My youngster (15mnths) has just come into season again, only 4 months and 2 weeks since the start of her last one!!

Tis going to be a nightmare if she is going to cycle this frequently, so someone please tell me a bitch's early seasons can be irregular and can settle down to have longer intervals between them....!!!?

Also, just out of interest, do bitches return to the same frequency of seasons after pregnancy, or does pregnancy sometimes affect that and make them more/less frequent?

Thx

I have a four year old bitch that used to have four to five months between seasons for the first couple of years. This then stretched to five months and stayed around every five months. Clearly didn't affect fertility as she has just whelped a litter of 8.

Have you got another bitch? I have 9 other bitches and they can 'pull' each other in season early sometimes.

Thanks, I do have 2 other bitches but they are older and spayed!  So don't think it can be that!!!  Arg.

On the positive side of things, at least we won't have to wait long if she misses next year and at least we get lots of choice about times of year to have puppies

Absolutely...ours are working gundogs and we cannot breed from September through to Feb as we need the dogs for working (it's our bread and butter not just a hobby) and I can only be free to do pups through the summer. So,yes, it can be a positive

Yes, several of my earlier bitches came in season 4 and five monthly but by the time they were bred from at around 2 - 3 had settled into 6 - 7 month cycles.

After a litter I usually find my bitches come into season about 4 - 6 weeks later than they would have if not having a litter.

Thanks Barbara - when you say they come into season about 4-6wks later than if they didn't have a litter, did you mean just that once, the first season after the litter?  Or do you mean all their seasons are delayed about 4-6 weeks and there is a bigger gap between them??  (I think you mean the first, but the latter would be so much better!)

Delayed sometimes on that season just after the pregnancy.  But not always.  Mine have pretty well been normal and kept to the same cycle, even after pregnancy.

And my bitch that has seasons every 4.5-5 months started like that and has stayed like that (she is now 4 yr old)...  I didn't manage to get her into pup this time (although she has had one litter already), and I wonder if her short cycles have something to do with this.  I am fairly sure she was fertilized.  Matings perfectly timed with ovulation from blood tests, and she had 3 days with some morning sickness prior to implantation, but scanned empty.  I'm wondering if her short cycle is now not supporting a pregnancy.

No that season