Heat Timing - Page 1

Okay My female is 16 mos old and on her third heat cycle? Now the crazy thing is somehow she is off schedule. Her first heat was last february and her second heat was in August and now she is on her third heat? How and why? Now the only thing that is different is that we live in New Orleans and i brought her home with me to dallas about a 8 days ago for the holidays. She started spotting about 2 days ago. She is in the back yard with two males one 6 mos old and the other 5 years old. What can cause her to come in season so early?

Is it possible being around a new male can throw a female in heat? I've heard being around another female and her coming in heat can do that? What are yalls thoughts

i think being around a new male can tirgger a cycle

But how can being around a new male do that? Wouldn't that make her eggs not mature enough to breed doesn't that send her out of wack?

I don't know how, but it threw my females cycle off. When did she meet the new male, and when did she go on heat?

I haven't heard that males can make a female come into heat. Quick quotes for you since it's easier to quote it than write it all... The average heat cycle for a dog is approximately 3 weeks and since this an an average, some heats are shorter (as little as 7-10 days), others are longer (4 weeks or more). Average times between heat periods is seven months but some dogs can cycle as early as every 4 months, some once a year. Lengths of heat cycles and intervals between cycles are different for each dog but most dogs hit somewhere close to the averages. The next cycle usually begins about 7 months from the start of the last heat cycle, not the end of that cycle but again this varies from dog to dog. First heat can vary greatly dog to dog. The youngest is about six months of age though sometimes a female will come into season younger. First heat can start as late as 12 or even 14 months of age or later in rare cases. Again, it can vary dog to dog.

Stress can affect heat cycles as well as being around another female in heat can also.

1.It frequently takes a young bitch awhile to settle into a schedule. It is NOT unusual to see variation in timing in young bitches. 2. There are a number of environmental factors that can affect the timing of heats. Biggest one is other bitches - females of all species have the trait that when living in close proximity to another female their cycles will tend to run together. So was she exposed to another dog in heat? It may have pulled her in early. Also if she ws living w/ a dominant female who was the "breeding" bitch that can prevent a subordinate bitch from coming into heat or flagging heat. When removed from that situation they will display different behavior. Weather can affect heat cycles - cold and hot. The animal's body is instinctively responding to whether this is an appropriate time to have puppies. My bitch will delay her heat cycle in times of extreme heat(over 100 -110) and her summer "cycle" is always a bit longer than her winter one. These are just some examples I'm sure others can suggest more. 3. There is also the issue of medical issues. Thyroid and other problems can affect heat cycles. My intial read and I"M NOT A VET AND HAVE NOT SEEN THE DOG - is give her time to grow up AS LONG as everything else appears normal BUT I for one WOULD PAY for a vet visit just to make sure because you never want to risk pyrometria. 4. PLEASE GET HER OUT OF THE BACK YARD with the two males and into a secure holding facility or she is going to have puppies much too young.

Well thanks to everyone for responding to my thread. Im going to answer question in the order in which they came: Watsondog: She first met my male last year around this time. I live in New Orleans and my male lives in Dallas with my parents. This year she met him again last sunday so she hasn't really been around him too long this year. Harddawg: Her first heat was at six months old and her second was at almost exactly a year old. B.Anderson: When you say stress can affect heat cycle how so? Do you mean by a dog being stressed can delay the onset of heat or make is happen quicker? TIG: My female has never been exposed to other females. There aren't any dominant females in my own and the neighbors don't have any dogs. I can understand the weather affecting her because New Orleans is a lot warmer than dallas especially this time of year. When you say medical issues can affect heat cycles would it delay the heat cycle or make it happen faster or more readily? And we are leaving on wednesday so im not too concerned with her breeding the males because she just started spotting on saturday. Also when you say much too young to have puppies, why do you feel at 16 mos of age she is too young to breed? This is her third cycle and I was told the third cycle is when a female is physically ready to breed and she has aleady gotten her 'a' stamp. I just want to know your reason for saying she is too young? Im not really planning to breed her but I was just wondering your reason for saying that? Please dont take offense. Thanks

Same as dogs don't read xrays they also don't read books on heat cycles. Get her separated from the males immediately! I've known of bitches successfully bred as early as day 5 or 7 AND who's to say the first day you spotted something was her first day especially with traveling and the holidays. Stress, environmental factors, medical factors and just plain developmental timing can affect heat cycles either way - early or late - depends on the dog and their system. Re the too young thing - not have time to adequately answer just suggest you search past threads but have to suggest your level of knowledge re the breed and breeding suggests at a minimum that you need more time to be learning before undertaking that particular venture.