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We had this happen a few months ago when we first got our dog. It lasts about 9-12 days, if I remember right. If you have her in a fenced yard and bring her in at night, you shouldn't have a problem with males. You can buy diapers and cut a hole in them for her tail, or you can wrap a shirt around her. Our dog kept herself pretty clean when she wasn't asleep. If you have a kennel for her, put her in there, or maybe try keeping her in the bathroom at night.
Here's the good news: some dogs eventually get the hang of things and start cleaning themselves. My parents' bearded collie was scrupulous about cleaning up after herself, so after the first heat they never saw any blood again.
And the bad news: maybe someone else has heard of something, but in my experience the only ways to keep male dogs away from a b**ch in heat are to confine the boys, or confine your girl. You can't confine every intact male for miles around, so you're going to have to confine your dog. Think of it this way: the expense of buying a crate or dog run is less than the expense of vet bills, food, and your time off work to take care of a pregnant dog and her puppies!
Where at in Mo you from??? Just another curious Mo bride asking:D
As for the pooch prob... Heat can last 3 weeks... Honestly, our crate was the best 80 bucks we have ever spent on our dog. He sleeps in it(not locked), and we crate him in the AC while we are out of the house. Would she be opposed to being locked in a basement, bathroom, garage.... since you dont have a crate....while you are not home. I really think the best route would be to break down and get a crate...borrow if you can for the week. And keep her inside as much as you can so she doesnt wonder off and end up preggo and then you cant get her fixed.
Good luck, and I am glad her Kennel cough is better!
Thanks for your advice girls. I think I may try leaving her inside at home while I'm gone. We have a large baby-pen type thing that comes in pieces that you can lock together. I think if I put her in that in the kitchen she may stay in it while I'm gone. I think she has been trying to clean up after herself, but she's only a year so this may be one of her first ones (?). I think she just made the mess because she was sleeping. It's too late for me to try to find a crate tonight, I guess we'll try to pick one up tomorrow for when I'm not home. Thankfully I'm off of school for a few weeks so I can be home with her most of the time until she goes into the vet.
DO NOT LEAVE HER ALONE ON THE TIE OUT WHILE IN HEAT!!!! It is amazing how far away a male can smell her "ready for action" hormones. I would also suggest making a kennel for her rather than leaving her on a tie out--this is regardless if she is in heat. She is much safer in a fenced kennel than on a stake, especially if you are in the country. Another dog or animal could attack your dog while on a tie out. I grew up in BFE and have a few stories..
For the bleeding, any chain pet store will sell diapers for dogs. Like the aforementioned, most females will clean themselves. She should always be supervised while outside. My parents learned the hard way (and they also lived in the country). Our dog got hooked up in the back yard while on a quick potty run. Let's just say she had to go in and get spayed as soon as possible after her heat.
Do not leave her outside unsupervised ever when she is in heat. Male dogs can literally smell a female in heat from miles away, and they will stop at nothing to get to them (jumping fences, running through barbed wire ... seriously.
She should be on a short leash whenever she is outside the house, with one of you with her so you can protect her from any males running around. Sometimes females can be less than receptive, and males will fight the females to get their chance.
Being a year old, this could indeed be her first heat, so she will try to keep herself clean, but you need to keep her inside.
I agree with the others. With my girl, she was strictly indoors while in heat (except for walks).
Also, Mr. DG's family had a dog that stayed on a tie out stake while they were gone (which was usually only for a few hours at a time). The dog got tangled and strangled and died. It was a very traumatic experience for them, and definitely puts me in the "no tie out ever" group.
Best of luck. I know that this can be a lot to handle, but at least you're getting her fixed so that you only have to go through it once :)
I agree, she needs to be indoors while in heat because the male dogs will go NUTS. Not only could you end up with puppies, but also she could be injured. She's also so young that there could be a lot of health and birthing problems if she did have a litter, especially if it ended up a large one.
In all honestly,and I know this isn't what you are asking about, but she should really be indoors ALL THE TIME. Well except for occasional potty breaks while you're home and can supervise. It is such a horible idea to leave a dog out on a tie up. People could steal her (you never know, especially around Halloween when rowdy teens participate in some gruesome rituals), other animals can get her, or even neighborhood kids, she could accidently strangle herself (many many stories like that). Just so many things could go wrong! She is better left indoors in a crate if she has to be confined while you're gone.
Good luck!
The bleeding usually lasts for two weeks or less, but your dog can concieve for a full week longer. If she's been outside unsupervised for any length of time while intact males were around, chances are that one of them bred her. Make an appointment for the spay as soon as you can. It costs more if she's in heat or pregnant because the operation is more messy and complicated (it's nasty when they're bleeding, and the vet really has their hands full), but you don't want her to have a litter!
While I'm not a fan of tying out, I've lived way out in the country and I know that sometimes dogs just have to be outside. I wouldn't recommend tying her to a stake, much better to string a line.
Again, I wanted to thank you girls for all of your advise. I'm keeping her inside for now, and will look into getting her a crate in the morning. She does already have an appointment to be spayed. It's been set for a while for next tuesday. That is the earliest the vet would do it since she had been running a temp/on meds. She was outside for a while this afternoon, but I highly doubt FFIL's dog had been over, because I think he would have still been here/been back if he had.
We aren't planning on keeping her tied out permanently. We were only doing in until we knew if she was going to stay at home. We are planning on getting her a kennel, and she ALWAYS spends the night inside. When I am home, she is also inside about 50% of the time during the day. Once she is fixed/recovered we will let her outside unattended sometimes. I know some people may not agree, but where we live it is common to leave dogs outside like this.
Again, thanks for all of your help and suggestions. I feel alot better now!
While I think it's good to keep her inside as much as possible to avoid her getting pregnant, it wouldn't be the end of the world if she did get knocked up. (Dogs are ridiculously talented about getting their own way when it comes to this) because your vet could still spay her next Tuesday.
Wow. Longest sentence ever. Time to go to bed! And good luck with your puppy!
Haha, thanks caitlanc. That was kinda my though... good to know he can still do it. Thanks again!
Yeah my puppy got spayed while she was in heat so it's possible.
But yes a fence means nothing. My girl can jump 6 foot fences like it's nothing. So don't depend on a fence.
Hah. Never mind going over, I know a dog that got pregnant through a fence! Granted, it was only chainlink, but the whole small dog/big dog dynamics should have made it hard enough!
ICK! I feel your pain... my mini dauschund is in heat right now and thank god she is tiny and it's only a little dot here and there, but they're EVERYWHERE because she moves around so much AHH!
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I've never had experience with a dog in heat before. We got her from the shelter a couple of weeks ago. We had her scheduled to be fixed but then she came down with kennel cough and we had to reschedule. She is scheduled to go into get fixed on next tuesday. (Warning: TMI ahead...) I just noticed the bleeding yesterday, but there may have been a little before that. We live about a mile (in the country) from FI's parents and they have a male dog that isn't fixed. I've thought about calling FFIL and asking him to pen their dog up, but I know there are other male dogs around that aren't fixed either. We can't be home with her all the time, and tie her to her tie-out (under shade and with water) when we aren't home. We had been bringing her in at night, but last night she bleed all over the place!
Any advise on how to keep the male dogs away from her or how long this will last? We don't have a dog crate to keep her in, as we've never had the need to use one. She always stays in the kitchen at night, but we usually let her out all day during the day.
Sorry if this was TMI for some people, but I know the hive loves pets and was hoping someone might have some advice for me...