The ladydog and being on heat

[Nettle]

Might be useful for general info - when a dog scents where an on-heat or about-to-come-on-heat b itch has peed, he 'chitters' - he shivers his lower jaw very quickly, sometimes drooling, sometimes huffing, which sends the pheromone scent over scent-receptors in his mouth. They can spend quite a few minutes doing this, and so people who are worried their dog might then run off have time to get the lead on him.

Bitches will sometimes chitter over an on-heat-b itch-pee-smell as well - but they don't tend to take it any further.

[ClareMarsh]

Might be useful for general info - when a dog scents where an on-heat or about-to-come-on-heat b itch has peed, he 'chitters' - he shivers his lower jaw very quickly, sometimes drooling, sometimes huffing, which sends the pheromone scent over scent-receptors in his mouth.

Thanks Nettle, useful info not just for this but might even save me an embarrassing visit to the vet as I am sure I would have thought this was an illness

[amarus]

Thank you so much for this thread, but I'm afraid I do have some other questions about what my particular girl is going through.

Stella is an American Cocker Spaniel who is 10 months old as of October 18. For the last two weeks, I have noticed that her nipples and vulva were larger than normal, but there was no bleeding. She's been quite mellow and a bit clingy during that time as well, and her stool schedule is a bit unpredictable. She will urinate several times on walks as though she is marking, and I was just going to tell myself today that she was likely having a silent heat, but a few interesting things have happened this week that have me really confused.

Tuesday morning, she woke my husband and me up at 7AM vomiting in her crate. She continued throwing up for at least a half hour off and on. The only thing I saw her actually vomit up was a piece of a bully stick or backstrap she'd been chewing the night before. She retched a little bit later in the morning, so I called the vet for advice. Since we had been in a dirty mountain cabin this last weekend that had a mouse infestation, the vet was anxious to see her to rule out parasites or poison. She vomited a little in the lobby at the vet when she was super excited to see everyone, but she was very active and seemed happy. She pooped in the yard at the office, so they did a fecal exam, which came out clear, although there were little white bits in it. (I'm thinking this is also part of the bully stick or backstrap she'd been chewing the night before.) Our cat had tapeworms three weeks ago, so they specifically checked for that and Stella was negative. The vet remarked that her ladybits were very swollen, asked if I'd had her spayed and when I said no she said it was very likely she'd go into heat soon. It was also likely that if she was hormonal, it would cause the nausea. After that, she basically sent her home with a prescription for 5mg of Famotidine every 12 hours, and they said to call back if she didn't get better.

This appointment was at 2:30PM, and I am guessing it was a half hour earlier that Stella urinated when I asked her to. Around dinner time, we had company, and instead of urinating on command, Stella's bladder was emptied when she greeted our dinner guests. (We're still working on that.) I took her out again at bedtime, and she pooped, but no pee despite having had some water. I took her out in the morning twice with no results, and she finally urinated on a walk at 10-11AM. Since then she has peed fairly regularly, but it's going on 24 hours that she hasn't pooped. This is very unusual for her.

MORE DETAIL, sorry. This is such a long set up...

After one of our afternoon potty breaks, I brought her indoors to wipe her and noticed the tissue came away with a brownish red stain on it. At that point, I started planning for her to come into season except that this only happens immediately after she has peed. It's not a constant discharge.

So, my question for you all is this: Does it sound like she is on heat or does it sound instead like she has something else going on? A bladder infection, perhaps? Or something that would constipate her? Or all of the above? I'm considering calling the vet again in the morning for her if she doesn't poop to see if I should be this worried or not, but I don't want to call all panicked if there's no need to be. Any help would be appreciated!

[Nettle]

Well - I can't see her from here but it sounds to me as if you have two separate issues - the upset stomach from the swallowed chew, and the coloured discharge from her ladybits.

She may well be coming on heat - some b itches are much more discreet about it than others, and usually there isn't much in the way of discharge.

I would be concerned in case she has another piece of chewie inside her that is causing a blockage, so if she is not eating or pooping, back to the vet is best.

[amarus]

It was all just her coming into heat, which is much more apparent now! She as been pooping regularly since my last post, only skipping that one day, so it might have been hormones or the chew that messed her up. I called the vet the following morning and they said to keep an eye on her that she doesn't have a UTI, since I mentioned she was not peeing as often as expected, but otherwise everything sounded normal.

Thank you for your help, Nettle!

