Hi all!
Well, that's it, at last, Tessa's first season has started. She was very restless last night and I noticed the bleeding this morning. As some of you may know, I am currently on holiday at my mum and dad's in France with her and my unneutered male. Great timing...

Sam doesn't seem too bothered at all yet, and I'm hoping this will remain the case for the next 6 days I am here at my parents'. I just wanted to know if any of you had any tips at all in order to "mask" her scent a bit, at least until i'm back home and can organize them to be separated easily. I heard the first week wasn't really a danger zone? At least, here, they are never left alone so they are supervized at all times.

Sam has already lived with bitches in season before, staying at friends', and he never really "misbehaved". He's never been too worked up about the bitches themselves, only their urine! Daft! But this time, he's obviously very close to her, she's not an unknown bitch in an unknown place, unlike those previous occasions I'm talking about. So I don't know how he's going to react.

It really was a time bomb this first time as we didn't know when it was going to happen, but hopefully, next time, we will be more organized and prepared!

I'm sure i'll manage, but any tips would be welcome!

Hi Gaelle

It's less usual but not in the least impossible that your girl's standing time could fall within the first week.  I've known bitches mis-mated on the third day of their season so be aware at all times just in case :)

I doubt if there's anything sufficiently scented to mask her appeal to your resident male - they're usually smarter than that.  I've never used products for that reason but would guess their use is limited to short term sessions of lead walking round the block with the hope of avoiding attraction from local unsupervised males.

Supervise and separate as much as possible and definitely separate at all times when you're likely to be pre-occupied with something else :)  This relies on the same level of awareness from all household members but vigilance and separation by your chosen means are the only fail safe methods of ensuring no accidents happen.

regards, Teri

Thank you Teri, just as I thought.
Ah well, in a way, it's not that bad because I'm off and I'm with them all the time until I'm back to the UK where I can separate them more easily and take Sam to my brother's when he's back the ot UK himself (off to get married abroad - like I say, great timling Tessa!).
I'll keep a close eye on them. Anyway, Tess is litterally glued to me and Sam seems more interested in what my mum's cooking!

> off to get married abroad

How Lovely :)  Best wishes (& yep, the season timing sucks LOL - as usual IME :-p )

Yes, thanks, he's off to "rescue" his fiancée who is Serbian and was chucked out of the UK when her 4th visa ran out last month. Hopefully, she should be back in a couple of months.

One or other should be crated at all times.  It only literally takes seconds as you turn to speak to someone.

> One or other should be crated at all times.

and not within reach of each other if not being supervised - crate bars are no obstacle to a determined dog :-D

Bitches usually seem to have a brilliant sense of timing ;-) I had a 16 month old bitch who hadn't had her first season yet, when she came in she was going to go to some friends as I have an entire male and my place is open plan so not really set up to keep them separate.

Anyway, friends went on holiday for 3 weeks - and I had two of their dogs for them whilst they were gone. Both entire males.

Of course a couple of days after they'd left my 16 month old came into season!! I had nowhere to send her and now not one but THREE entire males :-D I managed but it was a very...interesting....three weeks!

> Sam has already lived with bitches in season before, staying at friends', and he never really "misbehaved". He's never been too worked up about the bitches themselves, only their urine! Daft!

oh bless you its a horrid time. the price of wonderful bitches :)

your lucky with your boy then, hopefully he won;t care. it is a shame about my boys dodgy leg, temprement and overly jowly face as he'd be a very keen stud dog... he loves the ladies! he's kept us up for the last couple of nights because the bitch next door is in season :( thank goodness we;re moving later this week!

best of luck!

Well, almost 10 days on and it's all much smoother than I expected.
Tessa seems a lot calmer and sleepier which - to be honest- is BLISS! She's dripping a fair bit but otherwise seems fine. She's still energetic and her usual self but I've noticed a definite change in her behaviour in situations where she would usually have got hyper : sitting in the waiting room at the vet's, having guests for dinner, staying in a hotel room for a night, peacefully watching birds and squirrels in the garden etc... AAAHHH please, stay like this baby!!!

I'm also very impressed and grateful towards my boy. He is an angel. He would have been a rubbish stud dog!! I separate them at night and when I leave the house, otherwise, they're together with me, supervized at all times (Tess is glued to me anyway) and he doesn't even seem to be bothered. I walk them together (on the lead only of course), he'll sleep next to her in front of the TV and really seems relaxed.
The only thing that happened is that he's lost some hairs on the base of his tail. My vet said it was where a hormonal gland was located and this was a sign that his hormones are high. He's also been losing a bit of weight over the last few months despite eating loads, but my vet said that was also due to him living with a girl and that he was otherwise very healthy!

Counting the days until it's over, but so far, so good. :)

Don't be lulled into a false sense of security this Derby and Joan Act may suddenly change in literally the blink of an eye and you will have a mated bitch on your hands.

The behaviour you describe would be normal for bitches and dogs in my breed as the bitches are usually not standing until about day 13 to 15 or later.

This is exactly how Myka nd her intended were before she was mated on days 18 - 20, then it literally happened so that the poor stud dog handler was half way through his egg sandwich and on his knees on a wet slope n the garden.

Please do not leave them loose in each others company, even with you present.

Didn't do much for the sandwich either.  :-) He loves an egg sandwich too, does Stuart.

Oh God! 20th day? How do you know they're really finished??

Well everything closes down to normal (though never to what it was pre first season) and dogs stop being interested.

I wouldn't consider a bitch safe with a male until about 4 weeks after she started if I had a male resident.

My last litter was produced from matings on days 18 and 20. The bitch wasn't ready to stand before then!

ROFLOL - great imagery
More detail would be helpfu.l I'm neurotic about Heidi getting caught - can a bitch be taken out when first showing signs ie bleeding when there are loose males?

Best not to take the chance. You'll become one of the weird late-night walkers, who twitch in fear when they see another person!

Ta for that.  I'm already weird tho.

You'll have no problems fitting in with the rest of us then!

> Oh God! 20th day?

I have had a bitch mated AFTER the 20th day and produce puppies.  As it was so late in the season, my vet reckoned it was unlikely to produce pups!