Heat Cycle

[Red Fox]

My young female Malinois has just come into season for the first time. Is it advisable to keep her separated from my entire male from the first day of her cycle? Or only once the discharge changes from bloody to clear/pink?

He has a current Suprelorin implant, however I don't wish to tempt fate or chance the risk of infection either...

Also, can anyone point me in the direction of some good online resources regarding the heat cycle?

Thank you

[Rebanne]

you can observe the two together to see how the boy reacts. If he doesn't annoy the girl then I would leave them together but only while supervised. I'd tighten up the supervision a lot from around day 8 and most likely be playing musical dogs around that time for a week or so. Unless you prog test your bitch you won't know when exactly she is ready so be prepared to keep them apart the whole time. The girls can be real tarts and annoy the boys as well.

Goggle is your friend as is the breeder of your dogs. :)

[Allerzeit]

I second Rebanne's advice, that is pretty much exactly what we do.

Nova is having her first season at the moment, she is day 18, incredibly swollen, and madly dripping blood - the boys haven't shown any interest at all, but they have still been separated from her since day 5.

I personally don't rely on the discharge changing colour, none of our girls ever seem to do that - they bleed until they stop, with the amount of blood gradually tapering off rather than changing colour. Instead we separate at around day 5 - 7 (or earlier if interest levels suggest we need to), and keep them apart until it's all done and dusted.

[Jumabaar]

My boy had the superlorin implant and had no interest in the girls at all. There was no need to separate him off.

Now thats its wearing off I only allow him near them supervised up till day 5 or so (earlier if he was too interested) and are not allowed back together till she is off and he is no longer going gaga over her.

Mind you I am looking after my grandparents bitch from a month before she is due in because their boy LOVES her already and is annoying her!! So it really depends on the dog.

[dancinbcs]

I have only ever completely separated them on they key week but I have known my males and girls and their reactions very well. Bitches can be ready to mate any time from day 3 to 29 so I never took any notice of the books about days. None of mine had much discharge at all so that wasn't much help either. I always took more precautions with a bitch's first season till I worked out how the dogs reacted to her.

That was my dogs but I have known some that completely ignore a bitch in full standing heat until they are sure no one is looking. If you have a sneaky one like that you need to be a lot more careful.

[Red Fox]

Thanks for the responses. I'll be keeping a very close eye on her for the next few weeks until I can suss out her cycle. The dogs only get supervised interaction regardless.

My boy had the superlorin implant and had no interest in the girls at all. There was no need to separate him off.

I'm hoping for the same effect here. My boy has been incredibly sooky over the past few weeks though. I thought it was a side effect from the Suprelorin but perhaps not..?

Another question; are bitch pants worth the hassle?

[dancinbcs]

Thanks for the responses. I'll be keeping a very close eye on her for the next few weeks until I can suss out her cycle. The dogs only get supervised interaction regardless.

My boy had the superlorin implant and had no interest in the girls at all. There was no need to separate him off.

I'm hoping for the same effect here. My boy has been incredibly sooky over the past few weeks though. I thought it was a side effect from the Suprelorin but perhaps not..?

Another question; are bitch pants worth the hassle?

It depends on how much discharge they have and how clean they keep themselves. Mine hated bitch pants because it stopped them keeping themselves clean and they really didn't need them. A few covers on furniture would see the odd spot and that was about it. I have however seen others make an awful mess so in those cases the bitch pants would be great.

[Tara8430]

I have a question while were on the topic, my girl is 10 months and still no sign of her first heat cycle, should it happen by 12 months and what should i look out for as first signs.

[Allerzeit]

It'll pretty much happen when it happens :) Nova is having her first one now, and she has just turned 12 months. She has a litter sister who is still showing no sign of being anywhere near having her first season.

First signs are normally things like licking (cleaning) herself more than normal and swelling of the vulva. Depending on your dog, you might see her blow coat around 6 weeks beforehand, too :)

[Tara8430]

It'll pretty much happen when it happens :) Nova is having her first one now, and she has just turned 12 months. She has a litter sister who is still showing no sign of being anywhere near having her first season.

First signs are normally things like licking (cleaning) herself more than normal and swelling of the vulva. Depending on your dog, you might see her blow coat around 6 weeks beforehand, too :)

What does blow coat mean?

How long can you not take them out for, like for walks, is it just the one week of concern?

Someone said to me that there cycle can be the same as their mothers, would it be worth finding out what the mothers cycle is?

On one hand i dont want it to happen yet but on the other hand id like to take her to the beach in Spring but for sure if i book something and lock in a week that would be when it will happen.

