First heat cycle!! Help!!

[TrickyShepherd]

After having my female golden retriever growing up... I swore I'd never have another female dog or always have them spayed way before the heat cycle begins. All my other dogs have been males.... but, Zira just happened to jump in my life and there was no turning back. Since I got her she's been going through a lot of issues with SIBO and Pano... so everything has been put on hold until she was healthy... meaning her Spay surgery. I was hoping with her recent weight gain, that we'd be able to do this within the next 2 months or so......

Well... I woke up this morning, took Zira out to potty, and then brought her in the house to run around for a bit before work. While I was making my lunch, I noticed something on the floor... All over the kitchen & main part of the house....... Yep, Zira went into her first heat! UGH!

I haven't gone through this in YEARS! And my golden was easy... it only lasted like 3 days, and then she was just a pain with her moods and trying to run off... and she wouldn't leave our males (they were neutered) alone... Poor guys had no idea what her issue was. But, other then this, I have no other experience.... I was also really young when Peaches was younger and in the prime of her heat cycles. We usually used doggy pads/underwear type things... I don't remember them working well though.

So.. here's my problem... What do I do?! What should I use?! She's a puppy... I doubt she'd keep anything on. She's also pretty miserable too, she's grumpy and is ripping her toys apart. Which.. I don't blame her! How long does the bleeding last?


All suggestions and experiences shared are much appreciated! I am really not excited about this, and neither is Zira. I can't wait to have her fixed and not deal with this again! Oh how jealous I am right now of those that have male dogs!

[KZoppa]

"grin" and bear it. NEVER let her out unsupervised. Shasta's first heat so far, she kept her panties on because she had no other choice and she knew it. She would go to chew on them and would get told no. She actually ended up unforunately having to spend the majority of her heat cycle in her crate because she completely forgot she was housetrained and she was not only annoying as all heck, our male was grouchier than usual because she wouldnt leave him alone at all. He's fixed. We gave her plenty of bones to chew on and severely limited her access to everything. Bout all you can do is deal with it. I intend on having Shasta spayed early next year and no more females after that for us for a VERY long time.

[wyominggrandma]

It will last about three weeks give or take a few days.

[BlackPuppy]

Does the bleeding last 3 weeks?

[paulag1955]

My Shasta just finished her second heat. We used these panties (Simple Solution Washable Diapers - Online Only Sale - Holiday Sales - PetSmart) that velcro on and you use regular sanitary napkins in them. The pads do shift around so you do get staining on the panties. We used two and alternated days; I washed them out by hand in the evening and hung them to drip dry. She ripped the panties off a couple of times when I forgot to take them off before I crated her for the night (and she did dearly love the "chew toy" inside) but she never fussed with them during the day at all.

Shasta is an only dog and she has a very sweet temperament so we didn't notice any "moods" at all. Her appetite was a little suppressed. She never tried to run off, even when my husband took her out in our unfenced yard to play off leash. We also didn't have any problems with unaltered males hanging around the house. If there are any in our area, the owners are extremely responsible. I did worry about male coyotes, though.

The bleeding lasted about three weeks, but remember, the can still be fertile after the bleeding has stopped.

[Alexandria610]

The bleeding shouldn't last three weeks. At least, it hasn't with my Doberman Pinscher. Just the moodiness and the whole hormonal imbalance.

EDIT: Oh wow, really? My Dobe's only lasted, give or take, a week at the longest.

[BlackGSD]

All females are different. Sirens first heat lasted[B] 6 WEEKS[\B]. Yes, that is supposed to say SIX! She really has never been into "the boys" even when in heat. She has never acted "trampy" even with an intact male in the same house. She has never been " grumpy" either. She does act kind of " blah" the first few days. Kind like I do! LOL
She does tend to "go stupid" while in heat. Its like she just can't listen to commands. She has never tried to run off or anything of the sort. And I live in the country with no neighbors and no fence. Though even when she isn't in heat she isn't left outside alone. She has NEVER come "untrained" in the housebreaking dept though. That really isn't a surprise though as she has NEVER gone in the house though, even as an 8 week old puppy she had no accidents.

[TrickyShepherd]

Thanks everyone!

The initial "freak out" moment is over.. and now that the house is clean again, and Zira has her 'diapers'... all is good! (Well... for the most part, we are still not very thrilled with the situation, lol)

Zira has calmed down as well. She is getting better with dealing with the diapers. I am definitely talking to my vet after this to see if she's healthy enough to schedule her to be spayed.... I really really really want to get that done asap! I never intended to keep her together.... from day 1 I was looking to spay her... so this situation is definitely not as planned! lol!

Now it's time to just sit and wait it out..... and try to keep her from touching the diapers.... Oh lord is this going to be a LONG few weeks!!! Lol!

**I know some others have asked and I really would like to know as well.... so to everyone with a female dog that has been through a heat cycle....... how long does/did your dog bleed for? I know the heat last about 3 weeks, but I don't remember my golden bleeding for 3 weeks, more like 1 week.... however, I was young, so I am not exactly sure.

Here's Zira after learning the diaper wasn't going to kill her! She wouldn't even look at me for at least 15minutes... she would sit and turn her head away from me and ignore everything I did. Lol! Usually she's right next to me 24/7.... so I know she wasn't thrilled with me... probably thinks I'm going nutty! Though, like I told her: tough love! It's either that or she needs to grow a penis sometime very soon...

[TrickyShepherd]

Originally Posted by BlackGSD

All females are different. Sirens first heat lasted 6 WEEKS. Yes, that is supposed to say SIX! She really has never been into "the boys" even when in heat. She has never acted "trampy" even with an intact male in the same house. Though she does tend to "go stupid". Its like she just can't listen to commands. She has never tried to run off or anything of the sort. She has NEVER come "untrained" in the housebreaking dept though. That really isn't a surprise though as she has NEVER gone in the house though, even as an 8 week old puppy she had no accidents.

Oh my goodness.... that sentence I think gave me a panic attack!!!! 6 WEEKS?!?!?! Gosh, that wouldn't be fun! I sure hope Zira's body doesn't choose that path! 3 weeks scared me enough! LOL!

I don't think she's going to be too difficult... she's moody... but nothing other then that so far. Doesn't care about the male dogs, or putting her rear in anyone's face, or any 'trampy' behaviors! So maybe I am lucky there too. So far no trying to run off or start anything with anyone, and no potty problems either. Though, I will say... with the moody attitude, she's also gone a bit hearing impaired! She really isn't listening to commands well... she just ignores me.

Oh well... as long as it's not six weeks... I can deal with it this one time! lol! After this, she's getting cut once the vet OK's it!! No more heat cycles (Or puppies) here!!!!

[jetscarbie]

My female would bleed throughout her whole heat cycle. About 4 weeks.

The bleeding wasn't everyday. The first couple days were the worst. After about 1 week, it was pretty much spotting here and there.

My girl would come in heat every 4-5 mths.