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Kenzie is in heat

2K views 24 replies 7 participants last post by  Shalva 
#1 ·
Noticed some blood today, so I guess she is in heat. She is just shy of 9 months old.
Obviously I need to keep her away from unneutered dogs, but is there anything else I need to worry about?
What about walks, or is that out too?
Also, my understanding is that they are actually receptive to breeding after the bleeding stops so how do I know when she's no longer in heat?
My plan has always been to get her spayed after her first heat so she would get a chance to develop, but we were expecting her heat to be closer to 1yr. Should I still wait until she is a little older (but before heat #2) or just go ahead and get her spayed?
 
#2 ·
Also, for the last several nights she has been getting up in the middle of the night and not wanting to settle back down. Could this be related to heat? And if so will it stop soon, I've been seriously sleep deprived lately!!
 
#4 ·
ok the easiest way to know she is out of heat is to wait one month... some will say 21 days but if you don't know your girl and her cycle a full calendar month is safer.

walks are ok as long as you won't run into alot of other dogs but honestly I keep my dogs totally contained on my property when they are in season... think rapunzel!!!

For the next full month you are going to be in charge of her virtue... and males who know what they are doing can get a tie (mating) really fast... so no outside time unsupervised at all... behind fences or only walk in deserted areas if you have to....
 
#7 ·
Ok, no walks.
Next obvious question is how to burn energy off of a 9mo old without walks? Just lots of fetch & training time? Any other suggestions?
Also, she is supposed to start obedience on the 30th, will that be ok? Everyone should be on lead?
 
#9 ·
yep I agree... I would talk to the training facility they may want you to hold offbringing her and yeah lots of training and working the yard...
i only addressed walks because some folks have no option but to walk their dog and I wasn't sure if you were one of them but if you don't have to then I wouldn't
 
#10 ·
I'm one of those who had no option but to walk Molly when she was in heat. However we live in the city and as long as we stayed away from parks all dogs were on leash. We didn't encounter any stray dogs.

As far as classes go, it depends on how well they are run. Molly was in two classes while in heat and both said it was OK to bring her. Well, one class was a complete disaster and I stopped bringing her in until she came out of season (actually I was thinking about not returning at all until the trainer called me to talk). The other class was great and I continued to bring her.


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#12 ·
Spacing from my very limited experience (Kea has had exactly two heat cycles), there was bleeding the whole time. The blood was bright red for the first week, then a slightly lighter shade (called "straw colored" according to her breeder), then brownish red toward the end. She wore some little boy underware on backwards with her tail through the fly hole and I cut ladies maxi pads in half to line the panties (used always brand, the ones with wings). This worked for us, she went in her crate at night so she could have a chance to clean herself down there. Fun times!
 
#13 ·
Thanks everyone
Yes, I have a fenced (wooden) yard so I can spend time with her there to burn some energy. She's never outside when I'm not home so no worries there.
I will call and talk to the trainer when it gets closer to class time. Worst case is she'd have to miss the first class and I'd just go observe and get her training homework.
I have some doggie diapers for her, I tried them on earlier and she pretty much hated them! Right now it's not heavy enough to warrant a diaper, I just put a towel under her when she's laying down.
 
#14 ·
Also, I do have a neutered male. Obviously she can't get pregnant by him but my understanding is that they will still try. She's crated during the day when I'm not home, but he has free roam of the house. Should I lock him away while I'm gone? I guess I'm concerned he could hurt himself trying to get to her in a crate.
So far he is showing no interst in her
 
#15 ·
Kenzie seems to be really low key today and yesterday. She just seems content to lay around and chew on a bone or nap. Which is very different than her normal self!
I haven't taken her temp, but her ears don't seem hot or anything.
I'm leaning towards this being a normal part of being in heat?
Is this normal in other people's experience. She's still in her first week if that helps
 
#18 ·
some neutered males will try and some won't it generally depends on the age they were neutered but they can get a tie if they want they are just shooting blanks so to speak.

My girls are typically clean enough that they don't need to wear "pants" but we do have them in the house if we need them..

you should not have blood the whole time... honestly the experience of the person above would worry me... I do think that being quieter may be part of her being in season but keep an eye on her
 
#19 ·
Thanks everyone!
She is more normal tonight. Not 100% monster puppy by any means but active enough (playing fetch, chasing cats) to know that she isn't sick or anything. I think she's just subdued because of being in heat, she's more snugly also, which is sort of nice!
So far my male is showing zero interest in her, which is actually odd since about a month ago he'd try to mount her a lot. I was taking care of an unneutered 9mo old male at the time and my lab would switch between barking at them playing and trying to mount Kenzie, luckily he has also since been neutered.

I guess it's good that she seems subdued, I don't really feel the need to replace the stimulation she would be getting with daily walks!
 
#20 ·
She is totally wagging her butt in Guinness's face right now. Little hussy!
He still has zero interest so that is good.
I just called to schedule her spay on 2/26, which happens to be world spay day!
 
#21 ·
2/26 is to soon to have her spayed.... the risk of spay is much higher when a girl is in season or just afterward.. remember the uterus is swollen and is much bloodier... you really are better off waiting 3 mos.... so if she is in season now... you could spay the beginning to middle of april and know that everything has gone back to normal and you are not exposing your girl to any additional risk... she is in season now and as long as you catch it before the next you are in good shape.

2/26 is way to soon....
 
#23 ·
PYOmetra (not pyrometra... the uterus does burn up in a blaze of glory) is scary and you should be afraid of it. I have had two girls who both pyo'd and it was scary but it is the risk you balance... both of my girls pyo'd at 7 years old, not at their first heat cycle. Just watch your girl... the odds of her having a pyo as a young pup are very very small... but If she were my dog I would hold off with the spay a couple months... why make the surgery riskier than you have to.
 
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