[Nettle]

My pleasure

[elisa]

My poor little Ansa is definitely now experiencing false pregnancy. I came home yesterday and she was panting a bit and I was like "maybe she really has to go". So we went for a walk and nothing special. Then she started whining like minutes after I came from the walk. She's never whined before. So my boyfriend takes her out since we thought that maybe she had like an upset stomach or something. Then I noticed that unlike normally her toys had been moved around the apartment.

When she got back in she took her "mini-me" (a skinneez skunk) and carried it around while whining and I knew what was wrong with her. It's really quite heart-breaking to watch. The only place she seems to settle is in my lap. She kept us up half the night walking around and whining at times.

Here she is on her bed with "mini-me" under her head.


This behavioral change was so obvious that there was no missing it.

Some say I should take her toys away to make this pass sooner. Would that work? It seems kind of mean.

She had been behaving maybe a tad weird toward other dogs during the weekend but otherwise this came out of nowhere really. I thought we had passed the chance of it happening already. I'm planning to have her neutered so a month from now is likely then a good time?

[Nettle]

Leave her with her toys. It IS cruel and unnecessary to take them away.

My vet advises slightly less food and as much more exercise as the owner can manage during this time.

Please don't feel sorry for her or imagine she is distressed because she isn't - she is simply behaving like a normal b itch at this time. She is in a secret primordial place, full of instincts and hormones.

Women do this too and it's MUCH worse to live with!


Edited to add - how far after her season is she? You need to be sure she hasn't got a pyometra infection. It's uncommon but can happen.

[elisa]

She started dripping pretty much exactly three months ago. So I think the false pregnancy is still viable. Good mentioning the infection though and I'll have to watch her. Otherwise she seems quite normal.

It's really quite amazing how much hormones can affect behavior. We, humans, know it's hormones, but dogs live more in the moment and probably don't rationalize their behavior like we do with like "oh it's just hormonal". Or who knows.

More fun activities should take her mind off her "pup". I don't know if the dog park is the best place if she's "moody" but more normal walking should do. We only get like 7 hours of daylight so off leash walking is sadly reduced.

(I've only had experience with male dogs before so this is all new and weird. )

[Nettle]

Yes, exactly the right timing for false pregnancy.

No meeting other dogs she doesn't know until she is finished with this. This is a time in Nature where b itches do not want to be with other dogs.

She does not need to rationalise her hormones she's fine with them - it's people who get surprised, and then try and put a human take on it without realising that it's all perfectly normal.

[Suzette]

I've begun to wonder if Piper is going into her first heat. She'll be six months old this Friday and is showing some signs that perhaps she is going into or about to come into season. She's been licking at her girly parts just a bit more than usual the last two days, she seems a bit more tired (though if I say 'let's play', she's eager and happy to oblige), she doesn't urinate more frequently, but she seems to be peeing longer when she does go, and she's been just a bit feisty lately. None of these 'symptoms' are very overt, and she is absolutely healthy and happy as always, but I have taken notice of them. And maybe these don't have anything to do with a heat cycle because there has been no dripping at all.

I know some dogs can have a silent heat and I've been wondering, when this happens how to you know definitively that your dog is in heat?

[Nettle]

They normally take a while to go into heat, and 'hint' at it for quite a few weeks beforehand, especially with the first heat.

We have one dog that has 'silent heats'. They are still pretty obvious, but of course I'm used to heats and knowing what to look for She only shows colour (a very little red fluid) for a day or so, and it's easy to miss, but her vulva swells and she displays and tail-flags to male dogs. Luckily my own male dog confirms what is going on without being overwhelmed by her condition - having been used at stud he knows not to bother a b itch until she is ready - and when they are, he doesn't get a chance to.

Tail-flagging means presenting her rump to the other dog and turning her tail aside. Often on-heat b itches will do this with either gender of dog, and some will even 'present' to their owners.

[Suzette]

Well, that poses another little dilemma - Piper's a Pembroke Corgi - no tail to 'flag' with!

Oh well, I'll just continue to keep an eye on her. Maybe all this is just a prelude to the heat, as you say Nettle. I was just wondering since she's 'getting to be that age'.
I'm sure when it comes right down to it, I'll know! Thanks Nettle!

[Nettle]

Agh no tail she'll turn her bottom and look over her shoulder at you.

[Erica]

Agh no tail she'll turn her bottom and look over her shoulder at you.

Opal does this when she wants us to take her outside...haha. I may come here with questions soon - Marble's not spayed yet and I'll convince my sister that it would be best to hold off on it until she's gone through heat.