[Miikkas mom]

Ok, maybe I’m being a little facetious. But seriously, I believe my girl is coming into heat (or will be very soon). For several reasons I do NOT want her to get pregnant!!! Primarily because we had PennHips done and the report was pretty bad. Obviously, we don’t want to pass that gene down. Plus, even if she had great hips, she is WAY too young and furthermore she’s not titled or anything like that! We did not get Mikka to have puppies and I have no interest in being a "grandma"! Anyway, I don’t want to have her spayed until she is at least 2 years old. Once she reaches maturity we will have it done, though.

One of my BIGGEST fears is having a loose male dog approach us when we are out on our walks. We live within the city limits of Albuquerque and I know that darn near every house in our neighborhood has a dog or two. I can hear them and/or see them when we are out walking. Some of the fences are not too high and I think a large dog could easily jump one if he got a whiff of a female in heat passing by.

Would it be cruel of me to bring a can of pepper spray with me when taking Mikka for her daily walks? What would that do to a dog, if I had to use it? What else can I do? I really don’t want to stop her walks (daily exercise) just because she’s in heat but if that is what is necessary then so be it.

 

[Jax08]

well...almost chastity belts!

Drs. Foster & Smith Female Pet Bloomers

 

[Anja1Blue]

well...almost chastity belts!

Drs. Foster & Smith Female Pet Bloomers

Good one Jax08. Unfortunately I don't think they will deter a determined boy on a mission........might need to be made of stainless steel for that.

I've never owned a female which wasn't spayed, so I can't speak from experience. However I would say that common sense might dictate NOT walking your dog in public while she is "attractive" to the opposite sex. You might find yourself with more than one suitor to fight off - even neutered males have been known to show plenty of interest, especially if they have only recently been fixed - it takes a while for all the hormones to leave the body. (And her irresistible aroma is going to be picked up further away than just your block........years ago we had an intact female Akita on our block. Whenever she was in heat we had dogs coming from at least 1/2 mile away (they were disappointed, her owner only let her out to potty, and that was supervised...)

Not sure what your options might be - hopefully someone will give you some pointers.
_________________________________
Susan

Anja SchH3 GSD
Conor GSD
Blue BH WH T1 GSD - waiting at the bridge

 

[Dainerra]

Rayden has been neutered for YEARS and still kept trying to mount Freya when she was in heat. Of course, I think she talked him into it and explained the basics!

That's part of the problem. You're not dealing just with amorous males - you often have to deal with a female who is fighting just as hard to get to him.

 

[Hunther's Dad]

If you're familiar with her heat cycles, close supervision and cutting off her walks would be preferable to an unplanned litter.

My bitch has to be kept away from other dogs for about 15 days. Once my male loses interest in her, I figure that she's done in terms of being able to breed. But I still watch her closely for the rest of the month. And I don't let strange dogs approach mine unsupervised under any circumstances.

Pepper spray - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia has general info about the effects of pepper spray. If I was approached by a pack of loose male dogs, I would not hesitate to use it.

 

[Lin]

I would just not walk her while she is in heat, Emma went into her first heat recently and she wasn't let off the property because of it.

 

[Miikkas mom]

Thanks everyone for your help! I really appreciate it!!

I hope my questions didn’t sound too stupid but we’ve never had an intact female before. Until Mikka, we’ve always had our girls spayed before they hit 6-months. This will be a brand new experience for us. Quite frankly, I really don’t know what to expect.

Bubby, our male cocker, was neutered several years ago. Will Mikka’s cycle have an impact on him too?

The only reason we are not having the spaying done sooner is because I’ve been doing a little research on when to spay. From what I’ve read it’s appears to be better for the animal to wait until the she is fully mature or around 2-years old before having the operation. I hope I’m doing the right thing!!

 

[Lin]

I'm also waiting until Emma is at least 2 years old. I don't believe it will affect Bubby since he is neutered.

 

[Runswithdogs]

Not in response to your question, but I live in ABQ as well! If you ever want to have a pup meet-up, let me know I have a spayed 1-year-old female. I'd also love recommendations for dog services within the city!

