Hi everyone. We have a 8 1/2 Month old Airedale who we think might be starting her season, we are finding it hard to tell with it being her first. Our 18 month labrador seems very interested in her private parts and keeps trying to hump her (she has just recently been spayed so could this be a dominance thing) . we have not noticed any blood spots around the house and she does not seem to be enlarged. but she is cleaning herself a lot. any advice ?  

A good way to check is get a white tissue and dab her bits.

Agree with last post about checking for blood etc. As for your other bitch this is quite normal, my one bitch tries to hump both my other dogs every now and again. It can be a dominance thing. my one bitch was spayed three years ago and she still tries to hump my other dogs, i do tell her to get off though as it can be habit forming if they get away with it all the time. 

Thanks Bear and Ljs we have tried this and my wife thought there was some clear discharge but no blood.

8 1/2 months would be on the early side for an Airedale, but not impossible.  Ours had her first season at 17 months which seems to be about average from people we know in the breed.  As others have said, check with a tissue (first thing in the morning is best) and look for swelling and her cleaning herself more.

And welcome fellow Airedale owner :-)

dab straight after she wees, if there is blood there you will see it

You could also pop her bedding in a large white pillow case- When she wakes in the morning there will be little spots there?

Just to say welcome as well from another Airedale owner.

My girl was about 10 + months when she had her first season but she was swollen behind before she bled. The tissue test is a good way of seeing if there is any bleeding but it might be quite faint to start with .If she is licking and cleaning a lot then she might well be just in the very first stages of her season.