hi all, we recently purchased a bitch who i am wanting to breed from to keep a puppy! (and yes bitch has been given a clean bill of health from vets) she is 3 yrs old and the lady who we brought her from told us she was due in season in july. we bought her home to our other unspeyed bitch and almost straight away it looked liked she had come into season, there was a small amount of blood beeing lost she was urinating more often, her vulva was alot heavier looking but hadnt risen or wasnt very swollen. this was almost a week ago there hasnt been much change and even less bleeding almost none and today she has been trying to mount my other bitch. other than taking her to the vets for a progesterone test what do you all think? i dont want to miss this season as her next will be in winter and i dont really want a xmas litter any advice grateully appreciated! x

>and yes bitch has been given a clean bill of health from vets

Including her hip-scoring, eye-testing and whatever other breed-relevant tests are required before breeding?

I think if you got her so recently, you need a lot more time. Time for whatever relevant health testing is needed for the breed (a vet check isn't enough), time to find the most suitable stud dog, time to get together  a list of potential buyers, but most of all time for her to settle in to her new home before she is being bred from. If I was you, and didn't want a winter litter (don't blame you there!), I'd rather wait another year. It's never good to do things in a rush.

maybe the old woner lied to you? or could be the shock of going to a new home 2?

apart from agreeing with everthing Marianne said are you sure she is having a season and not got a bad water infection as blood would also be present, it could have been brought with her and made worse from the shock of moving homes. ?
I could never imagine bringing in a new bitch and mating her immediately ..you know nothing of this girls temperament other than what the previous owner states , health tests as previously mentioned etc etc

all relevant health tests have been done though as she is 3 and has had a previous litter ive got all the paperwork here! and also found a stud im very organised and have along list of people wanting a puppy also. she is very much settled into our home its likes she never been anywhere else i just wanted advice on the season issue really :-)

i understand what your saying but her season could be due to new home so it could be relevant ,we had a girl at 1 and wasnt due till 3months the next day after getting her she came into season ,vet and her breeder siad could be the shock of being in a new home x

mmm all true time will tell i suppose its not the end of the world if we miss this one i would just like to know if its her true season so i know when she is next due in! and the blood was on her vulva and not in her urine x

personally I would never have a summer litter again, my girl one year gave birth on the hottest day of the year in July, I found it more difficult cooling the puppies down, than warming them up as I did when a litter was born Feb/ March . I would re-think a litter now and wait until the next which would also give her time to settle .. but obviously that is just my opinion .

(I suggested a infection because you said she was peeing a lot)

maybe take her to vets and get her blood tested i think thats the only way you going to know for sure ,good luck x

You could get her blood tested, that will tell you if the progesterone levels are rising ie she is about to ovulate or has ovulated. If she's due July it's only 2 months early and bitches can do some funny things! :-)

I'm with you Starryeyes, I much prefer winter litters.

Much better not showing as often, less likely for noisy pups to disturb neighbours once they are out and about, with shorter days.

I have also had problems with pups overheating in an early September litter and a July litter.

I have now found that time of year can make a big difference depending on what BREED it is. Having now had two toybreed litters I found there was no way on earth I could allow such tiny pups outside even for a moment in the winter as they got far too cold and wet, until 8 weeks or even older. That would have been no problem with larger pups. Even at 14 weeks today I find when it is wet outside after rain my pup gets too cold and comes in shivering and needs to stay in far more than the adults. I have to put up with newspapers and not even try to house train on cold wet days like today.

I had the same as Marianne with my beginning of the year litter.  Have you ever seen a toy breed puppy in the snow?  LOL

They would have frozen half to death.  They were way past 8 weeks before they got a sniff outdoors, and I had to make do with newspapers at the back door.