 

[ChristenHolden]

I have a 4 pound 4 year old Chi/yorkie mix he is neurted. but he does NOT relize that my FIL has a female intact pom and he trys to mount her when she's in heat. so its no safe bet eather. You never know how they will react.

 

[mjbgsd]

Bubby, our male cocker, was neutered several years ago. Will Mikka’s cycle have an impact on him too?

It might. Cody has been neutered since 8 months, I know too young but didn't know any better back then, and when Isa went into her heats he would mount her. Pretty funny but I stopped it as soon as it started. He tried every time he was near her until she was spayed at 14 months.

 

[JeanKBBMMMAAN]

http://www.germanshepherds.com/forum/health-issues/108852-dog-heat-dummies.html

Might help.

 

[Miikkas mom]

http://www.germanshepherds.com/forum/health-issues/108852-dog-heat-dummies.html

Might help.

Thanks for the link, Jean. Some good info there!

 

[APBTLove]

Well, every neutered male I've met still reacts to a female in heat in front of his nose.

Don't let her out unsupervised AT ALL, not even to let her out to pee for five minutes. No walks. You'll want a female diaper type thingy... Better than bloody strings and splotches on everything if she turns out to be a heavy bleeder.

Just thought I'd put it out there, that I personally have not noticed any difference in female who are spayed around 6-8 months and one who wasn't until she was five years old. No physical differences... Seen it in bulldogs and German Shepherds. The one who was spayed later had incontinence for a little while when she was older, though it stopped.

That is only my personal experience... I've yet to see real evidence that later spay/neuter is better. Had a male fixed at four months and a male who who was never fixed, they both matured physically and mentally well, though the neutered boy was less interested in females and whatnot, and both lived very long, healthy lives.

 

[Lin]

From what I've read the difference is not something you can see with your eyes, but mostly structural and applies more to sport/working dogs. For the average pet it probably isn't noticeable. I decided to wait with Emma because she will hopefully be my next service dog, and mobility assistance is extremely demanding on the dog physically. So I am doing all I can so that she develops to her highest potential.

 

[Lilie]

Be aware that when your female reaches full heat, she will become a beacon to every male running in the area that could catch her scent. If you walk her, you could be leaving a scent trail for them to follow you home. There is nothing more annoying then having your female locked in the house while all of the romeos in the nieghborhood fight outside of your door for her attention.

 

[Dainerra]

many people swear by driving her to a safe spot, take your walk, then drive back home. otherwise, you are leaving a trail for them to follow

 

[JKlatsky]

You know, maybe it's the neighborhood where I have lived, but I've never encountered any serious problems with other dogs when my girl is in heat. When we lived in a town house we walked her everyday. Dogs across the street didn't suddenly go nuts when we went by. I've not found any stray dogs (not a huge problem here) waiting by my front door.

And we have 3 males in the house that are old enough to be interested. They spend a little more time smelling her pee and marking, they might get a little more high strung, and watch her more intently when she walks by their crates, but that's about it. She goes to training and while some of the males might be a little harder to focus no one tries to break into her crate. The males in the car with her are not constantly whining or trying to get at her...

I mean obviously you can't leave her turned out unattended and she's a total flirt and will flag the poor boys in their crates when she walks by...but do people really have these problems with every dog in a 5mile radius showing up?

 

[JeanKBBMMMAAN]

Maybe where you live most of the males are neutered?

I got Bella at the end of her heat and we were chased home by a Mini Schnauzer. EEK!

If there are no leash laws in your area (as many places are in the country) yeah, they can come from anywhere.

I wonder if a different female in heat would bring about different reactions?

 

[Dainerra]

Rayden isn't so bad since his neuter, but before?? OMG! He would lay at the door and whine/howl/sigh when the dog across the street was in heat.
I work with a woman who breeds yorkies. She had a female who climbed out of her kennel, walked through the building and climbed into the stud's kennel. so it goes both ways.

When Freya was in heat, she got to the point where she would sit on Rayden's head. We didn't have a lot of strays show up thankfully. but I did drive her to different areas for her walks.