Comments on: Dogs in Heat

By: Bradley Turner

Bradley Turner — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 01:12:56 +0000

I have a blue nose Pitt bull thats been in heat about two weeks she. s already bred with another Pitt bull but her color of her blood went back from light red to really dark red and her stomach has been swollen is she ok

By: marita patrick

marita patrick — Sun, 03 Jun 2012 13:28:12 +0000

I have a boxer puppy born 3-10-12 who is constantly climbing or laying on top of my almost 9 yeear o;d german shepherd. I reialize that some of this is playing but is it also a sign that he (puppy) is more the dominant type. I plan to neuter him when he is around 6-8 month old. is this the right time to do this.

By: Rodica Catrinescu

Rodica Catrinescu — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 05:52:13 +0000

I have 2 poodls ;brathers and sister ;she’s nutered but he’s not;They are two yers and seven mounth; Theyr name is Tito and Ivanka.I dont know very much about poodles life;but I love my litle boy and I dont need another dogs; I dont know what is better to do for him to be nutered or breed.
;

By: Rachel

Rachel — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 20:59:48 +0000

I forgot to mention that dogs mount or hump each other for reasons that have nothing to do with sexual attempts or desires. These behaviors are a demonstration or attempt at dominance. Males will perfom this behavior whether they are intact or not. Even females perform this behavior, intact or not.

By: Rachel

Rachel — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 20:56:07 +0000

I have talked about the “whys” of breeding, now I will comment on the “hows:”
It must be understood that dogs procreate simply to procreate. Neither sex is interested in the act of sex unless the time is right, which means puppies will be the result when dogs procreate. While males are ready and willing at all times, females are not and a male may only enjoy the joy of sex when a female is ready. If you do not want a litter or wish to cause a litter you must spay or nueter your dog!
Females should pass through their first heat before being spayed so you must keep her confined from any males during this time. It may seam cruel, but dont take her to petco or anywhere where other dogs may be unless you are sure that these dogs (male dogs) are not intact. The time where a female can be bred is not long so bear with it.
Males should not be nutered before they are a year old, and nutered between one year and two years old. You must keep him confined and prevent him from seaking any bitches in heat. Most young males are not mature enough to understand how to mate even though they are capable sexually, but do not rely on this!
The female will cycle into what breeders call her “heat” or “season” and this means that she is almost ready to ovulate. The males will be interested in her sexually at this time but she should not stand for the mating unless or until she is ovulating and expereinced stud dogs know to wait for this time before attemping to mate her.
When the time is right, the male is usually very quick about performing his duty: he will mount the girl and “tie” with her. This takes seconds which is why you should not trust your female, even on a leash, within reach of another male, even if he is also on a leash; keep her out of reach of intact males!
Once the male enters the female the end of his penis swells and basically becomes stuck inside the female until he finishes his duty. The dogs will stayed tied together for about ten minutes to an hour. The male may dismount her so that both dogs are butt-to-butt while he remains inside her; this is normal. It is during the tie where the male impregnates the female, but there are always exceptions to the rule so I would not rule out a possible pregenancy even if the male never tied with the female. On the flip side, the male may “miss” even if he tied.
NEVER break or try to break the tie! This may cause serious injury to the male and female. You must let the two break the tie naturally on their own.
Every breed is different when it comes to the heat cycle of a female, and each female may be unique when it comes to her heat cycle. Generally, once a female starts to bleed she will ovulate about nine days later and remain ovulating for a further nine to twenty days.
It is a good rule of thumb that if you do not want a litter you should seperate the bitch for 31 days once she starts to bleed to play it safe.
If you want a litter, once the bitch starts to bleed sperate her from the males so that you can select the male YOU wish to be the sire once the time is right. Wait for her discharge to turn straw-colored. The female will also become interested in males and the males will become interested in her and her pee if they have not already. Once she starts “flagging” she is ready; you can test for this either by putting her with the desired male and seeing if she stands for the breeding or, while she is standing, place your hand under the base of her tail and she should raise her rear up and “flag” her tail up and to the side. You should see her do this around other males, or other dogs. If she sits when a male attempts to breed her then she is either not ready or not mature enough to be bred. You may have to assist.
It is a good rule of thumb to mate the male and female then wait a day and mate them again. Then wait another day before mating them again. Mate the dogs every other day for about three matings total. This gives the male a day for his sperm to collect, making him “more potent” and raises the odds of him impreginating the female everytime.
Every time the bitch is mated an egg or eggs may be furtilized and so you do not want any matings more than five days apart because this will result in a puppy or few puppies born too soon; when the puppy or puppies from the first mating are ready to come out, all the puppies in there come out. There is nothing more sad than a dead puppy. A dead puppy that you cannot do anything about becuase he just wansnt ready to come out yet.
It is possible for a bitch to have multiple sires for one litter so keep any other males except the one you want to be the sire away from her. Again, each mating results in puppies up to the number of eggs the female can ovulate.
Therefore it is the female that is responsible for the number of puppies in the litter: there are as many puppies as she has eggs so long as they are furtilized. Not all her eggs may or should be furtilized in order to keep the puppies growing in her within five days of each other.
The male determins the sex of the puppies. As you may know, a male possesses an “x” and “Y” chromosone that makes him male, a female possesses two “X’s.” It is this “y” paired with an “x” that makes the dog male and only males can pass this. Females can only pass an “x” since they have only “x’s” and no “y’s” So,the male passess an x or y to each puppy and a female passess one of her x’s, how they happen to pair with eachother determins the sex of each puppy.
Once the mating part is over, it generally takes 63 days for the puppies to develop and be ready to be born. And that is another topic!

