Pup in heat

magentas

My little lady is in season and just looking for any advise on how to look after her etc.

We've 3dogs and 1 is an intact male so it's not easy! We made the decision to wait until after her 1st heat to have her spayed so as to allow her to develop as much as possible before such an intrusive operation and she will be spayed in about 3months time when she'll be just over a year old.

Basically, she was in bed with me last Sunday morning and I noticed a tiny bit of blood around her vulva. Monday night she was dropping spots of blood on the floor and her vulva had become swollen. We've had no trouble from any male dogs, including my own fella, so I don't think she's giving off any scent yet.

I've a few questions:
I'm keeping her in the house, totally seperated from Rory but I'm just wondering...is it possible she won't give off scent at all during the heat? How long will I have to keep them seperated? I'm guessing about 3wks
How will I know when it's safe for her to be around dogs?

Also, do the bitch sprays and tablets work? I saw them in pet shop today and was just wondering if it's worth getting?
I've read dogs come howling at doors to get in at a bitch in season so if I can ease the stress for Rory and other dogs if they can't smell her

Finally, I'm not sure how to word this but how does the bitch feel? Imean will she be in any kind of discomfort, she's seems to pant a lot and is drinking more wate. Is there anything I can do for her?
Obviously I can't bring her out for excercise but was doing some training excercises with her today so at least she's getting mental stimulation. Had her out on the green in front of our house on lead the last few days but even at that I'm nervous some random dog would come along and have his wicked way

Any help or advice would be much appreciated.

andreac

Ok, ill give you my advice on my experience.

Firstly, do not take any chances whatsoever. Even though bitches are usually mated from day ten on, they could get pregnant anytime so dont be too relaxed.

Usually the first day you spot the blood is counted as the first day.

She will be giving off a scent, but more experienced males will know when a bitch is ready to be mated. With my two, when Flo is in season, Cooper is fine around her until day ten and then all hell breaks loose and hes a nightmare so i have to send one or the other away so they arent around each other as Cooper gets into a state.

So your male could know shes in season, but knows shes just not ready yet, so he could change his behaviour hugely in a few days.

They are in season for roughly 3 weeks, could be a bit more or less, but i would do the 3 weeks to be extra careful and even after that i wouldnt leave your bitch alone with the male for at least another week just to be very safe.

Those bitch sprays arent worth a damn so save your money there.

Some bitches can be a bot off form, quiet, off their food etc, but not all. Mine is absolutely fine apart from urinating a little bit more than usual.

If you dont have any roaming dogs in general in your area then i would still try and walk her if you can even for a little bit. 3 weeks is a long time not to be walked so try and get her out or drive somewhere that is quiet with not too many people about with dogs.

magentas

That's great andrea thanks a million. It's good to know his behaviour may change in a few days so if she's only ready from day 10. He certainly wouldn't be an "experienced" male though, he's little over a year himself and has never been around a bitch in heat before.

I live in an urban area and unfortunately there are roaming dogs so that's not really an option. I will bring her out the country somewhere quiet though cos she needs a run around, I'm just so nervous of a dog coming out of nowhere and violating her!:o I can't keep her cooped up indoors for the best part of 4weeks though!

We've had our neighbour checking in on her twice a day and taking her out on lead but my boyfriends mum is taking Rory tomorrow.

Thanks for the advice, can't wait for this to be over...it ain't easy!

littlebug

The boys started scratching at my front door at around day 11 :rolleyes:, 2 of whom had travelled over a mile to get here. One of them, a tiny little terrier, turned up everyday for four days. We had been walking in the general direction his house so I thought he'd followed her scent. But there was also a spaniel whose house and road we hadn't been near for weeks. The third was a labrador from just up the road who managed to bypass his radiofence thing and the fourth a neighbours jack russell who spent a week eating through their garden fence!
So... be very careful! Once the terrier stopped calling I guessed we had bypassed the real danger zone but I was still extra careful with her for another week or so.

ppink

littlebug wrote: »

The boys started scratching at my front door at around day 11 :rolleyes:, 2 of whom had travelled over a mile to get here. One of them, a tiny little terrier, turned up everyday for four days. We had been walking in the general direction his house so I thought he'd followed her scent. But there was also a spaniel whose house and road we hadn't been near for weeks. The third was a labrador from just up the road who managed to bypass his radiofence thing and the fourth a neighbours jack russell who spent a week eating through their garden fence!
So... be very careful! Once the terrier stopped calling I guessed we had bypassed the real danger zone but I was still extra careful with her for another week or so.

Good God above:eek:. your home was like a giant magnet!!!

I am so glad all of ours are spayed/neutred

OP dont they have little protective pants you can put on her just in case??

toadfly

littlebug wrote: »

The boys started scratching at my front door at around day 11 :rolleyes:, 2 of whom had travelled over a mile to get here. One of them, a tiny little terrier, turned up everyday for four days. We had been walking in the general direction his house so I thought he'd followed her scent. But there was also a spaniel whose house and road we hadn't been near for weeks. The third was a labrador from just up the road who managed to bypass his radiofence thing and the fourth a neighbours jack russell who spent a week eating through their garden fence!
So... be very careful! Once the terrier stopped calling I guessed we had bypassed the real danger zone but I was still extra careful with her for another week or so.

