What to expect with heat cycle

1198 Views 6 Replies 6 Participants Last post by TiggerBounce, Mar 1, 2016

TheAdventureK9

Discussion Starter · Mar 1, 2016

Before now my family has always had spayed females.

I'm going to wait to spay Aayla until she is full grown. (between 1-2 years) So this means I will be going through 1-3 heat cycles. I honestly have no idea what to expect. I know the scientific process, the enlarged vulva, the pacing, the bleeding and so on.

Yet I'm more wondering on the handling. I know that I have to be worried about males finding her, is it suggested I not take her out? (lord help us if I shouldn't walk her) I can avoid areas where there are loose dogs, beaches, parks, public places and so on. Yet I would still like to take her around the neighborhood to get her energy out.

Diapers or no? We have hardwood floors but she us aloud on the furniture, and I'm thinking of her jumping up on the bed with the white comforter. Do most females bleed a lot? Or is it different per dog?

How long is typical for bleeding? I've heard anything from 5 days to 3 weeks. 0.0

We have a neutered male in the house, is there a chance we will have to separate them? (do neutered males pester females in heat?)

Anything else I should know? Behavior differences...ect?

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Shandula

· #2 · Mar 1, 2016

I'm going to be following this thread as well, because I expect Heidi will also go between 1-3 heats. There is no way I'm not going to walk Heidi, but I will probably make my walks shorter and closer to home.
I've heard females tend to keep themselves fairly clean. My sister's Dachshund leaves a trail of blood when she's in heat, although I'm not convinced she can actually reach that well...

Someone brought a female in heat to the park once, and Levi (who was neutered early at 6 months) tried to mount her, which was surprising to me. So, there is a chance that Kota might be interested in her. I'm certainly hoping Levi does show some interest, because it will hopefully serve as an indicator.

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PoppyKenna

· #3 · Mar 1, 2016

Just play it by ear. Lexy has always been a breeze in heat. We had a previous intact Aussie female as well and she was great too. They kept themselves pretty clean and there weren't really any massive mood swings to note, but of course every dog is different. You may just have to adapt.

Of course keep an eye out for other dogs, especially males. Even on a walk around the neighborhood they can come out of nowhere. We had to be careful because there were times our neighbor's dogs would come over even though we were diligent to keep our girls inside - and our neighbors are over a mile away on either side! Crazy.

I'm sure you and Aayla will be just fine, just keep an eye out and be flexible.

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TheAdventureK9

Discussion Starter · #4 · Mar 1, 2016

@Shandula I can't believe someone brought their dog who was in heat to a dog park. Pretty much asking for a breeding.
@PoppyKenna That is good to know. I feel like I'm freaking myself out over everything. My BF isn't always happy to adapt to some changes that require extra care and cleaning. So I've been worried about how he will react when I'm fencing off the part of our house to the couch and large rug. I'm wondering if I should start conditioning her to wearing a diaper. That would make things easier.

She is also starting to get free reign of our condo and to go outside as she pleases when we leave. Should we lock her inside only when we are gone? I worry about males trying to get over/under our fence, which honestly wouldn't be impossible for a dog that is very determined.

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Dawnben

· #5 · Mar 1, 2016

ThatYellowDog said:
We have a neutered male in the house, is there a chance we will have to separate them? (do neutered males pester females in heat?)

Anything else I should know? Behavior differences...ect?

I had never had a un-spayed female. I have to say I never will again. They are little tarts even with neutered males. She finally pushed her butt in my hounds face one to many times and she got him to mount her she screamed we broke it up. I was shocked that even neutered males will try if pushed. You will have to be very careful out in public.

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annageckos

· #6 · Mar 1, 2016

Freyja went into heat for the first time a few months ago. Nothing at all about her personality changed. Nothing. She did bleed, not a lot, but she is a big dog so I got her panties. Her heat lasted three weeks. The first thing that alerted me she was even in heat was a few random blood drops, which I wasn't sure were from her or one other the others. Then my neutered boy started sniffing her and tried to mount her. She thought he wanted to play and started to bounce around. My intact boy never showed any interest, but I still kept them apart when they couldn't be watched. But even neutered males can mate. I did take her for walks around the neighborhood, but stayed away from parks and places like that.

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TiggerBounce

· #7 · Mar 1, 2016

ThatYellowDog said:
Before now my family has always had spayed females.

I'm going to wait to spay Aayla until she is full grown. (between 1-2 years) So this means I will be going through 1-3 heat cycles. I honestly have no idea what to expect. I know the scientific process, the enlarged vulva, the pacing, the bleeding and so on.

Yet I'm more wondering on the handling. I know that I have to be worried about males finding her, is it suggested I not take her out? (lord help us if I shouldn't walk her) I can avoid areas where there are loose dogs, beaches, parks, public places and so on. Yet I would still like to take her around the neighborhood to get her energy out.

Diapers or no? We have hardwood floors but she us aloud on the furniture, and I'm thinking of her jumping up on the bed with the white comforter. Do most females bleed a lot? Or is it different per dog?

How long is typical for bleeding? I've heard anything from 5 days to 3 weeks. 0.0

We have a neutered male in the house, is there a chance we will have to separate them? (do neutered males pester females in heat?)

Anything else I should know? Behavior differences...ect?

I've dealt with a couple heat cycles between my GSD and a boxer we fostered...I'll try to answer the best I can

1) I never took my females out during a heat. But if you need to, I'm sure it would be fine. Just make sure she actually does wear a diaper, and make sure you have a way to defend from male dogs. The diaper helps to provide a physical barrier in case a male does approach, and also helps collect her discharge so she won't leave as much of a trail. Remember that she's really only going to be fertile for like, 3 days in the middle of the cycle. She may not want anything to do with males at all the rest of the time, and she may tell them off.

2) I never used diapers, but it's up to you. It's not a bad idea if you don't mind changing them and dealing with taking them on/off for potty. My girls both bled quite a bit. My GSD actually stained sheets too. I don't remember the boxer being quite as bad. We kept a towel under her favorite spots to lay. Some females apparently will do a lot of self cleaning, and they don't seem to bleed as much. I'm sure amount of bleeding is different per dog too.

3) I'm pretty sure it varies :\ I think my two both bled for about 2 weeks?

4) It's possible. My old neighbors had their neutered male tie with their female when she went into heat. He was never bred, and he was neutered before maturity. You really don't want them to mate and tie. Even though it won't produce a pregnancy, it's still unnecessary risk....Both as far as injury goes to both parties, and also for infection reasons for Aayla....UTI and Pyo. You can keep them together when supervised. But you might want to consider separating when you have to leave. There's a chance he may not be interested at all.

5) Behavior differences can vary. It sorta just depends on the dog and the maturity level. My GSD was a bit goofier than normal and seemed to be more energetic and have less of an attention span. It was her first heat. The boxer had no change at all in temperament or behavior, but she was closer to 7 years old so her body and hormones were probably more evened out. I've heard other people report anything from the dog becoming extra clingy, flirty and flagging things/people/other animals, being more protective, more reactive, more independent. Some people can still work their dogs through a heat, others have to just give them a break from work. Sometimes the first heat or two is a challenge, but the next are much better.

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