[Allerzeit]

Oh, sorry Blow coat is to lose masses of coat in a short period of time - shed like there's no tomorrow :)

I think it's definitely worth finding out what her mothers (and any other close female relatives) seasons were like, there definitely seems to be a genetic influence.

We tend to not take our girls out after the first week, until after they're finished. But, we live on acreage, so we don't actually have to leave our property to go for a walk, so we can keep them at home for an extended period of time without it being a problem.

[Sayreovi]

I think it's definitely worth finding out what her mothers (and any other close female relatives) seasons were like, there definitely seems to be a genetic influence.

I wish that happened to my girl, her mother came in about 11 months and cycled every 10 months. My girl came in at 8 months and cycles every 6, which is just awesome when trying to compete :laugh:

I take my girl out for walks for most of her season, I however do drive her to an oval instead of walking her around the block.

My boy was on suprelorin when she was in season and he was still very willing to mount her so had to be seperated anyway. He didn't cry or stress when seperated though which was good, her last season the injection had worn off so he was a pain in the butt!

[espinay2]

while I do leave mine together initially (when fully supervised), it may be wise if you are not sure what you are seeing at first to keep them separated for most of the time until you get the hang of the process. Even if it is just via a baby gate inside and separate runs outside. While not always common, successful matings can happen early in a season if the bitch happens to cycle a bit differently. I know of a recent litter of 14 from a mating on day 3!!

[Tara8430]

Well I'm starting to think Abbey might be coming on heat, she looks a bit swollen to me, does the swelling happen gradually over the first week before the bleeding?

[dotdashdot]

Well I'm starting to think Abbey might be coming on heat, she looks a bit swollen to me, does the swelling happen gradually over the first week before the bleeding?

My girl did swell a few weeks before her heat cycles. Her first heat was at 6 months on the dot, and 6 months later she was slightly swelling again (while trying to plan her desexing) but nothing happened for weeks, and she wasn't getting sooky so we had her desexed. She then discharged blood from the vagina the next day - indicating that she may indeed have been about to start bleeding (well that's what the vet said).

Every dog is different though, a friend of a friend has a a labrador that didn't come into her first heat for well over 18 months. My dog was about a year younger and came into heat first.

[Tara8430]

Yeah Abbey my black lab is nearly 11 months, she's been a bit cranky the past week too, it just looks a bit bigger to me and she seems to be licking a bit more, still took her for a walk today. Should I only isolate her when she starts bleeding? ( it's been a while since I've had an entire bitch)

[mersonmalinois]

Our youngest Malinois girl came into season on Aug. 6. We have kept her with our other dogs (which includes two intact males) the entire time. She is wearing her Seasonals pants which allow her to clean herself yet still keeps the house/furniture tidy.

The boys are going crazy with her now - whinging and we do keep them separated when we can't give 100% attention. One is an experienced stud dog, so he's our major indicator of when they can't be together.

Better safe than sorry when it comes to girls in season. If 100% attention cannot be paid, it's best to keep them apart.

[Red Fox]

Just a quick update on mine; day 20 now and she's stopped bleeding, still swollen though. She did not swell before her heat but rather a few days into it. My male has a Superlorin implant and has (so far) shown no interest beyond a quick sniff. Either way they've only been out together whilst supervised.

I've never seen my Mali so soft and sooky as during her season though! Nice for everyone else but I'm missing my psychotic puppy!

[Tara8430]

I only have abbey so she should be right out in the yard, it's secure there's a couple of male dogs down the road though.

Should I stop waking her now or wait till blending starts then keep her home? I'm only guessing at this stage, she's paying more attention to herself an is looking a bit swollen to me.

[luvsdogs]

We were booked into a holiday let for my granddaughter's 1st birthday. I took Tilba to the vets on the Tuesday & she said no sign of swelling. We went away on the Friday & on the Sunday I noticed spotting in her crate. I had left her in there while we went to a BBQ lunch. I thought oh no. Not here. We weren't going home til the next day. Luckily she only spotted occasionally & on a hard floor was easy to clean up.

I had read some horror stories of dogs mating through chain wire fencing, we have chain wire side gates. I had also read that they will try to find a mate as much as the males do. I had visions of all the male dogs in the neighbourhood visiting us, did not happen. I was also told to carry her to the car if going for walks & drive to the park so any males couldn't follow her scent home.

She was very good through the whole process, preferring to sleep the time away. I supervised her in the back yard, never saw another dog. Like I said she spotted a few days at a time with breaks of a day or so in between. When she went a week without spotting at nearly 3 weeks in I thought it was all over but she spotted another day & that was it. I had her spayed 4 months later at 14 months old.

I had taken her to my dog club's Xmas party 2.5 weeks in where she stayed in her crate. There was a show dog nearby & he never glanced her way.