hello everyone

i've been reading this forum for awhile and it seems like a pretty decent place to come for advice, so this is my first post.

i have a 2 year old german shepherd bitch who i adopted about 4 months ago. her previous owner did not get her spayed, and due to some money troubles, i haven't done so yet myself but i am planning to as soon as christmas is over. she started her season a week or two ago, but i'm a little concerned as i've never had an unspayed female dog before and i'm pretty much just going by directions i've read in a german shepherd book i bought.

her vulva is incredibly swollen but it looks normal and she is behaving very soppy and follows me around the house trying to sit on my feet all the time, which isn't like her but i understand that it's normal for there to be behaviour changes. my main problem is that she is bleeding very heavily and it smells strongly. she's been wearing a pair of pants with sanitary towels in them which i have to change every 4-5 hours as they get so filled with blood that they overflow. she doesn't wear them at night as she cleans herself and sleeps on her bed but if i leave them off in the day, she leaves large spots of blood everywhere. the heavy flow just doesn't seem to let up, though it did stop completely for a couple of days last week.

the smell is sometimes eye-watering, but i read that it's not meant to smell much at all, is that true?

if anyone could give me any advice or their own experiences, it would be most appreciated. i'm really concerned that she is bleeding quite a considerable amount and my dog book isn't giving me much info.

thanks

If it smells that bad would be worried that it's some kind of infection.  Maybe best taking her to the vets.

If you are not used to large breed bitches in season, it may just be that the smell is unfamiliar to you.  Breeds that lose a lot of blood usually have a very metallic smell.  Normal blood smell to me, so is it this, or do you mean that the smell is nasty?  In which case, I would be worried.  If you are not used to bitches, you may not realise how dangerous a pyo can be..  Vet job,,,, ASAP.

> >the smell is sometimes eye-watering,

Smells can be hard to describe...
is it like fish? meat gone off? ammonia? (if yes to any of those, the vet needs a whiff of it too!)
I have limited experience of a large breed bitch's discharge during a season, but 'eye-watering' makes me wonder if something's not quite right.

'Eye watering' to some isn't often the same to others, when our giants have been in season the blood flow can be a considerable amount and frightening if you haven't experienced it before and theres usually more blood flow when they are mobile as they tend to clean themselves when laying down. I agree with the others it can have a strong metallic smell which can take your breath away if they sit next to you but i've never felt it to be 'nasty' if you are at all concerned then take her to the vets as she may have an infection.
I've just re-read and actually changing pads 4-5 hours for ours i'd consider normal.

> 'Eye watering' to some isn't often the same to others, when our giants have been in season the blood flow can be a considerable amount and frightening if you haven't experienced it before

Thank you: I joined CD to learn and I'm glad I'm still on an upward curve :)

hello,

it doesn't smell 'nasty' as such, just very very strong...like human menstruation but ten times more powerful, like an iron sort of smell. it's very powerful, especially if she sits next to me. i don't find it to be very pleasant, it actually makes me retch a little but obviously everyone reacts differently to the same thing. it doesn't smell of ammonia or bad sort of gone-off scent. i did a little googling but no sites i've been on have mentioned smells so i wasn't sure if it's normal :/

mygirl, when she's laying down, she doesn't seem to bleed that much, it's only when she starts walking around that it starts dropping all over the place. i let her have her pants off at night because it doesn't seem to happen much then plus it gives her some time to clean herself...

if her blood flow doesn't ease off i think i might take her to see a vet, but at the moment i'm not sure it's just normal :S

It could be that the pads are smelling as blood collected on a dressing does have a different smell from fresh blood and is somewhat unpleasant (rather like stale but not bad meat) Is she unable to keep herself clean without the pads if so I would think this would deal with the smell. You have not made it clear just how long she has been bleeding, would expect it to ease up after about two and half weeks although bitches like women are all different and some will bleed for 3 to 4 weeks and then suddenly stop and other will start to ease up from about day 16 onwards.

If you do decide to spay wait till approx. 12 weeks after her bleeding stops.

Sorry we posted together.

Totally agree with Nova on the timing for you to have your girl spayed.  I realise that money comes in to it, but you owe it to your girl to make it as simple an operation as possible.

And a spay mid seasons is easier and quicker for the vet.  So faster operation for your girl, and less anaesthetic needed.  :-)

it doesn't smell 'nasty' as such, just very very strong...like human menstruation but ten times more powerful, like an iron sort of smell. it's very powerful, especially if she sits next to me. i don't find it to be very pleasant, it actually makes me retch a little but obviously everyone reacts differently to the same thing

Does it smell that strong that you find yourself being paranoid when you are in the local shop that other people can smell it on you? i'd say that was normal (i can relate to the iron smell) it smells i've no doubt about that and it lingers on everything i don't find it pleasant either but you get used to it. Without being too coarse its like us we don't 'bleed' much until we stand up and its the same thing realistically (its gravity). During the night she will clean herself you probably don't notice as much i did as i'd wake up to constant slurping (no thats not pleasant when you're trying to sleep)
I'd possibly hang fire for a week on the vets the heavy bleeding only lasts around a week (usually the second week it starts) and starts to let up on the 3rd week.
You have to think shes a big dog and the smell has a bigger body mass to linger on than small dogs and you have a longer coated breed too.

nova and jeansw, she started letting some bloody discharge about two weeks ago that stained her fur and dripped on her back paws, then it dried up last week for several days last week, and after that the blood has been coming out in great quantities. she does try to clean herself but there is so much coming out all the time that it's easier for me to put pants on her, which she doesn't mind at all (i have a bad knee, so cleaning up the floor every five minutes is difficult lol). thanks for the advice on waiting to spay, much appreciated, it doesn't tell me anything like that in my book. i had heard that it was very difficult and costly to spay in the middle of a season. the pads do smell terrible when i change them, perhaps it is that that's causing the smell, i try to keep fresh ones on her as often as possible.

mygirl, haha yes exactly like that! she does make a lot of noise when she's cleaning herself, i've been woken up at 6am to the noise in the hallway it's awful haha. i'll give her another week as if it as you describe, the bleeding should clear up soon. i've been alternating clean underwear for her.

thanks guys for all your replies, i was beginning to get really anxious about it but it sounds as if it's normal. i'll see how it goes and if she's still bleeding and quite smelly in a week or two, i'll get her to the vets. i'll just have to wash her bed and keep febreeze-ing the hallway until then haha!

Please don't leave it for another " week or two" before getting her checked out. A normal season lasts about 21 days, the bleeding being heaviest in the second week. After about 14 days, there should be very little blood so, if she is still bleeding noticeably, a trip to the vets as a precaution would be advisable.

I reckon if she started her season a week or 2 ago bearing in mind if you're not experienced with seasons and only notice when her vulva looks like an elephants trunk (my bad) then she 'should' be easing up this week on the bleeding any longer and i'd take her to the vets for a check don't leave it longer than that.

My gsd bitch's last season was very heavy and lasted one month (bleeding) there was no smell though. I would wait 12 weeks after the last signs of bleeding before spaying, its not a good idea to do it before and don't leave it too late after the 12 weeks either, the reproductive system needs to be in a dormant phase ideally when spaying ie. not in or about to be in season.
I would however, for safety sake get her checked out if you are concerned over the smell, better to be safe than sorry.

my bitches smell is quite powerfull when they are ovulating so much so i have to throw them in the bath, obviously cannot say this is the problem with yours.