# Dog in heat question



## Cheryl aka JM (Aug 7, 2007)

I've got a female Anatolian shepherd named Cricket who is not spayed. She's a registered purebred and a good working LGD~ I'd like to breed her after her second birthday IF her hips OFA good. Cricket is just a year old (today!) and having her first heat. I've had a lot of dogs over the years~ but I've never kept an intact female so never had one go into heat before. She started the swelling and the bleeding last Monday (7 days ago). I've got her confined in a dig proof, chew proof cage at night and when I'm not watching carefully~ but when I'm watching I've got her tied out in the yard for a little air and movement. Feels mean~ but I don't want her down in her pasture where I can't be sure some dog won't find her and knock her up~ so I'm just going to have to be mean to when she is in heat. I've not seen any intact male dogs around here~ and my neighbors female came and went out of heat without him doing anything without being caught.......but I'm not willing to risk winding up with unwanted puppies so I'm being vigilant! 

So~ the question. She's been a really good sport about the being caged and being tied out for the last 7 days. But today she is pacing the end of her tie out and whining. A lot. Like she is just miserable. My first thought was I'd tied her out on an ant hill~ but I checked. No ants. Plenty of shade. Clean water. Tie out not wrapped around her.

IS this the part of the heat called the "standing heat" and she is whining because she wants to go look for a male herself? If so~ does that mean we'll be done with this business sooner? (I hope!) Or should I be worried that something else may be going on with her?


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## jen74145 (Oct 31, 2006)

Yes, she wants a mate. Wait till one shows up at the kennel... she'll be fawning and fussing over him, just in general making a hussy out of herself.  Watch she doesn't chew through her rope or rip apart her kennel; those chainlink kennels won't hold a determined dog.

It's been so long since I dealt with a female in heat I couldn't tell you about the duration/signposts.


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## Cheryl aka JM (Aug 7, 2007)

Actually~ I didn't trust the chainlink dog kennel either~ digging, climbing, jumping could occur. So I put some 3/4" plywood on top of our little stock trailer, tied it on as a lid and put her dog house in that. No digging out or in......the bottom is 2" plastic with wood on top of those~ no chewing out~ sides are iron to the top, with plywood on the inside up to about 3'. No jumping or climbing in or out with the lid on it. We call it the "Stockade" and she only comes out of it when one of us is paying attention~ and we try to keep on a steel tie out cable the whole time she is out. I have been letting her spend an hour every evening off lead in the yard with our other two fixed dogs~ but this new whining thing has me worried she will run off if I take her off the tie out at all.


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## jen74145 (Oct 31, 2006)

Wow.
Will you come help me build my chicken Fort Knox? 

It is nervewracking... but you're halfway there. Maybe one more heat to wait out before she'll be two, and then either spaying or pups, but either way no more of this nail biting.

I once had my bengal queen dart out the front door, gone for three hours. I could have been sick. Thank goodness she didn't meet a male, but I know the anxieties of having a nice intact female and keeping her under lock and key.


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## Windy_jem (Feb 19, 2006)

Don't let her off the tie out now! She's ready to breed!! Dogs for miles around may start showing up so be very careful!


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## Cheryl aka JM (Aug 7, 2007)

Thanks for the encouragement. My neighbors dog came into and out of heat without him doing anything to keep her safe at all~ so I don't think there are any males close. But I'm a firm believer in not contributing to the unwanted pet problem so I'm trying my best to ensure she doesn't get bred right now. And if her hips come back bad~ I'll spay her and CUSS A STORM about how much easier it would have been to spay her when she was a pup! Her hips BETTER be good!


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## Dian (May 11, 2003)

My house dog was in heat in Feburary. She did the whineing, paceing, sitting at the door almost constantly begging to go out for about a week. It's my understanding that after they stop actively seeking a male there is still about a week that they can be bred so don't let your guard down to soon.

I have been told that a male can smell a female in heat from 2 miles away. So it may not be just the neighbors dogs you need to worry about. 

I wouldn't let her off lead at all untill she stops the current behavior.

My dog was spayed last Friday. I didn't want to have to go through the heat thing again. Good luck with your dog. Keep a very careful watch.


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## Willow101 (Feb 20, 2008)

The average heat cycle (swelling and bleeding part) is about 21 days. This is an average and it does vary among individuals. During this time they are receptive to the male from about day 9 thru day 12...but again....this is average. I had a Whippet once that was ready to breed at day three and would stand for a male for two months after that. Wacky dog!!!!

