I wonder if anyone can help, we have an adorable 9 month old female labrador and she is currently having her first season.  She has been bleeding now for 5 weeks, which seems a really long time when compared to the figures I've read on this website. I've spoken to the vet and he said it is only a problem if we get past 6/7 weeks.  Has anyone lese experienced this with their bitch? We have never had a female dog before so really not knowing what to expect as the norm.  She doesn't appear to be in any pain, but the problem is their seems like a lot of blood, should it be this noticeable?
Thanks
lecy

Hi,
Sorry to hear you`re having problems with your girl.

Several years ago I rescued a GSD bitch - 9 years old - who came into season shortly after she joined the family.
I also noticed that she seemed to loose a lot more blood than one would expect and contacted my vets.
They did it off with; every bitch looses different amounts and nothing to worry about.
I waited another week, but she would leave puddles of blood after lying down and my gut instinct told me there was something wrong.
Went back to the vets who decided to do a blood test - just to humor me - and retested the next day.
The test revealed that she was loosing an enormous amount of blood and they wanted to operate imidiately.
Unfortunately she didn`t come round from the anasthetic and I lost her.

Please note that this is my story and doesn`t mean that there is something wrong with your girl.
But if she is loosing that much get the vets to check her - and insist - it`s better to be safe than sorry!

Good luck and let us know how you get on.

Thanks. We seem to have endless problems with Poppy since we've had her (when she 8 weeks old). We had a period of 2 months where she was being sick everyday and went for endless tests, x-rays, ultrasounds etc. Do you know what the blood tests were for and if it's likely that the tests we've already had done would have covered this?
Thanks

The blood tests where done to count the red blood cells and the next one to compare the numbers.
This way they could tell exactly how much blood she was loosing.

Sorry to hear she`s been having problems from the start, hope you`ll get it sorted.

Best wishes

Several years ago my 15month Gsd came into season and it lasted 6weeks, in the end the vet gave her tablets to stop it, the other bitches in the litter had similar problems and one didnt make it. Mine  was spayed 3 months later , and is now about to have her 11th birthday, get it checked to be on the safe side.

I have had a bitch go pn bl;eeding for just over a month, so about the same time as yours.  This was a mature bitch who had already ahd two litters.  She was scanned to check she didn't have cystic ovaries and was mated a year later and got preganant for teh last time.

Could it be tha your bitch ahs actually had a split season.  she may have started stoped and restarted and you didn;t notice the middle bit?

To be honest when the bleeding first started, it was really light, not noticeable at all, but the last 3 weeks, it has been really heavy. She lives in doors and we are constantly having to clean up after her. The vet reassured me that it is blood that has already been lost from the body and so cannot be doing her any harm, but I can't seemed to find anyone who has experienced this.  We have ended up using the doggy pants simply to help with the cleaning.

Just thought I would let everyone know we returned to the vet today as Poppy is still bleeding she's fine, no infections etc. The vet is putting her on a hormonal drug which he feels will help her to ovulate and then the period should end. Thank you for everyone's help.

Lets hope it sorts the poor little girl out.

I would suggest perhaps thinking about speying in two to three months time once she stops bleeding as with my experience with problem with seasons it seems to continue rather than right itself :)

It will save her and you the worry you have been having :)

Lucy
xx

We are considering breeding from her, with the vets advice on whether or not to at a latr date, but the vet feels if this hormonal tablet works there may be no need to worry about speying. He also said there may be a chance it's simply  because it's the first season. He also said it is of no harm for her if she does carry on bleeding, only a stress on us for cleaning. Shes worth it though!!

Why do you want to  breed ?

Just an observation :) If she has been a bit poorly from a pup as you have said and also this problem with her seasons then it is not a good idea to breed :)

To breed you must make sure they have all the recommended health checks but also that they are in general good health. She hasn't been and so please take this in to consideration ! :)

Love her as she is as I personally do not think she is a bitch that should be bred from :)

Lucy
xx

Hi

Just another thing first seasons should be normal :) If the vet is saying the opposite then please consider changing your vet ! ;)

JMHO

Lucy
xx

The vet has said she quite ok for breeding from. And we have decided to have all the possible tests done, elbows, hips and eyes. This prolonged bleeding has been casued by slow development of her hormones, she simply isn't ovulating. The vet has reassured us that this isn't hereditory and isn't something we need to worry about with regards breeding. We would never breed from her unless we thought it was worthwhile and of no harm to the puppies.  Our vet comes highly recommended and I would never consider changing.

Hi there

Just interested in what you term as worthwhile to breed from her ?

Lucy
xx

We would only breed from her if we felt that she would enhance the breed. Don't get me wrong, I understand there are a lot of people out there that breed for the sake of having puppies. We only want to breed from Poppy if it's the right thing for us and for her. If any of her tests came back with issues we would not go ahead, it her temperment changed ( which might I point out is fantastic - pointed out by training classes and general life at home) or the vet thought that there was any chance that her mdeical history was cause for any concern we would not even consider it. If we did decide to breed it has to be right on all parts - it's not a decision we will take lightly, which I feel you are implying. 

Hi

I am not implying anything ! :)

I am just trying to see why you are going to breed from her ! ;)

Have you spoken to her breeder to get advise from them ?

Are you going to show or work her at all ?

Lucy
xx

We have thought about showing her, we intend on taking her back to the trainer as she does classes for showing/ agility classes etc. We have been in contact with the breeder and when we come to make the decision I'm sure she'll be helpful in giving us advice. She was really helpful when we first got Poppy.

