Hi We have a 6 month old(7 months old on the 12th) lab and she has started to become a lot more clingy over the last week. And seems to be sleeping a lot more even without going for long walks or a long play session. Could she be coming in to season? We have noticed she seems to be peeing a lot more on walks too. Thanks in advance Neil
It doesn’t look swollen. However we did notice some blood on top of her poo just now. It didn’t look like she was bleeding from her bum and she certainly hasn’t had any issue going for a poo today.
Hi @Neil Gerring It is probably estrus. But keep on eye on it. One wouldn't want to miss internal bleeding by thinking it was something else. If you gently roll her you should be able to see whether there is blood coming from the vulva. You can use a piece of white toilet paper and gently dab it. In case you're not aware if she is in estrus, then avoid going out of your enclosed yard. Beware that dogs will climb high fences to get to her. I had my female Lab and a German pointer lift a heavy iron gate off its hinges in an attempt to get to each other.
Hi @Michael A Brooks We’ve checked a couple of times since you mentioned it and she’s not been bleeding. We will keep an eye on her and see how she goes. Thanks for confirming it might be estrus.
Peeps, when a dog starts to bleed, she is coming into proestrus. This is the first phase of the heat cycle. After (on average!) 9 days, she will enter estrus. Estrus is the next phase of a dog's heat cycle, and it's during this phase that she will ovulate at some point. When we see her coming out of season, she is entering diestrus. So, if your dog is coming into season Neil, she would be entering proestrus Dogs often don't bleed very much during their first heat, but if you dab her daily with a kleenex, you will be able to see some blood if she is in heat. Blood in poop is quite common (compared to human poop!) and can just mean that something has irritated the dog's gastro tract - if it's a one-off thing, it's nothing to worry about if it's only a bit.
