My girl is on day 25 of her 1st heat, from the first day I noticed a blood stained discharge. She was swollen and puffy, has been a mix of very frisky and quite mopey. I’m wondering when it’s going to be safe to let her off lead again? She is still moving her tail to the side if we scratch the base of her tail, there is now no discharge at all now and she is much less swollen. Thanks all
Err not quite yet! Personally, if she is flagging still, I would give her another few days to a week...
I too would give it a few more days. Ever since Harley had her first season, if you scratch the base of her, she flags and I can guarantee she is not in season.
Thank you, someone told me that I can get a spray that hides her scent so that I can walk her out on a lead? Are these advisable? Is that safe? She’s still flagging this morning day 26. Thanks for your advice
I walked mine on a lead throughout her season. I just made sure I didn’t go anywhere close to fields / parks where dogs can be off lead, or places where there are lots of dogs. We walked on main roads and at random times throughout the day to avoid the majority of people walking their dogs. I would walk her on lead, just beware of off lead places
It is difficult to interpret exactly when female dogs hit their fertile stage, as all bitches are slightly different. The rule of thumb is the last third of their season (when they have stopped bleeding..) through to the end, will be the fertile stage. This can vary, from week 3 into week 4. So the most dangerous time to walk a bitch in season is towards the end of their cycle. Whether a spray is safe or not really the question, does it work though? I very, very much doubt it considering their incredible sense of smell, and how driven they are by their hormones. It is though, incredibly disruptive to owners of entire dogs when they encounter a bitch in season, not just that encounter, but the next day. Entire dogs will also try to return to where the bitch has been, so that means avoiding that particular area for a while. Male dogs will run across a busy road, climb 6 foot fences to get to a bitch. So it is also dangerous to walk a bitch in season.
It does depend on where you live. I walk my bitch in season, even though she's in her most fertile phase right now. That's because we're not in a "walking" area. The nearest house to us is 1km away - the owner doesn't live there, and even if he is there, he has a bitch. In the other direction about 1.5km away there is a farmer with a neutered dog. Again, he doesn't live there but is there quite a lot working on his land. We will sometimes see a walker with a few dogs, but maybe once every two months at this time of year. So there is no reason for me to worry myself unduly about other dogs. The biggest display of a dog being driven by their hormones was from my neighbour's bitch, who camped outside our gates for a day and night, screaming to get to Shadow. Poor little man had no idea what was going on. I think people tend to assume it's always the boys that are the culprits, but girls can be just as desperate to get amorous. My boy has little interest in bitches in season, other than a slightly longer sniff than normal. My bitch doesn't seem to have much clue what's going on, either, and hasn't flirted or flagged at all in either of her two seasons. I did take her to the UK last year after her first season and, although we were clear of it, there must have been some residual lovely smells and she got a bit pestered by the boys out on walks. Not mounted, but lots of the boys we met were very much nose-to-bottom. She got a bit fed up with it, and so did I. I would find that very tiresome to deal with all the time and don't think it's fair on her to subject her to it, let alone worrying about how the other dogs were affected.
I live close to the forest, but in a town, there are lots of dog walkers around everywhere. Mostly they are on a lead along the pavements but there are a few that trott along at heel off lead. in the forest they are all off lead running around, I wont take her there. I’m seeing the vet next Monday for a check up, so hopefully he’ll give us the all clear by then which will be day 32. I’m supposed to be taking her out for a doggy swim date on Friday (day 29) , I imagined she’d be clear by then, but maybe not. I guess I won’t know for sure. Thanks all, the last thing I want to do is distress any other dogs, or her
I walked my girl on lead throughout her season. I did the same as @Naya, walking her around reasonably deserted streets where very few other dogs walked. There would be an occasional dog and I always crossed the road in case it was a male. I never walked her off lead in forests or parks. I used to drive her from my house to about a mile away as I read that this breaks the scent from the house so as to ward off interest from local dogs. No dog showed any interest in her. It lasted 4 weeks but her vulva remained swollen for a while after, possibly for another two weeks.
Thanks that’s helpful, I’ve decided to wait til Monday to see if the vet thinks she’s finished, cos it’s all guesswork for me, we’ve lasted this long, so a few more days in the garden will be ok. I feel guilty not taking her out.
Hi, thanks for everyone’s help on this, this forum is so useful. So we had our check up at the vet, day 32 from first bleeding. He said that we ought to keep her walking on the lead for another week to be sure. Good practise for lead walking! Thank you
It's definitely good practice for lead walking. My girl really stuck by me for months after she was able to walk off lead again, I think because she hadn't been able to self reward for 4 weeks.
I used this time to practice lead walking and it really paid off. I hope the next week goes quickly for you both.