I'm sorry if I seem harsh, it's just we are simply trying to keep our options open at the moment, the decision will really come later and we are seriously not going to make it lightly, its a lot of work on our part as well.

Good that you are taking it seriously as so many people don't ! :)

I am involved in Lab rescue and so hence my questions ! ;)

Just out of interest can you PM me with your breeders details and web site if you have it :)

Sorry one more question are you a first time dog owner ?

Lucy
xx

The breeder doesn't have a website, and when you say PM you, what do you mean, sorry if that's a really stupid question.  We are are a first time dog owner in the sense that we've have dogs at home as kids but never our own as adults.

Click on her name (yours is LECY)  then it will come up on the right posts or message, click the message, then you can send them a private message which only the person you are sending it to can see.

One thing tha I have to say unless the vet knows a lot about the breed they are not usually very good at telling what  a good example of a certain breed is.  Not calling vets here, but they can't know all the finer points of every breed.

All I can say is if her next season is the same, then don't breed from her!  My girl did the same as yours and lost her litter at 7 weeks pregnant...........to watch a dead litter being born is heartbreaking, my girl went into depression, spent 3 months on AB's......let her have a clear season and if all is well, then consider breeding from her next time!

I completely agree, and this was the advice from the vet as well. I wouldn't want to put her or myself through the upset and worry.

Hi

Did you get my PM ?

Lucy
xx

Yes thank you
I have looked at this website before. I really do understand where you are coming from, but as I said earlier, we are only keeping our options open and no decisions are goiing to be made until the right time. These decisions will not be taken lightly and we want to get as much advice from different sources as possible. It sometimes feels that people are very quick to judge dog owners who ask questions about breeding as some people believe they are obviously unstuitable people to breed dogs. I have to disagree but simply because people should not be put into a category and assumed to be a certain way. I'd like to think people were slightly kinder in the way they give everyone a chance.
Finally please be reassured we have noted what people have said and will consider all the points that have been mentioned when we make the decision.

Is she better now as I do hope that the bleeding has stopped now :)

Lucy
xx

It hasn't stopped, but she has her first injection on Monday so we weren't expecting a change until after then. She had a blood test to check everything was ok and we had to wait for the results of these. The last week has been a lot lighter than before though, so it's possible she may naturally stop before then, but we'll have to watch and see.

"The vet has said she quite ok for breeding from"  &  "Worthwhile breeding"

Lucy took the words out of my mouth.

Why is it so many people think you buy a dog them breed from it..  Jezzzz

I will yet again say that labradors are one of the breeds that don't need bred from unless the are so superb the breed would miss their unput.

Why are people so quick to judge people on here? I don't think you buy a dog and then breed from it, that was never our intentions, we bought Poppy with no intentions to breed. As I have said earlier, we are simply keeping our options open at the moment, no decisions can be made until a later date anyway and I have also pointed out we would not breed unless we believe her to be a superb member of the breed. She has a excellent background in terms of parents and grandparents.
I only came on here to ask for advice, no criticism!!

I personally am noy trying to put you down :)

I think we are all in our own ways try and make you aware of the importance of making sure when you breed that it is for the right reasons :)

Come and have a chat to the link I Pm'd you as I am sure you will gain some very valuable advise there ! :)

Lucy
xx

Thank you, I'm now resgistered with the site. I do really appreciate having constructive advice and having lots of places to ask info is important.
Thank you

:)

Lucy
xx

My BSD bitch Lola regularly had heavy prolonged seasons - they usually lasted between 4-5 weeks and were roughly 4-5 months apart. She seemed to be constantly in season and my poor male dog was in a constant state of frustration . Over a year ago she had her first litter - 9 healthy strong pups - and since then her seasons seem to have regulated themselves - her last 2 have been 3-4 weeks duration and a good 6 months apart.

Before mating her we of course had her checked out at the vets and in all respects she was a healthy normal bitch - this was just the way her seasons were.

Her daughter has had her first season and it was at 9 months and lasted 3-4 weeks so Lola has not passed  her odd season pattern on to the next generation.

Yvonne

Thank you, this is really reassuring we are now coming up to the end of week 6 of bleeding and there has been a huge change in the last week, no where near as heavy. The vet has said she is perfectly healthy and it's of no distress to her. The injections are simply to progress her through the season as he thinks her hormones are slightly underdeveloped.  Plus at the start she had a week of very light bleeding and then nothing for a few days so it's not bveen 6 weeks of heavy bleeding. The vet also reassured us it wasn't hereditory.

I'm afraid I am back with some bad news, Poppy had some tests done since she was bleeding so much for a long period of time. The test results showed that she was actually not in season, it was past this. However, her bleeding has decreased dramatically while we were waiting for the results, but it's still there. She's of to the vet on Monday for an ultra sound and for some swabs to be taken to see what's going on. We're very worried about her. She's fine in herself which is great but worried it may be pyo or something else. Anyone any ideas? We've decided to get her speyed once this is all over, if it's not a requirement anyway. I really hope she's going to be ok.

oh! fingers xd!

Well, Poppy has been for her tests and they all came back clear, vet thinks she may just have a long season and then bleed slightly in the next stage of the cycle. She's got to go back in a week, but at least all the tests are clear.

Glad to hear poppy has had the all clear, was just reading all about it. gosh you have been through it.
Hope everything goes well at next vet visit. good luck.