What To Expect During A Season

[Prydenjoy]

Is it swelling, then blood, then more swelling and mating time, then what?

I just noticed Mango's "bits" are a little swollen, but no blood. Will she bleed soon? Or have I missed something?

I have an intact male living here at the moment, how long should I keep them apart?

[OSoSwift]

Usually they swell, depends on the dogs as to the time frame, then they will start bleeding. The vulva will soften and swell a little more when they are standing, the discharge can then change from blood t more like a clearer serum colour,then back to more blood like and the vulva will starting going down.

It is usually around 3 weeks from start to finish, but I had a bitch who was 4 weeks and did mate on day 21 (only one pup resulting though).

You must keep them seperate from the very first day you see blood until it is all finished and there is no discharge.

Sometimes people only seperate them when they are standing, but to me that is playing with fire. Mine are seperate from the first day until there is no sign of discharge and she is definately not interested in boys near her back end at all.

If you have an entire male that has a bit of an idea they will quite often tell you by their behaviour around a month before that you bitch is coming in.

Sometimes if you are observent and have a nice short coated dog ike mine you can notice swelling above the vulva a few weeks before they actually come into season. Again all this depends on your particular bitch as they are all a little different.

Hope that helps

Edited May 5, 2010 by Rommi n Lewis

[gareth]

Is it swelling, then blood, then more swelling and mating time, then what?

I just noticed Mango's "bits" are a little swollen, but no blood. Will she bleed soon? Or have I missed something?

I have an intact male living here at the moment, how long should I keep them apart?

Surprised you don't already have the knowledge to manage entire dogs of the opposite sex prior to the bitch coming into season

Contact your breeder and arrange to have one of them boarded if you don't want any accidents.

[Prydenjoy]

Thanks heaps Rommi, that is very helpful!! There is no blood yet, but they are already separated.

This is actually the first time I've had a bitch in season (since our first dog had one season about 15 years ago), so I'm all pretty new to this. We all have to start somewhere! I have a dog run in the back yard, covered in shade cloth (so no accidents can happen through the wire), and solid baby gates and crates etc in the house to keep them separate if they are inside (the boy wears a nappy anyway as he is on an extended holiday here and is a marker, of course I wouldn't rely on that though!). I'm not worried about an accident.

[OSoSwift]

No worries.

It's lots of dog shuffling for a few weeks.

[Prydenjoy]

You must keep them seperate from the very first day you see blood until it is all finished and there is no discharge.

So if there's swelling, but no blood yet, it should be ok until there is blood, then separate them immediately? I've had them separate to err on the side of caution, but if they can play together for a few more days until there is blood it would be good. Or do some dogs not bleed obviously?

[OSoSwift]

I wait until the first day of bleeding.

Some bitches can be a bit tricky or very clean an you may not know they have started for a little bit, but as a general rule first day of bleeding = girlie doggy jail around here

I haven't had a problem with any mismatings or unplanned babies as yet!!!!

[becks]

She may be keeping herself clean and you won't see any blood, I'd be keeping them separate if you aren't sure about how far she is into the season.

[Prydenjoy]

Well I've been checking her when she first wakes up before she cleans herself, perhaps she's just not a big bleeder?

Rocky doesn't seem to be taking any notice of her whatsoever. Do the dogs usually sniff the bitches frequently when they are in season? I'm beginning to wonder whether I got it wrong altogether, she isn't all that swollen, just a bit, so perhaps I was wrong?

[Sandra777]

It is possible for a bitch to have a silent heat with no bleeding at all, so don't count on bleeding. Shade cloth may not be sufficient if the dogs are determined enough - personally I'd go with a solid barrier or two fences (says me who had a dog scale three six foot fences to do the deed)

If it's her first heat she may swell for several weeks prior to the actual start of the season, she's maturing. Dog may well be interested long before as her scent is changing. Experienced dog is less likely to be as interested but this isn't universal either!

Edited May 7, 2010 by Sandra777

[blacklabrador]

If you are worried about her keeping herself clean just check her internally. Get her on her back and gently part her labia - you will see the blood she can't clean away so well. No need to touch inside, just have a gentle look inside - should be easy enough if she's swollen. Wiping with a clean tissue can help with observation too.

As Sandra said - you can have a silent season so none of this is any guarantee! Good luck having two entire dogs in the house... it can get pretty blood painful at times and you will have to be very careful to keep them separated and very secure away from each other.

[Prydenjoy]

Thanks for the tips, she doesn't even seem to be swollen anymore. I've had a good look on several occasions, gently parting as BL describes but nothing. Could I have been imagining? Or do some dogs swell and go down a few times before they actually come into season?

[Sandra777]

Or do some dogs swell and go down a few times before they actually come into season?

Yep. Stop stressing, you'll know when it's for real

[Prydenjoy]

Really? I'm paranoid