What to expect going into first heat?

[janedoe123]

My almost six month old will be going into her first heat cycle soon, and I’m looking for some anecdotal advice about how best to care for her, keep her comfortable, how long to wait before spaying? What was your experience? P.S. her vet said that because she’s a bigger breed (lab/dobey mix) to wait until after her first heat to spay.

 

[djhope]

@janedoe123 Tough to say exactly how your girl will handle it, some dogs are a bit moody, some are clingy and cuddly, some are just sleepier.

Make sure you have all your precautions in place to prevent males getting to her. If you plan on using diapers to contain discharge while she is in heat, start introducing her to them now. For the most part it is just keeping her entertained since her daily routine may need to change (example a town near me has a bylaw that a bitch in season is not allowed off the owners property except to go to the vet, so walks etc arent allowed). If you are going to training classes, clarify their rules on in season dogs and class (same if you use a groomer or anything).

Your vet would be the best person to talk to about how long to wait to spay, it will probably be a several weeks to allow hormones to return to normal.

 

[janedoe123]

@djhope Thanks! I didn't know about possible bylaws, I'll have to check into that.

 

[lupuswarrior]

@janedoe123 I have some fresh experience to share

My pup went into heat at 6 mo in September, a few days before turning 7mo and a less than a week before her scheduled spay. Luck haha. She’s a small breed.

The bleeding was pretty light and she kept herself clean all the time, so we barely used diapers. I got them just in case, and put them on her only when she wanted to get onto the sofa otherwise I just let it bleed, but there wasn’t really much to clean on the floor.

But I washed her bedding and blanket every day to make sure it’s clean and fresh.

In terms of behavior my pup was really sleepy and tired, she didn’t want to eat during first week.

We live in an apartment, so walks were necessary regardless the heat. She wasn’t interested in male dogs at all, she was actually kinda scared of them (never happened before). I obviously avoided contacts with any dogs, just in case. I live in a pretty dog-dense area, so it was impossible to avoid them completely while on walks. Males indeed expressed interest in her for her entire 3 week heat (and even 2 weeks after), but thankfully most of them were on leash.

I had only once incident when an off leash dog ran towards my girl (and the owner was talking on he phone and not caring about her pup at all!!!) - and I had to pick up my puppy.

In general, the heat lasted for 3 weeks. After that the vulva swelling started to reduce, but I don’t think it’s fully gone yet.

I would say it was much less stressful than I expected. I read so many horrors, so I was really scared to walk her. But in reality it wasn’t that bad for my puppy.

My pup will be spayed in late November, almost 2 months after the heat finished. The vet said it’s important to wait so that hormones will balance out.

Edited: as for the advice: I would say take it easy on your pup. She may become nervous, or moody, or clingy, or sleepy. Or start to bark, misbehave and throw tantrums. Whatever she does, show love and affection. It’s not her, it’s the hormones

 

[janedoe123]

@lupuswarrior Thank you for that. I think that's why I'm asking, the internet always makes things sound so much more dire than they typically are in real life, like adolescence and heat. I adore my girl and I want to be prepared to help her be as comfortable and cared for- and safe- as possible. I live in an apartment too, so we're going to have to take walks, and she's too big to pick up. She's also super friendly and loving, so any off leash dogs that run up to her she just sees as her new best friend. Meanwhile, I'm blocking them and going, "CAN YOU LEASH YOUR DOG PLEASE THANKS." We'll definitely be taking it easy.

 

[lupuswarrior]

@janedoe123 In my case most of the neighborhood dogs were well behaved. And their owners were totally understanding when I asked them not to approach us. And thanks god we don’t have stray dogs like at all.

You may also try walking your dog during less „popular” hours

 

[tehillah]

@janedoe123 Great post. I wasn't thinking of this as my 5 month old cocker spaniel will be going in heat in a few months. I had no idea it last 3 weeks. Great advice to start getting her used to diapers now. I am afraid she will be trying to rip them off and chew them though.

 

[lupuswarrior]

@tehillah Try reusable (i used them with simple female liners)! They are safer than disposable and way cheaper .

Edited: And about timing. Heat usually lasts 2-4 weeks and has several stages (google it). The most dangerous period is somewhere in the middle (when the spotting/blood becomes very light in color, like pinkish) - then the doggo is fertile and can get pregnant. So when you’ll see that, don’t think the heat is over and you can relax. It’s actually vice versa. The safest way is to avoid any dogs for at least 4 weeks after the first sign of blood

 

[janedoe123]

@tehillah I didn't realize it lasted that long, either! And I definitely think my dog will want to rip off and eat diapers. My parents used to have a breeding pair of German Shepherds and said that the girl- Lady- bled like crazy. I want to get a sense of how common that really is, because I have another friend who said she didn't even realize her puppy went through her first heat cycle.

 

[deedae]

@janedoe123 I agree with other comment saying it's not as bad as the internet makes it out to be. Our lab went into heat at 7.5mo and the bleeding lasted for about 3 weeks. There was a good amount of blood and she didn't do a great job cleaning it up. We expected huge interest from male dogs but that did not happen at all until the very end of her season, weeks 3/4. There was one incident with an off leash dog who ran at us and I had to grab him by the collar because his owner was in no rush to come over and take him away even after we asked her to. He only ended up by us as the owner threw a ball in our direction (from quite far away, in an otherwise empty field...) so it's not like he just ran at us from miles away like in some stories you see online. For 4 weeks, we walked her on a long line (no off lead at all) and avoided busy areas and all unknown and uneutered dogs. It was hard to tell when the heat was over. Apparently that's when everything goes back to "normal" except that some things don't actually go back to how they were before the first heat. So that's a fun guessing game, especially when you can't wait for it to be over. And it wasn't pleasant tbh, we couldn't go to the beach and other places she likes, and we could tell she missed playing with other dogs. Her behaviour didn't change that much during this time, she's normally a super velcro pup and stayed the same during her season. There were no temper tantrums, no aggression, nothing. So it's all individual to the dog but overall it's not a complete nightmare. Having said that, we aim to neuter before the next one.