Question about heat - Page 1

I have a 10 1/2 month old female GSD who has not had her first heat.  I think she is coming in right now.  This is the first female dog I have ever owned so I am not sure.  Here are the symptoms.

My male will not leave her backside alone. 

He whines and howls all day and night...they are now separated.

He is pissing on everything in sight

His urine smells different.

The female is not as active and is a little less herself

My male is not eating at all.  When he is out and she is in her kennel he just whines and sniffs her through the door, kennel, etc..

No bleeding yet.   I thought I saw a few drops in the kennel yesterday but I am not sure

It sounds by the behavior that your male is expressing that your female is going into heat.

Did you try using a cotton swab and gently rub against your females vaginal area? when you get a pinkish color.. it means shes in heat.

You need to get up close and personal with your female. Check her for swelling and some show of blood.  You may be correct that she is just beginning to come in as she is the right age.  How does she act around your male? If she snaps at him and acts snippy she isnt ready yet, but If she stands and flags (cocks her tail to the side) she is in and ready to accept him.  If you don't want pups, keep them seperated.

i have  young GSD not at breeding age yet, is there any problems if they mate not at female sesaon?

Unless you have a very ABNORMAL bitch, a breeding between canines can only occur when a bitch is in season. The Heat period begins with the appearance of a bloody discharge and the swelling of the Vagina. This discharge usually continues for around 9 days.  During this time the bitch is snippy to downright hostile towards males. At the end of this proestrus period her attitude changes and she becomes interested in the males. The time the bitch is most probable to breed and get pregnant is between 24 and 48 hrs after ovulation. Ovulation usually occurs 9 to 12 days after the first sign of blood.

Sounds like a heat to me s_vargas. Keep her away from the male. I would crate both when they are not DIRECTLY SUPERVISED. She is 10.5 months old, and is not old enough to be a mother, and does not have her hips (at MINIMUM) certified, nor does she have any titles. Minimum breeding age is 20 months for females, 24 months for males.  :)

m_zaki40, I have never heard of a female allowing a male to breed her when not in season, but I would not suggest allowing that to happen if SHE does!  She could be in heat and you did not notice it because she is very clean. If she is not of age, I would offer strict supervision to make sure you know what is going on. 

Good luck to both of you!

Vom Felsenhof,

I figured as much.  I definately do not want pups!  I noticed last night when I let them out together to play and my female just kept sitting down and nipping at my male, when he persisted she turned around and jumped on him.  Not trying to be gross but when I had them crated in the garage two nights ago I got up in the morning to let them out and the garage smelled "odd" if you know what I mean.  Is that also a sign of a female in heat?

BTW I cant wait until the howling in the middle of the night stops.  Its funny at first because the female will howl back...then it is down right annoying at 2:30 AM

Shawn

the howling will last up to a week or so...but my males will indicate up to 2 weeks before the first sight of any blood from the female....so your male knows much better then you or I...a females' smell changes as she comes into heat...This is what excites the male and tells him there's female in heat around...

Yup, I'd say she's in heat.  :)  You are not being gross either, they can get an "odor" too.  If you dab a tissue at her backside, there should be some blood early on in the heat cycle and swelling.

Sounds like she might be pretty well into it too if he's that interested, or your fun is really just beginning.   My boy is pretty good at only being pathetic for those "full bloom" days, thank god because he drops weight quick from being anxious and not eating.  and he's good at telling me when she's going in, usually a week before to the day he'll let me know.   But, they can be together, supervised of course, for the first week, but then she starts harassing him, hence separate.  Driving to training with them in the car together was fun too this past time.  Driving down the turnpike with him barking his fool head off!  Next time, one of them stays home!  I brought him to work with me and he was even howling at work, 35 miles away from her!   Poor Mr. Blue Balls!  Thank god, things are back to normal, she's back to humping him!  But, I don't know if I'm the only one that does this, stresses that did they get together and I didn't know it, though I practically keep her in a tower at times.  :) Then I think could he get her through the crates, lol, the boy would need a rubber you know what.