How do you know a female is in season?

[Josie]

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I am due to walk a Vizela female who was in season when I last spoke to her owner (2 weeks ago)

I haven’t had a message confirming she’s still in season from the owner but when I picked her up today she has a very swollen lady area, large teets and Den has been very interested.

Is she still in season? Or coming out of season?

I usually walk her with an entire male (who I’m due to walk with her on Friday) but will have to walk separately if she’s still in season!!

 

[Josie]

P.s I’m only used to males!

 

[JoanneF]

Normally the risk period is about 7 to 10 days into her cycle. But I know dogs can be interested like Dennis a little later - she might not be at a fertile stage but I personally would think managing the behaviour in itself could be challenging, regardless of whether she could get pregnant. So for an easy life, if it was me I would walk them apart.

 

[Josie]

Thanks @JoanneF - she’s definitely not her normal self so I will walk her separately and hope by next week she’s back to normal!

 

[excuseme]

If her vulva is still swollen I would suggest that she has not yet reached her optimum time for mating yet. However!!!!! bitches will mate from as early as her 7th day, some even earlier, right up to as late as the 17th/18th day. Please don't take that as "gospel". All bitches are different within their cycles. Some will mate early while still bleeding, and others you may think have finished because the vulva has got small and there is little or no discharge, BEWARE ! They will mate very readily.
I would suggest for peace of mind that you do not walk this female with any entire dog until her 3 weeks from onset of bleeding, or sometimes 4 weeks is up. (just to be safe)

SIKA was mated on her 13th day

 

[Josie]

If her vulva is still swollen I would suggest that she has not yet reached her optimum time for mating yet. However!!!!! bitches will mate from as early as her 7th day, some even earlier, right up to as late as the 17th/18th day. Please don't take that as "gospel". All bitches are different within their cycles. Some will mate early while still bleeding, and others you may think have finished because the vulva has got small and there is little or no discharge, BEWARE ! They will mate very readily.
I would suggest for peace of mind that you do not walk this female with any entire dog until her 3 weeks from onset of bleeding, or sometimes 4 weeks is up. (just to be safe)

Thanks @excuseme - I will just stick to walking her with Dennis

 

[leashedForLife]

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Has she ever whelped? - if so, her vulva will be larger than those of bitches who’ve never been bred.

The cycle is, vulva swells, bleeding, clear discharge, discharge stops, vulva shrinks (never back to pre-estrous, even in a 7-MO who is not mated), estrus over... but some Fs like to run variations on the theme.

The clear discharge period, where it’s no longer blood-tinted, is the fertile zone; in its entirety, the whole estrous cycle takes 3-weeks to a month.

Washing her bum, vulva, & lower groin (her abdomen) with any mild liquid hand-soap or shampoo will reduce her attractiveness some, but if she’s still marking eagerly (laying down frequent small urine ads), she’s still interested in Ms & may stand to be mounted, or flirt with a passing M, even if she’s no longer fertile.
The pheromones that signal estrus are concentrated in her urine - hence she will use that to advertise her interesting condition.

It’s worth noting that sperm can survive in her vaginal tract for up to 2-days, so a slip mating BEFORE the fertile period can still produce a pregnancy - it’s likely to be a smaller litter, as some sperm will die, but a F who’s briefly mounted & not tied, can still end up in pup.

- terry

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[Josie]

Thanks for the info @leashedForLife - I managed to contact her owner who is on holiday (her son lives at home but is at work all day) and she said she has finished her season now. Apparently her vulva was double the size it was now she's 11 months old so would this be her first season?

I still don't think I will risk walking her with the full male. Although he's 10 now I'm sure he would quickly regain his youth if he was around her!!

 

[excuseme]

Yes this will be her first season.
I think your decision is very sensible!

 

[PWDmum]

Thanks for the info @leashedForLife - I managed to contact her owner who is on holiday (her son lives at home but is at work all day) and she said she has finished her season now. Apparently her vulva was double the size it was now she's 11 months old so would this be her first season?

I still don't think I will risk walking her with the full male. Although he's 10 now I'm sure he would quickly regain his youth if he was around her!!

It could be her first season or her second depending on her cycle, some bitches go 6 mths 12 mths or anything in between with their cycles. If this is her 3 rd week then she may be coming out and safe, but again all bitches are difffernt For an easy walk I would walk her alone for this week, depending on the male in question ( age won’t come into it) will deters how interested his is in her, if she has passed her fertile period, she won’t let him near her, but that won’t stop him trying...so for an easy walk keep her isolated

 

[leashedForLife]

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Typical Fs enter their 1st estrus around 6-MO, @Josie , so this should be her 2nd; F pups can be brought into estrus as early as 4.5-MO by airborne pheromones from another F who is in or entering estrus, & the presence of another estrous F can also meddle with a F’s established cycle.

Ex, I was at the APDT’s annual conference with my own F Akita in tow, she was not due for 2 more months... but a 7-MO Dane bitch entered her own 1st estrus on the day 2 of the conference. I’d been home for just 2 days when Moon’s vulva began to swell, that was Tues, & by Friday, she already had a thin red discharge, & was marking.
So it doesn’t take long for the “contagion” to spread - very like the ‘dormitory effect’ in women who live together, cycling in tandem.

Bitch estrous pheromones can affect other dogs of both sexes over a mile or more distant, making Ms restless & triggering leg-lifting, reducing their appetites, they may become whiny or howl or bay, & other intact Fs can be unexpectedly plunged into estrus off schedule, especially F pups.

It’s also possible that her 1st season was silent, sans discharge, & not noticeable to the owner, with this one being the 1st full-blown version, or she might be a late developer - Fs tend to “be like Mom” when it comes to estrus patterns, & if her dam was a late bloomer, often so is the dotter. (Good reason not to breed Fs with erratic, silent, or other nonstandard estrus, also don’t breed bitches who have pseudopregnancies, or who are bad mothers - Maternal behaviors are highly heritable, & U can’t fix a dam who doesn’t want to tend her pups. )

- terry

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