Questions about heat

[jacksonsmommy]

Hi all -

So when I woke up this morning, I noticed what appeared to be some blood on my girl's bed. I held a tissue up to her and there was some blood - very light and almost watery, but definitely red. Is this is her first heat? I wasn't sure if 9 months is too young to go into heat, but my girl is on the smaller side (48 pounds with a small frame), if that has anything to do with it.

So given that, I had a few questions to make sure we get through this in one piece (with no puppies!).
1. From what I understand, I'll need to keep my girl under quarantine for a full 4 weeks from today - is that correct? Will she bleed the whole time, or will she stop bleeding and we just need to keep her under house arrest even after she's stopped bleeding?

2. We were planning on boarding her on June 11, as we have to go out of town. She would normally do group play at the boarding facility, but they can do one-on-one play with her if she's still in heat. They don't allow in-tact males into group play, but there is always the chance that a recently neutered male is in the group play. Should we have the facility keep our girl separate or will she be fine by June 11 (over 6 weeks from today).

3. When should we expect her next heat cycle to start? Is it six months from today (roughly), or six months from the end of this heat cycle? We really only want to know so that we can generally plan for her spay - we wanted to wait until 18 months, but obviously will adjust the surgery so it falls in between her her heat cycles.

Anything else that I should know? We'll obviously keep our girl to leashed walks and will keep her and our boy (neutered) separated when we're not home so they don't tie. I did get some tighty-whities for her this morning...putting boys underwear on a dog is definitely a hilarious endeavor. But we have cream area rugs and the underwear seems like a good idea for now.

[POPTOP]

Had not had a dog in heat for, gosh, I don't know how many years until Mardi joined us. Yep, within a few days she came into heat. It really was not all that bad. We have a large kitchen/eating area with a tile floor so she spend most of her time in there. She was crated at night. She would not tolerate any panties at all.

We had Bandit at the time, who was neutered, and he was interested in her so they were kept separate or monitored. Mardi was a complete hussy!

Yes, at least 28 days keep her under house arrest. Remember, the last week she is the most fertile. You will need to let her finish the heat and wait 2-3 months before spaying, if you plan to do it this early. You need to give the area, which is very blood rich at this time, time to get back to normal.

If you do board her she might be ready but I would take precautions at least by letting them know. Her next heat cycle might be in 6 months. This often depends on what her mother's heat cycles were like. I have heard about dogs coming into heat at her age so don't think it is that much out of the norm.

In the evenings, with Mardi, we would allow her in the living room in the evening after we covered it with cotton blankets which were easily washable. She will bleed more at first and then it will slow down but don't be fooled, you need to protect her for the full time, 28 days.

[ZoeysMommy]

Sounds like she is in heat, 9 months is not uncommon

Yes she needs to be kept away from intact males for a minimum of 4 - 6 weeks, I prefer to be on the cautious side and I did about 7 weeks.

She can go into heat in another 6 months or it could be longer, can you ask the breeder? That would be the best person to ask, she may follow the same cycle as her Mom.

If you are going to spay her, wait 2-3 months after the first heat. I spayed Zoey after her first heat, I do feel with males you should wait until 18 months to neuter but I do not think you should let a female go thru more than 1 cycle. That's just my opinion.

[doubledip1]

Luna went into heat at 9 months. Yes, she's fertile for the full 28 days. Luna bled virtually the whole time.

[JenC]

With the pants on (put a menstrual pad in there) and under supervision, you can leave your dogs together. Crate her if you need to leave the house. When Grace was still intact, we lived in a nice neighborhood and I walked her for about a week to a week and a half while she was in season, we had no problems.

5 weeks is probably a sufficient wait. You'll notice the changes in the heat cycle by the color of the blood (another reason pads are good). First week, bright red. Second week, usually when they are fertile, it becomes more clear a little yellow, last week, it gets dark red, like drying blood. And I use the term "week" loosely, but if you watch, you'll see the changes.

By the time she is in for boarding, she's not going to want a dog messing with her. So it won't matter really if there is a recently neutered male there. I find that most bitches in season are pretty dominant at that point. When they are ready to be bred, they will stand and flag....before and after, the poor dumb boy gets his face bitten off for being too close.

[Charlotte K.]

What Jen said. Just please don't leave her panties on in the crate: she might eat them to clean up after herself. As for her fertile period, it varies. It often is when the bleeding first slows to watermelon pink color or even stops. That can be at any time, often days 10 to 14, but anywhere up to 28 days. A friend had a big oops litter that was conceived around day 28, when the dogs seemed to regard the girl as boring and yesterday's news.

Walking can be problematic. If you have a yard, just keep her home. Yes, Labs and other dogs sometimes jump to the top of a 6 ft high fence with ease. If she is out, you need to be close by or leashed to her, even within a fence. If possible, if you must walk her, drive her elsewhere to keep a pack of dogs or coyotes from back trailing and camping outside your home.

[JenC]

LOL, even with all of our wildlife in the country, I never saw any "extra" animals around when Grace was in heat. Even when we lived at our last house and she had freedom of our backyard (under supervision while in heat) and it was a pass through for all the wild critters including foxes and coyotes. I suppose it happens, like dogs breeding through chain link.

[Annette47]

LOL, even with all of our wildlife in the country, I never saw any "extra" animals around when Grace was in heat. Even when we lived at our last house and she had freedom of our backyard (under supervision while in heat) and it was a pass through for all the wild critters including foxes and coyotes. I suppose it happens, like dogs breeding through chain link.

I suspect you just have to know your neighborhood. I’ve been living here almost 20 years and can count the number of “strays” I’ve seen (mostly escapees who live in the neighborhood) on one hand. Only one of them was an intact male, and we didn’t have a girl in heat when he wandered up to our yard. No coyotes in our vicinity either. I have walked my dogs in the neighborhood when they are in heat with no problems and no one following us home. I wouldn’t however, take them to the nearby park because I don’t know who/what might be hanging out there.

[jacksonsmommy]

Thanks, everyone, for the very helpful info. This board is such a wealth of knowledge! I didn't know that the blood will change and what that signifies, so I will definitely keep an eye out on what goes on there. She's got undies on with a liner, so that should be reasonably easy to keep track of. And yeah, we'll keep the undies off in the crate, especially since the blanket in there is easily washable - she's only in the crate when we are not home, with our boy in an expen in a different room. We live in the mountains on a quiet road, so walking near our house shouldn't be much of a problem, thankfully.

I will reach out to the breeder re: cycle frequency so we can have a sense for when to expect the next round.

[JenC]

And just my observance, my boys raised hell when they couldn't be with the girl, so keeping HIM away might prove more of a challenge. We had a happy quiet home with Grace crated in the main room (where I could sit and watch TV) and the boys could lie next to her crate and dream their illicit dreams.