can anyone tell me some symptoms of a first season? my system wont work properly and i cant search and i can only access the first page on each topic!?! aarrgghh!
my pup is 8 months and must be due soon, im extra careful with her anyway and shes constantly supervised but the last few days she seems to be even more cuddly than usual, leaks a bit of wee when excited, eats like a horse goes bonkers when let outside and is becoming houdini!!! she is also growly when my son goes near her while she lies down, usually he can sit next to her and she just licks him, she is a collecter of toys but today she collected all her toys and blankets and moved them to a different part of the room, in 10 mins!! (she has two beanbags, four blankets and about 5 toys she has access to) if she collects toys it usually takes her all day, she has started taking odd socks and clothes too, is this change in her normal? she is swollen, but cant see any leaks as yet.
thanks for advice, i know you answer these questions all the time  :)  it must get very "samey"  :)

Hi nicki-jo,

Wow, that is a big list of behaviour changes, good to see you are noticing everything.  It depends on what breed of dog you have?? Mine usually come in at about 9 months, but it does vary with the breed.  What breed is she???  There is no set scenario for a bitch, some will be a little moody and snappy, some may be lethargic, some will just be completely normal.  But the one true visual sign is the swelling, which you have spotted, so I would say she most definitely is in season. She will swell up a little more and then should start to spot bleed.  hopefully you are well aware of all the precautions to take with her to make sure she is nowhere near any entire males, and will keep her safe until she is spayed or mated.  Though from your post I can see you are taking a note of everything going on. :-)

Hi Lyssa
thanks for answering! I was so busy typing her behaviour i forgot to put that shes a yorkie! :)
i know about keeping her safe during season but i had to ask about behaviour as all the books id read just said swelling, bleeding and maybe moodswings. and my other dog had never had anything but leaks and swelling. :rolleyes:
Ive got her booked into the vets tomorrow evening so they can check her over and book her speying.
She is pretty much under constant supervision anyway, we have a large garden which we refenced with 6 foot high panels before we had her, they touch the floor and i defy even an ant to get under them!! lol! :D
She walks on a long lead and is never off due to me not being confident of her recall.
Im quite lucky really beacuse when she sees another dog she comes back closer to me and sits till the other dogs comes right to her before she says hello.
I suppose me being paranoid about her escaping and getting lost is a good thing because i always know where she is!! :D Plus shes chipped and tagged upto her eyeballs lol! only 3 tags currently, as she has a habit of losing them :)

can someone please help me out, my other dog only had one season and then was spayed and that was years ago and now cant remember whats what.
does a bitches vulva swell first then bleed? or the other way round, my pup has been swollen for about two weeks and no sign of blood or any extra cleaning of herself     
can someone help?!? im so baffled. i googled but i only get the time span and when to breed - i dont want to breed, just spay! but when should i see a loss? my vet wont answer the phone as its not exactly an emergency :)

yeah they usually swell befor there season :) you could take her the vets to get her checked out if your worried.

But if she is very swollen she may be in season and having what is called a colourless season, or some would say silent season, but I think those you usually have no swelling either so that ypu really can't tell.  Thankfully such silent seasons are rare, but more common in some breeds.

Have you dabbed at her vulva with a tissue, some bitches really do have very little discharge and any pink on a tissue will tell you she is in season.

My bitch has just finished her first season, didn't notice any behaviour changes - she's VERY clingy at all times! When she started showing colour it was brownish rather than red or pink at first, then it turned red. It never stopped altogether at the fertile time, rather got less. After the fertile time though she bled far more heavily for a few days before stopping altogether. From start of brownish discharge to last tiny spot was 3 weeks to the day - clearly she has read part of her textbooks! :-D

ps glad to report the boys have pretty much given up on her now - they still jump on, but a glare or growl from me will get them jumping off again. :-)

Thanks for all the advice, i used some tissue like brainless suggested and she has a pale pink discharge, i took her to the vets yesterday - i think hes sick of me by now :) - and she is in the start of her season he reckons.
So panic over, and thanks mostly to you guys ! :D :D Thank you!