pups 2nd heat cycle - in under 5 months? - Page 1

My young working line bitch started her first cycle somewhat later in the game, she first started showing signs of swelling around 8/11/07 and started bleeding on 8/15/07 - this was at a week under 11 months old. 

She is now bleeding again (started the 30th), however she does not appear to be swollen like she was the first time.  On the other hand, she did not appear to blow coat on the first go around, but did this time.  When she started I thought it was wierd as I did not expect her to be going back in so soon, but with the cold weather it seemed strange for her to be loosing coat otherwise.  That started about 3-4 weeks ago.

Is it typical for females to start in under 5 months from their last cycle?  I would guess that given the "haziness" of the dates, offically she started around 4.5 months since the first.  Also, the discharge is very dark red this time, whereas the first go around it was normal red.  Is there any significance to this?  Right now there is only a drop or two a day that is coming out when she is standing on her hind legs - although there could be more that she is cleaning up as I've noticed her paying attention to that aera which is not typical for her.

Thanks,

-Calvin

Calvin,

I'm not sure how correct this is but, I would think dogs would be something akin to human females in that their cycles might vary a bit from one to the other.  And, perhaps it's possible that her first cycle wasn't a true "full" cycle?

All dogs are different, but I had one that went into heat every 4 months. The adverage is every 6 months. But it can be any thing from 4 months to 1 year in between cycles. They can also have a split heat, normal heat cycle and 2-3 weeks later in heat again.

I posted but guess it went into cyberspace.  It is normal, especially for young females, to come into heat every 4 months.  Also normal to vary between 4-6 months at first, then as they age and especially after being bred, becoming more regular, usually every 6 months.  I have had females come in regularly every 8-12 months as well.  Also one that had a "false heat" - appeared normal but didn't ovulate - every 6 months, with a normal heat ovulation once/year. 

molly