The Heat Cycle In Dogs

[sinom]

Please pe patient with the following saga ......................A Love Story !! (woof, woof!)

I need a bit of "experienced" advice if possible.

I am the proud owner of two TRD's. Dog is now about 14 months old and the little lady about 10 months. We are first time dog owners so still busy climbing up the learning curve !

Both dogs are still in full posession of all of their "equipment". We decided not to have any operations just yet as we may breed in the future.

She gave her first indications of entering the heat cycle about two months ago (her first obviously)with some infrequent light coloured discharge. We were then thinking of about a two week menstruation period followed by about a two week "peak" mating period.

We were proven wrong ! About 1 month after seeing the first light discharge, she then had a "full blooded" discharge. So we reset the clocks and started counting again.

This has now continued for about 1 month, until this week the discharge has stopped and the dog (as well as all others in the neighborhood) knows it is now his time.

We are keeping them seperated as we do not want to breed on the first cycle.

I have been told by the vet that this "mating period" may last up to about another three weeks. (something to do with the first egg coming down followed by the second?)

The main problem is the dog is going absolutley bonkers! We have a large garden surrounding the house / garage with gates designed to isolate different areas so keeping them apart is not a problem. But he can still smell her and cries and howls around the clock to try to get to her. He also doesn't want to go out for walks, as he is so impatient to get back to the "action".

The questions are .............

- how long is she likely to remain in the "danger period"

- is he likely to calm down or am I going to keep them separated for a further three weeks ?

Initially we could let them run together as long as they were supervised, but now it takes approximately 3 milliseconds before he tries to get up and going. Also my leg is getting sore !!!

Any advice welcomed

Edited August 22, 2008 by sinom

[bina]

sounds a little wierd to have such a long drawn out heat... didnt catch the breed name?? trd?

ask the vet to do a smear from her vagina to see what is going on.... also, most males react as u describe; best to send one to someone where else for a vacation or keep really separate. males lose weight and condition this way, its torture for them....

the bleeding starts and continues for 9 or so days, the 9th to 12th day are usually good for breeding, after that, its a no-go. thats the whole thing. two to three weeks and its over for half a year or even a year depending somewhat on locale and breed...

the last female dog i saw with something like this , a dog de bordaux, a 'professional of the breed' gave the same story to the owenr of a dog de bordaux who was in heat on and off and the guy was waiting to breed, had located a stud, etc. . four weeks later she had a huge 3.5 kilo womb filled with pus taken out of her, almost died, and ran up a huge vet bill. go to an other vet, get a vaginal smear and a blood test to see if she is having hormonal issues that may end up as a pyometra (womb infection that can cause death if not detected properly)...

and read up some on dogs and breeding, and your breed, before u start doing the stuff... and also, remember that if u breed her, the next time round u wont want to breed her again, what will u do with the male??? he will go thru the same thing again. many people send the female to a kennel for this time period. easier on the male, the household and the surrounding dogs. make sure it sa reputable kennel so she doesnt get knocked up by a '<deleted>.. and run' .

bina

israel

[sinom]

TRD = Thai Ridgeback Dog.

Things seem to be calming down a bit, we can put them back together during the day now as long as they are supervised. Still separate them at night.

She's been up to the vet's and everything appears to be OK.

We will probably try to breed in the next heat

Thanks for the advice, I was getting worried that he was getting over stresssed, but as I say things are calmer now and he's nearly back to his happy self

cheers

[Nienke]

Welcome to the world of 'males in LUUUUUVVVVVVVVV'!!!!

Can you imagine when you have three females and 3 males, none of them altered. And don't think the ladies get in heat at the same time. The lower ranks stared whining first, with bigge boss guarding on a distance but not yet really interested. Only during the peak of the heat cycle he would start as well while keeping the others strictly away.

Often it happened the males would skipp a meal or two during this peak.

Nienke

[Nignoy]

I have mentioned in an earlier thread, if you have dogs of both sexes to avoid any problems with the female cycle,give the bitch chlorophyll tablets or pastels in her food they are a natural leaf extract which neutralises that glorious odour that drives the male wild , a week before you want to put her to stud, stop giving her the tabletts, this is a tried and proven cheap and safe way to control unwanted or unscheduled breeding,in boarding kennels , zoos and even with wild dogs, The reason vets wont prescribe them, in germany a bottle of 1000 tabletts enougn for over 2 years costs 11euros!! where as an injection lasting 4 weeks costs 19 euros!!

[Nienke]

H gosh, yes, I forgot about your advice. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Thanks for the reminder!!!!!

[sinom]

I have mentioned in an earlier thread, if you have dogs of both sexes to avoid any problems with the female cycle,give the bitch chlorophyll tablets or pastels in her food they are a natural leaf extract which neutralises that glorious odour that drives the male wild ..............,

Do you know if these are readily available in Thailand ? I will ask our vet to see if she knows.

If so.................. it's an exceedingly good tip

thanks

[Nienke]

Not Nignoy, but chlorofyll you can get at health stores.

Nienke