIssue,reportCallIssue]
             limit_offset = find_filter(LimitOffset, filters=filters)
diff --git a/advanced_alchemy/service/typing.py b/advanced_alchemy/service/typing.py
index 78f4f9e9..a811219a 100644
--- a/advanced_alchemy/service/typing.py
+++ b/advanced_alchemy/service/typing.py
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
 
 from typing import (
     Any,
+    Final,
     Generic,
     Protocol,
     TypeVar,
@@ -21,6 +22,9 @@
 
 try:
     from msgspec import Struct, convert  # pyright: ignore[reportAssignmentType,reportUnusedImport]
+
+    MSGSPEC_INSTALLED: Final[bool] = True
+
 except ImportError:  # pragma: nocover
 
     class Struct(Protocol):  # type: ignore[no-redef] # pragma: nocover
@@ -30,10 +34,14 @@ def convert(*args: Any, **kwargs: Any) -> Any:  # type: ignore[no-redef] # noqa:
         """Placeholder implementation"""
         return {}
 
+    MSGSPEC_INSTALLED: Final[bool] = False  # type: ignore # pyright: ignore[reportConstantRedefinition,reportGeneralTypeIssues]  # noqa: PGH003
+
 
 try:
     from pydantic import BaseModel  # pyright: ignore[reportAssignmentType]
     from pydantic.type_adapter import TypeAdapter  # pyright: ignore[reportUnusedImport, reportAssignmentType]
+
+    PYDANTIC_INSTALLED: Final[bool] = True
 except ImportError:  # pragma: nocover
 
     class BaseModel(Protocol):  # type: ignore[no-redef] # pragma: nocover
@@ -51,6 +59,7 @@ def validate_python(self, data: Any, *args: Any, **kwargs: Any) -> T:  # pragma:
             """Stub"""
             return cast("T", data)
 
+    PYDANTIC_INSTALLED: Final[bool] = False  # type: ignore # pyright: ignore[reportConstantRedefinition,reportGeneralTypeIssues]  # noqa: PGH003
 
 ModelDictT: TypeAlias = "dict[str, Any] | ModelT"
 ModelDictListT: TypeAlias = "list[ModelT | dict[str, Any]] | list[dict[str, Any]]"
@@ -58,3 +67,18 @@ def validate_python(self, data: Any, *args: Any, **kwargs: Any) -> T:  # pragma:
 ModelDTOT = TypeVar("ModelDTOT", bound="Struct | BaseModel")
 PydanticModelDTOT = TypeVar("PydanticModelDTOT", bound="BaseModel")
 StructModelDTOT = TypeVar("StructModelDTOT", bound="Struct")
+
+__all__ = (
+    "ModelDictT",
+    "ModelDictListT",
+    "FilterTypeT",
+    "ModelDTOT",
+    "PydanticModelDTOT",
+    "StructModelDTOT",
+    "PYDANTIC_INSTALLED",
+    "MSGSPEC_INSTALLED",
+    "BaseModel",
+    "TypeAdapter",
+    "Struct",
+    "convert",
+)
diff --git a/tests/fixtures/bigint/services.py b/tests/fixtures/bigint/services.py
index 7ae71556..37260787 100644
--- a/tests/fixtures/bigint/services.py
+++ b/tests/fixtures/bigint/services.py
@@ -237,7 +237,7 @@ class SlugBookSyncService(SQLAlchemySyncRepositoryService[BigIntSlugBook]):
     match_fields = ["title"]
 
     def __init__(self, **repo_kwargs: Any) -> None:
-        self.repository = SlugBookSyncRepository(**repo_kwargs)
+        self.repository: SlugBookSyncRepository = self.repository_type(**repo_kwargs)  # pyright: ignore
 
     def to_model(self, data: BigIntSlugBook | dict[str, Any], operation: str | None = None) -> BigIntSlugBook:
         if isinstance(data, dict) and "slug" not in data and operation == "create":
@@ -254,7 +254,7 @@ class SlugBookAsyncMockService(SQLAlchemyAsyncRepositoryService[BigIntSlugBook])
     match_fields = ["title"]
 
     def __init__(self, **repo_kwargs: Any) -> None:
-        self.repository = SlugBookAsyncMockRepository(**repo_kwargs)
+        self.repository: SlugBookAsyncMockRepository = self.repository_type(**repo_kwargs)  # pyright: ignore
 
     async def to_model(self, data: BigIntSlugBook | dict[str, Any], operation: str | None = None) -> BigIntSlugBook:
         if isinstance(data, dict) and "slug" not in data and operation == "create":