Heat Cycles

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Leigha
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Heat Cycles

Post by Leigha »

I think I've said somewhere before that I've never had girl dogs before so all of this "girlie" stuff, I know nothing about. How long after puppies will a ***** go into heat? Everything on the internet said 4-6 months after the pups, it's definitely not been 4-6 months, but Dixie's doing some weirdo stuff and I'm not sure what it's about. Dixie stopped spotting and discharging for like a week and a half or so, but now she's starting to spot again. She stays with the puppies in our empty guest room it's now become "Dixie's bedroom" and the boys all sleep in their crates in our bedroom. Dixie has now started to drag (literally) us into our bedroom in an attempt to get inside the boys' crates. If the crates are open she'll make a mad dash into them sniffing like crazy. She even managed to get herself shoved into the weenie crate--I mean whole body in the weenie crate and turned around. I could have closed the door behind her.

While I don't think she's in heat again, is it possible? And if it's not possible what in the world is going on in that hormonally crazy body of hers?

Let me also add that I think she's getting really tired of playing mommy. She wants away from the puppies more often and will stay outside without wanting to come back in for a lot longer than she used to. And getting her to go back to her bedroom with them is getting to be a challenge. I hope that's kind of normal though. She still nurses, but she just has this look of "lord can we be done already."
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Nettle
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Re: Heat Cycles

Post by Nettle »

With heat and hormones ANYTHING is possible! Normally a b itch comes in heat 6 months after the last one, so I'll leave the maths to you, bearing in mind 3 weeks of heat, 63 days of pregnancy and however long after that.

With suckling b itches - they spend more and more time away from the pups from about four days onwards, and by four weeks, they really don't want much to do with them and would like to stay away from them except when they decide to go in and suckle. B itches left to wean pups to their own schedule feed them two to four times a day, and owners can help this along by allowing the b itch in after the pups have had their solid food, so they just top up with milk instead of filling up like little drains.

I had one b itch feed until 12 weeks (we always keep one puppy) and another who folded her arms at 3 weeks and said NO MORE.

Listen to Dixie and do things her way (apart from letting her get pregnant again) - it's the best way.
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Leigha
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Re: Heat Cycles

Post by Leigha »

Nettle wrote:B itches left to wean pups to their own schedule feed them two to four times a day, and owners can help this along by allowing the b itch in after the pups have had their solid food, so they just top up with milk instead of filling up like little drains.
So it would be okay to try to start feeding them soaked solid food then? They don't have teeth yet, but they have shown interest in Dixies food (we have her on puppy kibble (taste of the wild) since I read somewhere the puppies can "taste" the food in the mom's milk--probably horse crap, but I figured I'd try it.). I didn't want to put the pups on raw--not because I don't love them, but because I doubted their new homes would do it. I'm probably the only person in my immediate area who raw feeds.
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Nettle
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Re: Heat Cycles

Post by Nettle »

Yes, soak the food in water not milk, and let the little monsters loose. To begin with they'll do everything except eat it, but soon enough they'll get the idea. Always supervise the feeding in case one gets into a bit of trouble and anyway because it's cute :D
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Leigha
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Re: Heat Cycles

Post by Leigha »

Alrighty! That'll be tonight's adventure then. I'll have J take pictures while we do it.

Since they've been born they've not been out of the room they were born in. When is it okay for us to move them around the house and introduce them to the boys? If Dixie's in the crate with the pups and she sees the boys on the landing she barks at them, so we haven't done any introductions yet. We just aren't sure when the "right" time is, and what the right way is.
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Nettle
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Re: Heat Cycles

Post by Nettle »

Wait until Dixie says it's time (by not barking at the boys) and don't expect the boys to like them.

Sometimes adult dogs DO like puppies - I have a trainer friend with 15 dogs :shock: who, when he breeds a litter, takes the pups to the adults at about 5 weeks, and each dog that likes puppies picks a puppy for uncle/auntie sessions, while the ones that don't like puppies hide.

I don't mix mine with the rest of the mob until all the others have gone to their new homes. It's easier for me. Then I only have the one we are keeping to watch and that's more than enough.
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Duffy Jones
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Re: Heat Cycles

Post by Duffy Jones »

Remember that as long as there is milk production there will not be any heat cycles. The hormones responsible for milk production (progesterone and oxytocin) prevent them from producing estrogen to go back into season. Once the puppies have weaned then you get a heat cycle right away and can become pregnant right away so be careful. I have had few dogs that started to come back into heat as the puppies were starting to wean. They weaned enough to drop the hormones so the heat cycle began. This is the reason why male lions kill baby lions of other fathers so that the female lion will stop nursing and therefore come back into heat.

Being a medical person, I would of course be concerned about the discharge. I would worry about a uterine infection and other such things so you might want to have her seen to rule it out. Remember, however, I am overly worried about these things and it could be normal for her.

duf
Duffy Jones, DVM
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www.peachtreehillsvet.com
Leigha
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Re: Heat Cycles

Post by Leigha »

I'll call our vet today and leave a message. Thanks for the advice!
dixie's mom
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Re: Heat Cycles

Post by dixie's mom »

We have a Lab that is male and every time the female next door goes into heat , it drives him crazy, he has sadly mated with her once . Anyway for weeks he went after our other male puppy for some reason , but seems fine now ! any way to maybe calm that down next time ?
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Nettle
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Re: Heat Cycles

Post by Nettle »

Please would you start a separate thread for this DM, and then you will get more answers :D and it won't hijack the existing thread.
A dog is never bad or naughty - it is simply being a dog

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