im doing a course at compass and needed a little help on this one i feel it would be an nursemaid benifit has anyone got anything solid thanx for your help question as below#Module question 2.12.
If you own several bitches, it is common for them to come into season together. What would be the advantages of this behaviour?

Two of my girls always come in season at the same time, we did mate them both once (never again!!) one had 5 pups the other 9, I guess I was lucky because the mum of the 5 kept getting in the other whelping box and helping out with feeding, mum of 9 was perfectly happy to let her do it too!!  Obviously not in the first couple of weeks though.

One of my girls came into season in january, both of my other girls were late and within a week of Star being in they had come into season too. So it can be true i think, but having said that its the first time its happened for me in 3 years of owning more than 2 girls. Its advantages from the point of owning a young entire male too is that its all over with together rather than having 3 lots of 3 weeks of stress for him. and the girls are all hormonal together so they happily take it out on each other...........if you understand what i mean!LOL!

Mel.

my 2 older girls come into season at the same time now and have done with the last 2....my younger girl was 4weeks late coming into season ,it was as if she waited for the older 1 and like i say the last 2 seasons have been together ...im glad thay do as its easyer !!!they both carnt go out ,so 1 isnt crieing to go out when 1 as gone ..also they do spend alot of time in our kitchen at this time , its easyer for me to keep clean :) and their not alone :) ..

Our bitches have always come in within a  week of eachother.  The advantage is the male doesn't have 3 seperate sets of coping iwth bitches in season and it becomes easier in general as our girls have always been close they will happily be caged together away from the male dog so both in at the same time in minamal cageing for them (and the male).

Also not so important but any shows enterd they both miss so less petrol costs! :-D only 3-4 weeks of headache of male dog winging constantly!

Something we've never had but is something common in wild dogs, going back to the wolf etc, bitches come in season together, alpha bitch has pups, other bitches phantom and have milk for pups.  I'm sure this has happend within domestic dogs too if there has been complications and at worst death of bitch, that pups could have a source of milk from a phantoming bitch.

It is usual for bitches to co-ordinate their seasons and there is a very good reason for them doing so. In the wild, it's only the alpha male and alpha female who are allowed to reproduce. The other bitches come into season at about the same time so that when the alpha bitch does whelp, it is about the time that the other bitches would have whelped had they been mated and they are producing a small amount of the maternal hormone. This has two advantages. It means that they are programmed to help look after the puppies and also makes them non-aggressive towards the puppies. Quite often they will even produce milk and help to suckle the puppies. It is the production of this hormone in non-mated bitches that causes phantom pregnancies in our domesticated pets, and why, even if a bitch doesn't have a full blown phantom pregnancy, she will often behave strangly 9 weeks after her season.

I own 2 bitches, mother & daughter.  I don't know if this is common but when my eldest had a 2nd litter and my youngest was nearly 15 months and still hadn't had her 1st season, within a few days of the puppies moving downstairs at 3 weeks old, she came into season.  My theory is the pups brought her into season.  Since then my eldest has had another season but my youngest hasn't had her's yet, although she is due about now.  It will be interestinng to see in the future if they do have their seasons at the same time.

I have two unspayed bitches, both four years old. They have always come into season within a couple of days of each other. I previously owned two other bitches that did the same, even when one had a litter and the other didn't.

Both bitches here came into season at the same time, mated both of them, and they had their pups a week apart!  (I am thinking never again as well!)

I've red on quite afew websites that yes they might come on together, and as u can imagine 1 advantage is that you cld breed them all the same time time (if u have the room!) and maybe u cld save on stud fee's!

maybe u cld save on stud fee's!

Sorry I don't understand?  How could bitches coming into season at the same time save on stud fees?  To me it can make life very complicated, having to travel to different parts of the country at the same time ......

kiera09, you seem to have a very commercial view on breeding :-( 

>maybe u cld save on stud fee's!

How? You'd still need to pay a stud fee for each bitch,and travel to each stud dog (the chances of one dog being suitable for both bitches is microscopically small).

I've red on quite afew websites that yes they might come on together, and as u can imagine 1 advantage is that you cld breed them all the same time time (if u have the room!) and maybe u cld save on stud fee's!

What so you can increase the profit margins ?  Is the money from the sale of the pups one of the reasons why you are thinking about breeding ?

Moey from the sale of pups? Not likely - there's no money to be made from properly-reared puppies, especially at the moment.

Yes exactly but people do not realise this or even if they do will try and cut corners as a way of getting some extra income :-(

ive notest over time that good breeders dont make money from a litter ..like LJS says ppl that cut coners will make money and dont care much about the bitch ..only £s :( .

One of my youngsters began her first season on Sunday, she's the younger of the 2 by 3 weeks, I'm hoping that the other one will follow suit very soon, so it's good to read all the posts saying it's very common.

That's what happened with my 2 old girls, they both started with in days of one another, it makes it easier to contain them and keep them safe if you have to do both together.

> maybe u cld save on stud fee's! <

maybe some "breeders" do a buy two get one free?

If you own several bitches, it is common for them to come into season together. What would be the advantages of this behaviour?

Yes, it is very common for bitches living together to have the the same cycle. This dates back to the wolf when only the Alpha bitch would be mated, however the lower ranking bitches would also nurse the pups and care for them the Alpha has a much more important role than raising the litter and this was left to other pack members.

So the advantages of bitches living together and having the same cycle is that they would also have 'phantom' pregnancies where their bodies produced milk and the maternal instinct, so that they could also care for the immanent pups, and help with the survival of the pack.

Even though our dogs are today domesticated nature is still nature and many dogs today will have phantom pregnancies still for that very reason, and bitches living together will also still have the same cycles. :-)

Good luck with the course.

Thanx all for the coments it had confirmed my answer on the alpha male and female side of things

> alpha bitch has pups, other bitches phantom and have milk for pups.&nbsp; I'm sure this has happend within domestic dogs too

i know a set of bitches where this happened- older daughters came in for a later litter of their mums, they all nursed them.

> maybe some "breeders" do a buy two get one free? <IMG alt=eek src="/images/eek.gif"> <IMG class=qButton title="Quote selected text" height=10 alt="Quote selected text" src="/images/mi_quote.gif" width=20>

Special offer on at Boots!!!!!!  :-)

to dd

If you put a load of female humans on a desert island together, they would eventually all cycle together and menstruate at the same time.

very true :) i have 2 sisters so at home me my sisters and my mum all had the same cycle LOL..my dad bless him wanted to move out every 4th week :):):) !!

> very true :-) i have 2 sisters so at home me my sisters and my mum all had the same cycle LOL..my dad bless him wanted to move out every 4th week

I was wondering that as I was reading all the  posts. Same in our house.
Strangley my collegue and I are in sync now too...  ,(8 hours a day in the same office?),  are in sync now too... :-)

> I was wondering that as I was reading all the&nbsp; posts. Same in our house.
>

My vet informs me that the sync happens far more quickly in humans, naturally because it's not every 6 months like our canines.  Have you noticed what a wide variety of unusual topics we cover between us on CD!!!!!!!  :-)  :-)  :-)