Hello all,

My concern is regarding the spay or not to spay issue. I have never had an unaltered animal, cat, dog or horse before. I now have a 4 month old Rottie girl. My intention has NEVER been to breed her, and her registration is limited for that reason. I had another female years ago, but she was a rescue and altered after an "accidental" litter she had before I rescued her. My question is how do you handle/care for your girls during their heats? I had thought I would get her altered soon, but the more I research the more I believe in waiting for maturity, or not at all.

My girl is never outside lead or without me, NO exeptions. I have a new house on 2 acres in the country, no fence yet. We have other peoples dogs and coyotes running loose around and on our land. I have two children,11 and 6, who will be outside with us also on our walks. Forgive me for my ignorance, but I am worried about protecting her and the children. Will I have the nightmarish scene of packs of strange dogs on my doorstep day and night mobbing to get at her, or is this going to be just a slight inconvienience to manage?

Any tips/info would be great. Thank you so much.

My bad,

I forgot to mention that she is primarily a companion. We will likely do obediance rally, agility or therapy type work with her. But no protection or other heavy duty stuff with her. So bulk and extreme drive are not really a concern for us. Just her safety and long term health and happiness.

Then your concern is mainly how to handle uncontrolled males when your intact female is in heat?

You have uncontrolled dogs on your land? Will you be installing a fence? (You mentioned no fence yet....)

I have unaltered females and while I did envision males breaking in the house to get to her it has yet to happen.......

I do have a couple of acres fenced and I scope out the area very well before letting one out. Additionaly if it is nighttime they are on leash.

Healthy doses of paranoia really help!

Yes, fending off the males was the biggest concern. I also like to take her intown to walk sometimes. I also wondered about the regular day to day care issues during these times. (yes, I am a complete newb.)

We didn't get the yard put in last year when the house was built, so that is the priority project for this spring. I am planning to do boundry training with ecollar with her, because I do not plan on fencing in the whole 2.25 acres. She will not be outside with out me, EVER. (I despise people who think a fence is a reason to ignore their dogs and let them bark 24/7)

However, I do realize that times will come up when I need to have a safe area for her to be while I am busy with the kids or something else outside. So I was planning on putting up a chainlink kennel area that I can put her in. It wouldn't be for hours and hours, so would maybe 20'x20' be enough?

Thanks

I have had a rescue dog go into heat once - so I have been through exactly ONE heat cycle and therefore I am NOT an expert.

I too have heard all about the male dogs that would be knocking down my door to get to my bitch. I live in the city. My next door neighbor has an unaltered male GSD who never stays in the yard. He didn't bother me any more than usual.

I kept my girl on a leash at all times and, unlike what I expected, I didn't have a problem with males.

The main thing is that heats are messy and smelly (the dog bleeds like she is menstruating). There was blood on everything until I went to the pet store and bought one of those diapers for females in season that you put a maxi pad in. She was a good sport about wearing it.

All in all it wasn't as bad as I expected. The only thing is I had just started an obedience class with her, so she had to stay home for 3 weeks while I went without her.

Edit: I think your kennel would be just fine, make sure she has a dog house in case it is cold or too sunny outside.

Having had an un-altered female Rott for eight years, I can tell you that it is not as bad as it sounds.

Your biggest concern is obviously roaming males. As you have already acknowledged that, all I can say is watch her. Yes a pen of that size is great, but don’t leave her in there while in heat, as some dogs may climb it in order to get to her. And females have that same urge to mate, so she may want to climb out as well. (Seriously, picture her pushing her behind up against the fence if a male does come to visit. She will want them as bad as they want her!) You will probably need to adjust to keeping her in the house in a crate for much of the time, but if she is raised with crate training, that will be no big deal.

As for the mess, well, yeah. If you keep her crated during much of that time, she will keep herself pretty clean. When she is out, get her some doggie diapers. I bought three, that way one could be washed and two always available. Don’t bother with the doggie sanitary pads, get regular human type, cheaper and better. Change them out regularly (check them every couple of hours, and make sure you put them in a zip lock bag so she or any nearby males won’t get to them ) and you will have very little mess to deal with. Be sure to take them off when outside, or you will have a mess!

You can walk her and play with her as usual, just watch for other dogs… Pepper spray might be nice.

After all of that, it really isn’t so bad. And it only happens a couple of times a year.

Awesome advice, just what I was looking for. Yes, Tessa is crate trained. Thank God for the crate! Ok, I am glad to hear we won't really be mobbed, and that pepper spray works. I am off to get some, especially as the Amish farmer down the road has some big unaltered brutes who have recently discovered where Tessa lives.

Do female dogs give any signs before they start to bleed all over? Doggie PMS? LOL. And will she need any extra nutrients or anything else special, or just the diapers?

BTW, nice looking Rottie Jessica!

In my dog's case I had just gotten her from a shelter and she was at my vet getting her shots. The vet casually mentioned, as I was booking a spay appointment, that she was going into heat and would have to be spayed after her heat was done.

WHAT!??

lol.

The only sign was her vulva was slightly swollen (at that time I didn't know what she normally looked like since I just got her, but now looking back it was definitely swollen). I think the swelling starts to happen first, then the bleeding. In Ed's breeding articles he says (for breeding dogs) that people often miss the first 3 days of the actual heat because the female cleans herself and the blood flow comes on gradually.

I didn't notice any behavioural changes. Again, I'm not the most experienced with this though.

No, I have never noticed any real change of character, but some have reported it. It could just be a placebo effect if you notice it, but then she might really get more irritable. After a few cycles, you will kinda get a feel for her timing. Mine was about every five months. Her vulva will get enlarged and soft. There will start to be a little discharge that will be a little off color, if you notice this try checking with a tissue. It will likely be a cloudy brick color. It will get heavier and redder until it is very much like blood, then it will lighten up to a straw color. That is when you need to be the most careful ! Up until then it is unlikely that she will allow a male to mount her, but there will likely be interest (in the form of play usually) from both she and any male.

A seasoned stud will know that she is not ready, and will be less inclined to be a pest, but likely to be serious when she is ready, an immature male won’t know better. Also know that she will be interesting for female and neutered males as well. Just keep her up most of the time, and it will be no big deal!

I have never changed the diet, but I don’t think it would hurt to give some extra organ meat. (I feed raw… )

And thank you! He is great!





Edited by JessicaKromer (02/05/2008 02:25 PM)
Edit reason: What Angela said!!