I've taken on a new dobe bitch today.  The owners only got her three weeks ago, but she is quite the handful and too much for them.

She was in season when they got her, and while she's still noticeably swollen, they've said it's much less than it was and it's clearly not full on, height of season swollen.

But, with an entire male here, obviously I need to be very cautious!  Difficult as she's a gate-jumper, and panicky if separated from me as only a dobermann in a new home can be, but I have a large crate.  I'm just wondering if hormone testing can give an indication of how far along a season is, or at least whether the bitch is 'safe' yet?  I know matings have happened on day 28 before and with no way to find out the date she started, I'm twitchy about it all.  Pod's not that interested, no more than he would be with any new girl and not much more than he is with my other spayed girls (he's a bit of a pest for sniffing bits but that's as bad as he gets).

If they had her 3 weeks and she was in season before they got her she should be past it but give another week to be sure or let them together with one on lead and be prepared to quickly separate if necessary.
Hopefully she's not still swollen due to having been mated.

If she was in season for the first time, as was the case with mine, her vulva might remain more apparent after a first season.   Hopefully this Dobie isn't pregnant.   I think I'd risk having her unconfined, BUT only if you are there to do a rapid separation, if necessary.

Thanks.  She is still a little swollen, but it's reducing.  It'll be her first season.  She was with other dogs but no idea if there were any entire adults - the last owners only mentioned seeing two new bulldog puppies in the house so hopefully that's all there was.  Is there any way to tell if she'd been mated, apart from time?

Pod's shown no interest that way yesterday or today so far, so I'm risking them together today except when I can't fully monitor.  So he's separated right now while I'm having breakfast, and she's with me while I'm working on my big DIY project that I'm off work for this week.

Luckily he is not fully confident about interacting with new dogs, so he's too cautious for any quick sexy moves, and his 'leave' is perfect (and already tested on a fully in-season bitch, albeit unplanned while on a walk).

Unfortunately no not before 3wks depending on bitch although sometimes you can tell as early as 2wks if they have morning sickness but don't depend on that as you don't know if she's been mated or not.