Heat Cycle - Page 1

I have a six year old female who has had one litter in her life. Don't know if this was due to her only being bred once, or if she was hard to get pregnant. I say this because a few weeks ago, she showed signs of coming in heat. I noticed drops of blood. I keep her inside, so see changes quickly. She bled like this for around two weeks. Then the bleeding stopped and my male showed intense interest in her and wanted to breed. He's not the "anxious" type that pesters a female when she is coming in....he'll show a little interest, but never try to mount, mainly just spends most of his time with her and "horse plays" with her a lot in the yard. When she is ready to stand, he will mount, but he doesn't chase her around for days before she's ready....I tell you this because I would have bet anything that when he tried to mount her, she was ready to breed. Instead, she jumped around and snapped at him, kind of playfully but meant for him to back off. I checked her...no swelling, so I put her and he up seperately for the night. Checked her the next morning, no swelling, still he tried to mount when they went out. Same story for four or five days....no swelling, he drooled over her constantly as if she was in standing heat, tried to mount, she kept being snappy....then all of a sudden, he wasn't interested in her anymore, as if she went out of heat. That was a week ago and no changes. It was the right timing for her heat cycle and everything seemed fine. No changes, added stress, diet change, no new dogs around, etc, etc. Nothing I can think of that I've heard can cause dogs to not go into heat. Does anyone know what might have happened? Anyone had this happen before? I'm very confused and just wonder if it's normal or something I should be concerned about.

All input greatly appreciated....thank you for your time.

I am pretty sure this is normal for some females. Some swell more than others. But going by your males reactions I would say he knew what was up and your female may just be a bit dominate and not like being mounted or she may not like your male. LOL! I have heard of females (mares too) that may pitch a fit for one stud and stand perfect for another.

She didn't swell at all though. And she and my male are best friends, play together, wrestle, tug toys, etc, etc. They are like two big puppies, so I can't imagine her simply disliking him enough to not want to breed. I've never seen a female show signs of heat, but then no signs of swelling. Someone told me it could possibly develop into pyometria (not sure if I spelled that right)....is this possible? I am very concerned about her health.

How long have you had her and is this the first heat she has had since you have owned her? Were her other heats the same, or can you find out from her previous owner? I have heard of silent heats but with her bleeding I don't think it would be considered that....I do think that just because they are normally good buddies doesn't necessarily mean she feels he is a good mate. My sons dog and my dog are good buddies but she would rip him a new one if he even thought about mounting her. When he starts acting interested then we just keep them apart. Pretty much the same as your male, mild interest then very interested.

The reasom is simple. She went out of heat! You see the fertile days are the 11th through to the 14/15th. If you kept her inside for two weeks as you say then chances are that you passed right through her ovulation without mating.

Wait until next time she comes in season and start from the 11th day you actually see blood . Mate her three times in 48 hour periods and everything should turn out o.k.

I did keep her inside, but she and my male went out in the yard together everyday. There is no way I missed her going into heat. I also visually checked her every day for swelling. She just bled then went out of heat, never swelled up or stood for mounting.

Some females will not stand for breeding readily. All females are different and some do not swell much at all. This is where a muzzle and a couple helpers come in handy.