[Mathguy]

I have a 22 month old male and a 10 month female, the female is starting to enter heat. I didn't want to spay or castrate them yet(or at all) but I absolutely don't want puppies. I have read people have succesfully kept both dogs in the same house before, some say it's unlivable but others have said it's doable but unpleasant. I stay at home most of the time and I will be keeping them in separate rooms. I have also started giving the female chlorophyll as I heard it can help.

I will do an emergency spay if I need to but I want to avoid it.

I can't keep either at a kennel since they both have some reactivity issues.

Any other suggestions for this time? I am committed not screwing this up.

 

[LuvShepherds]

You might be able to find a dog sitter who doesn’t have other dogs who will take one in for you. Are they reactive off leash? Dogs that are leash reactive might not be in a cageless kennel situation.

 

[Mathguy]

You might be able to find a dog sitter who doesn’t have other dogs who will take one in for you. Are they reactive off leash? Dogs that are leash reactive might not be in a cageless kennel situation.

Sadly they are super dog reactive and frankly don't like people. The male tolerates other people but doesn't allow touching, the female is worse. I thought about it but them going somewhere is not an option this time.

I am thinking I can keep the male outside in the backyard and have the female pee in the front if I need to.

 

[dogfaeries]

Crate and rotate. That’s what I’ve done in the past when I’ve had girls in heat and an intact male. I put as much space as possible between the two. Crates at opposite ends of the house, with lots of doors in between. If the weather was nice, I’d toss Russell outside for awhile so the girl could be out and about in the house. Bring Russ in, and go out in the yard with the girl.

It’s totally doable. It just takes a lot of moving dogs around. If your breeder is an option, you could call to see if they’d take your male for awhile. That’s what I did with Russ several times.

 

[tim_s_adams]

My dog just finished up her 3rd heat, while living with 2 intact male GSDs. It's not rocket science - keeping them apart - but it does take vigilance and care. It also varies by dog. Some male dogs are just more driven, in that regard, than others, and don't underestimate the drive of the female as well!

Anyway, for me the worst part was waking up to pawing and whining by one of the males every morning for a week or so.

Ahh, but It is what it is, deal with it by rotating access to the yard and it'll all be good again in a couple weeks >

 

[car2ner]

I put bloomers with pads on my female and she was crated except for going on walks with me and some playing in the yard. Her first heat my male was interested and stayed close but didn't really do much more than mope around. When my gal came into her 2nd heat, he spent a week singing love songs. It was annoying for us all. She hit 18 months right between her 2nd and what might have been her 3rd heat. That is when I go her spayed.

 

[wolfy dog]

My dog just finished up her 3rd heat, while living with 2 intact male GSDs.

How did the males interact, if at all, with each other during this time?

 

[selzer]

Crate and rotate when your are home.

Crate BOTH of them when you are not home. If possible, kennel or crate one in the garage if you have a garage. And the other in the house.

Having the girl do her business in the front yard and the male in the back may be ok.

If you are there, you can stop them before they tie. I mean, he will be licking her and long before he tries to hump, you can lead him away. Mostly the problem is that you think she is out before she is, let them together, go take a shower and come back and whoops, they are tied. And likely there will be puppies. so crate and rotate for a month. Constant supervision. Constant vigilance!!!!

 

[Mathguy]

It has been 3 days since she started, he sniffs her but isn't very interested. I suspect in 4-5 days he will be more interested and I will need to have them split up 24/7 for the duration of the heat.

I read the middle week is the worst normally.

Are crates really needed if you're at home and keeping them in separate rooms? I also got one of these: https://delayherspay.com/ but I haven't tried to fit it yet. I wouldn't trust it for leaving them alone.

 

[tim_s_adams]

How did the males interact, if at all, with each other during this time?

The 2 males were fine with each other throughout. Interestingly though, only 1 showed an interest at any given time, mostly it was the older of them that was most interested...until the very end and even beyond, then the younger one stepped up his interest (the boys are 6 and 8).

 

[selzer]

It has been 3 days since she started, he sniffs her but isn't very interested. I suspect in 4-5 days he will be more interested and I will need to have them split up 24/7 for the duration of the heat.

I read the middle week is the worst normally.

Are crates really needed if you're at home and keeping them in separate rooms? I also got one of these: https://delayherspay.com/ but I haven't tried to fit it yet. I wouldn't trust it for leaving them alone.

Well, it really depends on the dogs. I have kennels in a fenced yard. Are the kennels necessary? For me, yes, because I currently have 12 dogs out there, but even if I had one, I like the second line of defense that my yard fence gives me. If I forget or fail to latch a gate properly, then my dogs are not road pizza.

In your case, we do not know how your male OR YOUR FEMALE may act when she becomes potent. They call it standing heat. It is when she is extremely fertile and hormones are taking over. There are horror stories of dogs chewing through dry wall and scratching doors up to nothing. Busting out of crates is certainly a possibility, but having a second line of defense can give you the needed time to reinforce one of those lines if it becomes necessary.

 

[Nikka Khrystyne]

When Layla went through her first heat I just created and rotated. Odin was a little reactive but we had him on his prong collar and would give a small correction when he tried to lick her down there and over a few days he got sick of the corrections when they were both out at the same time. Both were heavily supervised when both were out and usually was only when we were watching tv and Layla was on her blanket right next to us. We also just put Layla’s crate in our room with us and left Odin crated in the living room since he doesn’t know how to open her crate. And we didn’t want him to some how figuring out how to get out of his. But overall he wasn’t too bad.

They were 8 months when she went through her first heat. She should be going through her second in a few months and odins been sexually maturing more as well so we will see if he pays more attention to her this next heat.

We will most likely spay her after hormones regulate after her second heat. Our vet advised us to let her go though 1-2 heats and we didn’t want her to have surgery before 18 months old.

Honestly just keeping them apart till her heat is over is the best bet. If you have to have them both out and near each other, have one leashed and pay very close attention.

 

[Mathguy]

Update

Ok guys, I did it.

- I had 4ft high baby gates in a couple locations, the male could jump over them if he really wanted but I was there and kept him from doing it.

- He was pretty good except for 4 days in the middle where he really freaked out, didn't sleep, was humpy etc. No carpet chewing but I was there - maybe if I left him alone he would have gotten more destructive.

Overall it wasn't easy but it was doable. I didn't use crates - don't even have crates. If I was going to leave them alone maybe one would be needed.