Male reaction to female heat... is this normal?

[Nyx]

Heya every one....

Sorry if this is in the wrong section.

Ok... So my female is in her second heat.
First 'season' went MUCH easier than this one, for my male.



My Male is loosing his mind.
He wont eat. Barely drinks. Whines if he is in eye sight of or hears her whine...
Howls if he is outside, yips, mewls and seems absolutely miserable and dejected if he can't be in her presence. And of course tries to mount her at any point.

So... they are both crated. Only let out with my supervision and at separate times. (potty time, exercise and relaxing with me)

But I am worried about his state of mind ( which seems like he has none other than trying to get at my female) and his not eating...

Normal?

When should I worry?

[Shaolin]

Yes. This is normal. My intact male turns into an idiot when the neighbors' dog is in heat. I don't know if there's a point where you should worry about him mentally, but he will do whatever to get after her, so a ripped up kennel and an injured dog is a possibility. As for eating, I "spice up" his normal food with some gravy, raw meat, or wet food and he'll eat a bit more.

I applaud you for being responsible and keeping them apart. Are you planning on breeding them or are you doing a late spay/neuter? Not judging, just curious.

[Nyx]

If the pair continue to be healthy and well tempered

I may breed.

Depends as they are still young and need to be put through their paces.

I am also working on acquiring Papers/Pedigree's for them...

We'll see.

[Shaolin]

Did you rescue them or get them from a breeder? If they are from breeders, you should be able to contact the original breeder and get papers from them. If they are from a rescue, good luck with that. What "paces" do you plan on doing? Schutzhund? SAR? Agility?

As I said, no judgement from me. I'm just curious.

[Nyx]

I got them from Breeders. But they did not do any Litter registration... So I don't know how much work I will have to do to get them registered.

Paces:

Well first off is making sure they are sound.
Hips and mind.

So far both hips appear to be very well. I understand a Vet can not tell by 'feeling' their hips, but, a Vet can give you sound judgement in gait, flexibility and movement fluidity. So far both dogs have strong quarters. Waiting to have x-rays.

Both of my babies have solid personality and good drive.
My male is excitable, or reactive, but, it is nothing unnatural or wrong. He just likes people and gets really excited about meeting new people and is very protective of his "home".

My female is pushy and VERY drive ridden. She likes to herd and tries very hard to rush you. Nothing that patients wont cure.

I want to get Canine Good Citizenship for both of them.
I think My female would do very well in Agility and Schutzhund working. She has a really strong drive..

My male.. likely just agility. He has a strong drive as well but he seems really laid back. At times if he decides he does not want to do something...
He just lays down, or goes in SUPER SLOW motion. And nothing can get him to react after he "shuts off" no treats, no ball-no praise, nodda.

So I change topics and then ask him to repeat the 'task' he shut down on after a slight change in approach. I.E. if I want him to kennel(crate) and he doesn't want to.. instead of watching him lay down and mope at me.. or picking him up and forcing him, we walk about the room, I'll ask him to do another task(sit, lay down, play dead and then treat him), then we go back to "kennel". Eventually he realizes that he wont get out of kenneling, so he takes fifteen minutes to get in.

So I don't know if he would be really driven to do more. But I do aim to try him as well. I just don't have the $$$ to get them started after Asher-rat swallowed the darn ball..... gah!