Holy crap :eek:

Tilly only ever had one heat and didnt have too much trouble with her, we lived in an apartment block so maybe that helped. So glad all mine are neutered. Saves so much hassle

littlebug

ppink wrote: »

Good God above:eek:. your home was like a giant magnet!!!
I am so glad all of ours are spayed/neutred

TillyGirl wrote: »

Holy crap :eek:

Tilly only ever had one heat and didnt have too much trouble with her, we lived in an apartment block so maybe that helped. So glad all mine are neutered. Saves so much hassle

it was pretty awful and all that when she was only outside for short walks to do her business. I wasn't prepared for that at all. Others I know didnt' have any unwanted visitors at all... go figure She's spayed now.. phew!

Sigma Force

Why not get her spayed a bit earlier once she's over this heat would save a lot of hassle, never had any problems with spaying a dog at 6 months of age, we left our boy a few months more because he's a toy breed and a bit more delicate just to make sure he was good and strong because Papillons can have issues with anesthetic..aparently but he was grand.

You can get those Mikki pants for dogs, not sure how most dogs would take to them though.

gumpy2

i would nearly separate them for 4 weeks just to be sure, canine heat cycles vary in every dog,

my dog recently had a silent heat, but dogs where still around...and if worse comes to worst you can go to the vets and get some kind of a morning after pill, i was in my vets about 2 months ago and a woman was there with her dog to get that :eek:

but with such a young dog here carrying a littler could screw her up,
my dog was 3 and needed an emergency Cesarean section so it could also cost u a fortune if not your pride and joy

Cherry Blossom

The best time to get a dog spayed in mid-cycle when it's hormones have all settled down again - generally that's 3 months after it's heat. No decent vet would spay a dog straight after it has been in heat if possible, it can cause all sorts of problems - phantom pregnancies etc. .

Bizzum

adrenalinjunkie wrote: »

The best time to get a dog spayed in mid-cycle when it's hormones have all settled down again - generally that's 3 months after it's heat. No decent vet would spay a dog straight after it has been in heat if possible, it can cause all sorts of problems - phantom pregnancies etc. .

Spaying a bitch does not cause phantom pregnancies.

Cherry Blossom

Bizzum wrote: »

Spaying a bitch does not cause phantom pregnancies.

Spaying a bitch that has just been in heat can, there is other possible complications also due to heightened blood supply etc.

Bizzum

adrenalinjunkie wrote: »

Spaying a bitch that has just been in heat can, there is other possible complications also due to heightened blood supply etc.

Spaying a bitch does not cause phantom pregnancies (Like I said above!)
Being in heat causes phantom pregnancies.

Cherry Blossom

Bizzum wrote: »

Spaying a bitch does not cause phantom pregnancies (Like I said above!)
Being in heat causes phantom pregnancies.

For purposes of clarification, a bitch that has been in heat can have a phantom pregnancy (a usual enough occurrence), signs of which may not be noticed for up to 60 days, if the dog is spayed before her hormones return to normal this can prolong the pseudo pregnancy. It's thought that dropping progesterone levels and increasing prolactin levels may be responsible for false pregnancy. If the dog is spayed the progesterone disappears but doesn't affect the prolactin levels hence prolonging the problem. This is why it is advised that the dog's hormone levels should be allowed to return to normal naturally before the dog should be spayed.

RubyGirl

adrenalinjunkie wrote: »

For purposes of clarification, a bitch that has been in heat can have a phantom pregnancy (a usual enough occurrence), signs of which may not be noticed for up to 60 days, if the dog is spayed before her hormones return to normal this can prolong the pseudo pregnancy. It's thought that dropping progesterone levels and increasing prolactin levels may be responsible for false pregnancy. If the dog is spayed the progesterone disappears but doesn't affect the prolactin levels hence prolonging the problem. This is why it is advised that the dog's hormone levels should be allowed to return to normal naturally before the dog should be spayed.

Think my lady is coming into heat aswell, vet nurse said I could spay her in 3 wks when she's over it. So I should leave her for 3months? (maybe she got wks and mts mixed up!)

Cherry Blossom

RubyGirl wrote: »

Think my lady is coming into heat aswell, vet nurse said I could spay her in 3 wks when she's over it. So I should leave her for 3months? (maybe she got wks and mts mixed up!)

If it was me, I'd wait 3 months from the first signs of heat as long as there is nothing else relevant you haven't said ie. small dog that has gone into heat very young (under 6 months old) may have a shorter cycle.

RubyGirl

Thanks AJ, no she's just 9mts now. I was orignally hoping to leave her till she's gone 1 so this works out perfect so.

magentas

yeah like I said I'll be getting her spayed in about 3months when she's between heats, totally agree with what AJs saying. I want her hormone cycle to be completely normalised before the operation.

gumpy2, there's no issue of her becoming pregnant, I'm just trying to cope with the actual heat and trying to make it as stress-free as possible for all involved! Her mum was a rescue dog and she was only 8/9months old when she had her pups and it was very hard to see her at that age trying to cope with pregnancy and motherhood when she was only a baby herself:(
thanks for the advice though

Littlebug, OMG you weren't exaggerating! Well in fairness it's not as bad as your experience but Rory was actually howling to get in to her the last few days and it's like something from scoobie doo in out house opening and closing doors in the hall/kitchen/dining room/utility to let one in and the other out!

Thanks for all the tips guys and gals, much appreciated:)