By: Rachel

Rachel — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 20:07:23 +0000

Just a comment about sexually altering dogs; it is now becoming evident that pets are being spayed and nutered too young and that while yes, altering the animal will decrease the chances of complications regarding the animal’s reproductive parts as the animal ages, it is better to wait until the animal is sexually mature before sexually altering him or her. The fact that altering an immature animal is not good in the long run for the animal is being suggested, theorized and being further reaserched…you may wish to research this yourself if you are a breeder and have your pets sold altered once they are sexually mature.
If you are planning to breed a purebred dog, you should do your research because there is a lot more to it than simply mating two registered dogs of a breed together and there are A LOT of ethics today regarding bringing more dogs into this world that is already over populated with homeless dogs.
If you wish to advertize that you have purebred puppies for sale then you must breed to the breed’s standard with regard to health, temperment and conformation; it is not the place of any breeder to change the breed’s standard based on their own whims and every breeder should do all that is humanly possible to not perpetuate hereditary health or temperment problems!
If you are breeding a purebred dog then that dog should be sound in health, temperment and conformation and should come from a line of dogs that are sound in health, temperment and conformation. The dog mated with this dog should be the same. This means that you and the breeder where the dog came from should be involving the dog in events where the dog is judged of its conformation and titled or worked in the manner for which it is bred. Testing stock for hereditary defects common with the breed and titling the dogs to be bred in the showring eliminates any ideas of making a profit off the sale of puppies and no reputable breeder brings a litter into the world unless to keep a puppy from the litter. We do not need any pet or puppy stores, so we deffinately do not need any more of them, even if you are only breeding one litter for yourself; if you want a pet get one that is already born or support a breeder that breeds with the integrity of the breed at heart or become one of these breeders yourself and understand that you will no make money off it nor be able to enjoy that one on one time that is so special about owning a pet or two. If you truelly love dogs or a breed you will educate yourself about the subject and lay to rest any idea of breeding and producing more puppies for your own whims, convienience or profit. Please understand you and your pet are not special and “just one litter” adds up and affects the integrity of the breed not to mention that you are adding to or not helping the cause for the homeless dogs.
If you wish to breed please find a successfull breeder and ask them to mentor you. What you start with is what you will always have in your line so there is no sense starting with poor examples of the breed that come from a line of unproven and untested stock when lines of proven and tested stock is available, as well as the guidence of an experienced breeder with successfull dogs. It is about the breed, not producing cute pet puppies to sell or for whatever reason; great pets come either way because any puppy is cute and can be a great beautiful loving pet so there is no excuse to breed poorly bred purebred dogs just because “you love them.” The situation in animal shelters and rescues exists today because of all the irresponsible breeding of and for “lovable pets.” Not all dogs should be bred and it is not true that every female needs to have a litter. We bred dogs from the wolves they were to exist in our company so it is up to us, and you, to be responsible, to uphold the standard that supports why the dog’s breed was created. There are no regualations to make you breed reputably. Again, pets are not the reason to breed dogs, pets are simply a reality because no breeder can properly take care of each puppy in each litter and reputable breeding produces great pets as well so there are no excuses not to breed reputably!
Please do your research and educate yourself using all available means before acquiring dogs to breed and deffinately before breeding.
Great books off the top of my head are: “breeding dogs for dummies” and “The complete dog book” published by the AKC.
Check out: http://www.shca.org/shcahp4d.htm this link talks about hereditary dissorders with Siberians (the breed I specialize in) but is an example of what “health” means when breeding dogs. Find out about the common hereditary dissorders for your breed, you can ask a mentor or successfull breeder of that breed.

By: Rebecca Grams

Rebecca Grams — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 10:27:39 +0000

Having an unneutered male because it is “better” for them is not neccessarily so. It is not good to spay or neuter before age 1, or first heat. There is research to support this. Once a dog has reached maturity, there is no reason to keep them in tact.

Actually, it is better to neuter a male as it prevents issues with the testicles later in life. If you are not planning to breed, then I would suggest getting your male fixed now and your female when she is out of heat.

By: Marty

Marty — Sun, 24 Jul 2011 19:50:34 +0000

We adopted a 5-year old female yellow lab from a breeder who didn’t want her anymore. We already have a male yellow that wasn’t ever neutered. We weren’t totally successful in keeping them apart and, yes, she got pregnant. Fortunately, she only had 4 puppies. They’re beautiful and we’re glad we have them, but do not want any more. She delivered on June 21, 2011. It’s now July 24 and she’s showing signs of bleeding. Can we still get her spayed or will we have to endure another cycle before we take her in. And – further to this point, how safe is it for her babies to have her spayed now?? What happens to her milk? I’ve just read your comments on dogs in heat and am grateful for your clear, concise answers. I’m new to the dog world and love our dogs – but know little to nothing about their reproductive habits.

By: Cade

Cade — Sat, 23 Jul 2011 23:46:08 +0000

My female went into heat 3 days before her appointment to be spayed.I have un unneutered male & prefer to keep him that way because I’ve read & found from experiance,it is more bennifical for a male dogs health. We never plan to breed him.
Anyway, my female went into heat prior to her appt to be spayed & we’ve sequestered our male dog & keep her in a protective garment.

Our male is driving us nutz ( even tho he’s a mere 2.5lbs)& looking forward to her spaying.We NEVER want to go thru this again,UGH!!How do breeders DEAL!

By: Adeet rahman

Adeet rahman — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 17:26:39 +0000

i have a female lhasa apso/japanese spitz hybrid named zoey. she is almost 11 months old. just recently i got a male samoyed named tim, who s about a year old. even though zoey is not in heat, the male keeps wanting to mount her. is this behaviour normal. do u think a cross between these two breeds is safe?