Puppy gone into heat unexpectedly.

Undercover_

Hey All,

My sister in law was just minding my little Shih Tzu puppy for the weekend and mentioned to me when I picked her up that she thought she might have gone into heat as she spotted some brown marking. I thought she must be mistaken because the vet advised me when I went to get her a kennel cough vaccination last month that 6 months would be perfect to get her neutered as she wouldnt have gone into heat yet. (Shes just over 5 months now)

Anyway, I checked when I got home and turns out sis in law was right, she's deffo bleeding a little. My husband is normally home with her as he works from home, and hes working away this week. I was going to put her to doggy day care for a couple of days and had minders set up for the others, but now I dont want to take the risk with the day care in case theres an un-neutered male there.

Anyway, we'll get sorted for those practicalities, Im really just looking for some advise if theres anything I can do for her? (chocolates, hot water bottles, just letting her rant? :P) Seriously though, does anyone have any advise on what I can do for her to make her more comfortable? She looks really sad and a bit scared.

DamagedTrax

give her lots of cuddles and attention and completly agree with everything she says

moving_home

nothing really you can do except keep her inside so that no dog can get near her. She isn't even safe in back garden as male dogs will go for severe lengths to get to a bitch in heat so be very careful. I wouldn't walk her either as its too risky. She will be a week coming into heat, a week actually in heat and then a wk comin out so it's a long process. Most vets advise spaying mid way between heats so u will probably have to wait between 2 and 3mths to spay. Oh and she will probably be off her food for a wee while aswell

Undercover_

Thanks both, will keep an eye on her and keep the cuddles coming. Poor wee thing- I know its natural and all, she just seems so young! She's barely moved from the rug all evening, normally she'd be looking for a play

evilmonkee

my friend's dobermann had her first heat about a month ago.
She was quite sluggish so he gave her warm water and added some cooked meat and veg to her food (smaller kibble portions), she perked up a bit!
I would assume the "human food" added more nutrents to her system but I'm not sure how the warm water helped, maybe easier on the system somehow?

lorebringer

Bitches can get very down in themselves during heat (they can also become mad demons, snapping at everyone etc. so count yourself lucky!) - lots of hugs and attention and she'll be fine. The poor pet is probably all over the place and just wants rubs.

+1 on keeping her away from the boys (or more so, keeping the boys away from her!) - you may find the little buggers hanging around outside your house, trying to get into the garden and such so keep her inside as much as possible and don't let her out of your sight for a second. try to keep her back end clean (help with any dodgy smells) and wash her bedding regularly (and bung everything into the washing machine when she is done). Once she is finished her heat, you can get her spayed about 10 weeks after "day one" (as moving_home already pointed out). Smaller breeds can (and do!) have shorter heat cycles that the larger breeds, some bitches come into heat 3 times a year while others barely make twice so getting her spayed will prevent any surprises again.

aoife2k

When my girl went into heat (at over 1 year old!) she was SOOO depressed. We kept her in doors, brought her out for her pees and poos on the lead and what she seemed to absolutely LOVE... a hot water bottle wrapped up in her blankie She really did love it and would let me know when the bottle lost it's heat!

It's so hard watching them go through it and it looks like they don't know what's wrong with them. I got Bailey spayed as soon as was possible after she had her heat which is both great for the dog and great for the owner!