Let’s talk female pets in heat. We have some pretty heavy duty misconceptions in the United States, and a lot of it because the grand majority of our dogs and cats are all surgically altered (sterilized or spayed). Castrated in the case of males. Also called neutered. This is why so few have even seen a dog in heat and they don’t know what to expect.
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So let’s talk about female dogs who do not get surgically altered.
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In fact, let’s ask the first question: why would we even want to talk about female dogs who don’t get surgically altered?
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Over the last 10 to 15 years, actual scientific evidence has shown us that it is to animals benefit to wait — if they are going to get neutered, spayed — until they are done growing. For larger breed dogs, this could be as old as 2 to 3 years.
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The advantage for dogs waiting to get fixed orspayed, is that the older you are when you do get fixed, you are less likely to get hip or joint disease, which sounds kind of weird. We humans think that getting a dog spayed is going to stunt their growth. It’s actually exactly the opposite! They grow extra tall and their joints do not form as well as if they do not have their hormones. Sadly, literally millions of dogs have been early spayed/neutered as part of rescue neuter programs and rescue groups. It’s very sad because the grand majority of these animals have developed hip dysplasia, plus or minus IVDD or other joint diseases.
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So for those of us who want to protect our female dogs, this means they’re going to come into a couple of heat cycles before they go get fixed.
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Most female dogs come into heat twice a year. Some only once a year. Some as often as three times a year. There’s a little bit of variation. Just like we women menstruate every 21 to 35 days. Not exactly every 28.
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And everybody lives in terror that a dog in heat for a month at a time is just like a woman menstruating. Can you say heavy flow dripping all over the place?
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But that is absolutely NOT what happens!
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So here’s what a dog in heat looks like:
For certain breeds like Huskies and German Shepherds, the female will shed fairly heavily before she comes into heat. As she comes into heat, her vulva starts to swell. It gets pretty large! I joke about it looking like a stop sign. It’s big enough that you can’t miss it across the room. Some females have a little bit of odor associated with it. Certainly, that’s how other dogs know that she’s in heat. And she does bleed. A little. Like I’m talking a little.
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Just an occasional drip.
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It is not like a woman with heavy flow for two or three days that fills a tampon or a panty liner!
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NOT AT ALL
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So your female comes in heat a couple of times a year. And she drips for 3 to 4 weeks. As I said, a little.
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Some people get little doggie sanitary napkins, and belts.
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For dogs who have tails I have found that little boy “tighty whitey“ underwear work really well.
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Turn the underwear around so that the dogs tail comes out the hole at the front of the underwear.
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And keep things CLEAN!
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Just like human women – you don’t wanna stop the airflow. I’ve met one or two dogs where the plastic from the panty liners build up a little local bacterial infection. So we gotta be careful about that.
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As with any and all species genitalia – hygiene is key.
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So there. That’s what your female looks like when she’s in heat.
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As far as “being receptive to a male” – that’s really only about two or three days in the middle of the heat cycle. The rest of the time she’ll smell really good to all the boys, but she won’t be interested except for a couple of days.
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So that’s when you, as the vigilant parent, have to be super attentive that your young lady doesn’t go hang out with the neighborhood stray.
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You can still take her for a walk. But keep the leash on.
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The science of waiting really says that it’s protective. You’re gonna have better hips and joints. She’s going to have better body development. We are terrified of dogs in heat in the United States because nobody has seen what it looks like. The United States has a prejudice against intact dogs. The rest of the world does not. The rest of the world knows what a female in heat looks like and it’s just kind of normal just like a woman menstruating is fairly normal.
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Still seeing patients in Tampa, Clearwater, and virtually.