If she is acting antsy I would be extra careful that she doesn't get loose. If there are no males in the neighborhood she is likely to go find one in another neighborhood.

Good luck...dealing with dogs in heat is a pain in the butt....or at least I think so.

Willow101


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## Cheryl aka JM (Aug 7, 2007)

thanks everyone. Just to be safe I'm going to be even meaner and not let her off that tie out to play with the other two dogs until she either stops acting so antsy (she's STILL doing it~ took a nap and then started again) or the swelling recedes and I think she is out of heat. I know she thinks she is being punished for something~ and I feel bad for her........but I just don't want to take any unnecessary chances.


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## Willowynd (Mar 27, 2005)

The stockade sounds secure, but it only takes a moment for an unaltered male to have his way with a *****. I will never forget the time I was running dogs up to the house when a snow storm hit suddenly. Last 2 dogs were a ***** and a dog (I exercised males and bitches in separate pens), the ***** was known for silent seasons. Was running up to the house with both dogs on lead and not 20 ft from the pen, both leads got taut behind me. Turned around to see male tied to said *****. Not a bad breeding, but not one I would have chosen. I remember screaming at him (yeah, like that works) and pushing him off but it was too late. Stood there for the duration of the 20 minute tie (of course had to be a long one since I was freezing my butt off). Nice litter of 8, just all tri's. I kept a normal eyed ***** and she did well in the ring. In hindsight, glad the breeding occured as I never was able to catch her in season after that, so that was her only litter. Fortunately, her daughter leaves no mystery when she is in season.
Also as a side note, I keep my bitches crated the entire time except for when they can exercise in a secure pen with me watching. I once had a neighbors golden ret. male come through my window to get a *****, fortunately, I was there and stopped him before he got to her crate. Yes, males have bred bitches through crates before.


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## lauriej57 (Nov 20, 2008)

Just a somewhat funny note to this...My female boxer is 2 1/2, we tried 3 heat cycles to get her to breed with our male boxer who was 6 months older than her, with no luck, she we scream, he would quit, then nothing after that. We lost him to kidney failure this past January. So guess what, she goes into heat again in early April, runs next door to play with our neighbors dog, we are watching her, but not worried because he'd been fixed a month before, and in seconds, she's locked up with him! So, now we joke, she got some, he got some, and why couldn't she have done that Buster! 

We weren't to worried about letting her loose, since she minds so well, wasn't showing signs of looking for a mate, and we've never had any stray males around at all, even in her previous heats. go figure


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## Willow101 (Feb 20, 2008)

Back in the early 80s I had a Great Dane ***** that I was going to breed. She was older, well bred and this was going to be her last litter. I walked her on leash and the rest of the time she was in the house with me. One night about midnight I was watching TV in the living room and all of a sudden there was a huge crash. A neighbor dog had actually knocked the back door off it's hinges and came into the house. The male and my Dane disappeared into the night. Fortunately, he was small and she was big so he 'couldn't reach' her to get the job done. The interesting part of this particular story...besides proof of just how determined a male can be to get to a ***** in heat...was the co owner of the Dane was going to sue the male's owner for loss of the litter. This same male chewed all the first floor window frames trying to get into the house.

Apparently, if there are leash laws and the ***** owner can prove loss of income and/or breeding potential, the ***** owner can sue and win for the price of an average litter of pups. She wanted to sue for ten pups at $1000 a piece. Since the female had been with the neighbor male we couldn't breed her to a purebred that heat...which constituted the loss of the litter. I wasn't real hot on the idea of suing the neighbor but what a way it would have been to learn one reason for neutering pets that you allow to run loose.

BTW, my current puppy is a Golden and Great Pyr mix. Mom is a show Golden who was on a leash with her owner. The cell phone rang which was right inside the front door. The Golden was in the middle of pottying so the owner tied the Golden to the bottom of the porch railing, ran into the house, grabbed the cell phone and turned around and came back out. In those 30 seconds the neighbor Gr Pyr tied with the Golden.

Another thing to keep in mind if you walk a ***** in heat. Some dogs aren't going to respect you when you try to **** them away. It is one of those situations where, depending on the male, you could get bit.

Willow101


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## Cheryl aka JM (Aug 7, 2007)

okay~ I want some of her pups some day (if her hips prove healthy~ she's got good genetics on them so hopefully they will) but y'all are scaring the snot out of me! I'm only 8 days into her first heat ever.........and I'm pretty much convinced it's not worth it!!


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