[Reskabird]

First of all, my toy poodle is in heat AGAIN...she was just in heat 12 weeks ago. Three months ago was her first time so this is her second time. She is 9 months old. I know this isn't normal. Should I be worried?

And now my second worry. I have a large golden retriever who she usually avoids. Since she's been in heat, she follows him everywhere. She wants to be around him all the time and she even tries humping his legs! I thought the female avoided males the first week. What's going on? And the golden retriever hasn't responded to her attention but should I be worried that he'll give in at some point and try to mate with her? He'd crush her!

Please help . Thanks!

 

[kmes]

First I would take her in to the vet to be sure everything is ok. Normally dogs come into heat 2x a year or about every 6 months.

Also, if your golden is not neutered then, YES, seperate them while your poodle is in heat.
And, unless you are planning on showing your dogs, then you really should have them fixed.

 

[Tulip]

It's not unheard of for very small breeds to be in season more frequently. I was reading about this last night in my copy of The Book of the Bitch : here's what it says:

The intervals between seasons vary immensely between individual bitches. Some will have very regular six monthly cycles alomost to the day, others will have an eight or ten monthly cycle, and some will be entirely variable. Short cycles, with the bitch in season every three to four months, are not a good sign and may be a prelude to some uterine disease. Sometimes a bitch will produce all the signs of coming into heat, including some vulval enlargement and attraction to dogs, and yet will not start to bleed, and the physical signs may regress, only to reappear four to eight weeks later. This is sometimes referred to as a split heat. Presumably in such cases the oestrogen levels she is producing early are not high enough to bring the bitch properly into season.

So there you have it.

 

[Tess]

Sounds like your female is feeling the full effects of the hormones and really wants to mate! So keep her under lock and key so she does not become a pregnant teenage girl! Yes, I'd ask the vet if its OK for her to have a heat again so soon, but I understand this can very tremendously among individuals. Yes, I would watch her around your larger dog, although if he is showing absolutely no interest, there may not be much issue. Keep a close eye on the two of them though, as the way they interact can change in a matter of hours if hormones shift for either of them. You might want to crate her or otherwise separate the two of them while you are at work and unable to keep tabs on their behaviors.

 

[crock]

Ditto to the above. I will just add that for the first few cycles of a young dog, they may not be "regular" intervals right off, IME.

If she's interested in the other male, then separate them and make sure they don't have physical access to each other. Size difference won't likely be an issue... they will try mating if both are intact and she's at the right point of her cycle. I've seen a bloodhound mate a chihuahua (neither mine and I talked to the both owners many times about neutering... :eyeroll: ) and trust me, he didn't crush her.