I wonder if anybody could help me please!  My youngest bitch started bleeding on Wednesday and I took her to the vet.  I am planning on mating her this season.  I had all the health tests carried out last summer and all were A OK.  She is a beautiful example of the breed and Crufts qualified.  The dog I have arranged to mate her with is also qualified for Crufts and a working dog.  He was the first dog in the UK for this breed to have his ShCM.  This will be a fabulous mating as both as excellent examples of the breed with superb temperaments.

The reason I am looking for advice is because my bitch has always had eratic seasons.  Her first season was a dry season, the next 2 she bleed throughout her season and this season, as I've said above, she bled on Wednesday so I took her to the vet to have a pre-mate health check.  Although my kennel is very small, I had discussed the canine herpes vaccination with my vet on a previous visit and I decided to have this so that the puppies would have every chance of survival.  This is her (and my!) first litter and I want to do everything to the best of my ability.

She didnt have much blood on WEdnesday but there was definitely blood.  However, she hasnt bled since and I wondered if this could be as a result of the herpes vaccination.  I visited the local pet shop in the next village on Friday and the girl there has an intact labrador that was showing a lot of interest in her so I take she is in season.

I'm a bit concerned because she isnt bleeding now and wondered if anybody could shine any light on why this might be happening. 

I lost one of my old dogs on Boxing Day and she is very sorely missed by us all.  My youngest bitch has been hormonal since this happened.  Any advice would be gratefully received.

Thank you so much.
Kingdom

Hi
Some bitches just don't read the text books .. they love t keep us guessing LOL. I don't think what you are seeing will be related to the herpes vaccination, especially in light of the erratic seasons you talk of previously.

I would recommend you ask the vet to run serum progesterone tests to establish what is happening hormonally with your girl, NOT the in house pre mate kits - the blood will need to go off to a lab. Blood draw in the morning and result by evening. This will give you an exact level of progesterone and you can pin point day of ovulation and therefore can go to dog on just the right day. If she is not giving you much indication of where she is at in her season I would start testing from approx 7 - 8 days from when you saw blood and repeat tests at every 2 days until you get to ovulation. Lab result usually include a recommendation for re test day.  It is not cheap to the tests but they are invaluable for bitches with seasons that are difficult to read. My Sh Ch girl is very hard to judge but using this this testing system she produced two litters of 9 / 10 respectively in 2004 & 2007 

Good luck

K

Thank you for your help!!  I'll pop her off to the vet tomorrow and see what's going on.  I'll keep you up to date with progress.

Thanks again
Kingdom