Tis the Season

Cleo is in heat. Let me take this moment to sigh. Ugh....

Cleo is 18 months old and this is her second heat cycle. She first went into heat when she was one year old. Dams typically go into heat for the first time anywhere from 5 months to 14 months of age. The dogs size and breed can play a factor when she goes into season. Once a Dam comes into season she will typically come into season every 6 months. When Cleo was 6 months old I emailed Bob Corsaro - Cleo's breeder and kinda melted down about the impending doom of her going into heat. Everything I read didn't seem to answer any of my concerns. Bob told me his dogs tended to be "late bloomers" and that I could probably get away without her going into heat until she was one year old. Like clock work she went into heat right around her first birthday.

Let me just say that desperate times call for desperate measures. Dams will bleed from anywhere from 12 to 21 days. Cleo being the late bloomer she was must have been making up for lost time because her first go around she was in season for 36 agonizing days. So far she is one week into heat this time around and it doesn't seem to be as bad as last time. But we still have plenty of time for that to change. Anyway, this is how I combat her heat cycle: I drink allot of wine - I prefer sauvignon blanc or pinot grigio during these tough times, Size 8 to 10 boys boxer brief camo under wear, "Always" panty liners and some more wine...did I already mention that?

 I prefer the boys under wear without the "pocket". I slide them on her find the spot for her tail, slip them off, cut the hole, cut one curved side off the panty liner, slap it in and were good to go! They stay snug on her and she can still run and jump with them on. After about 10 minutes she pretty much forgets she's wearing them. They do make doggie diapers, you can use kids pull ups and all kind of other things but I find this works best for us. I can pull out a panty liner and put another one in and just wash her undies. Super easy and clean.

Someone looks like a happy camper huh?

Just a couple of recommendations....Don't put the undies right on your dog when they come inside from having just done their business. They will most likely want to lick and clean themselves. So give them a couple of minutes. Also if they are crated take the undies off when in their crate as they will most likely rip them off and chew up the pad. Barf. (This is when I drink more wine). If your dog sleeps in bed with you at night my advice is to have your dog sleep on a blanket without the undies. Just slid them on in the morning before your dog gets up and moving.  

So anyway, fingers crossed this is better than last time but I'm not very hopeful. It's a pain in the butt mainly because she needs to be monitored every second of everyday. We get so used to opening the screen door and just letting her roam the yard (we have an electric fence) but we can not do that when she's in heat. I unapologetically use this an excuse to drink more wine. Don't judge me people. But it's part of having an intact female and I love her very much. My advice to other female dog owners that are not getting their dogs fixed because of testing or whatever get some little boys undies and some wine. It makes it go much quicker. :)

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Blog update: Other posts on GSP Heat Cycles: It's that time again...