Our puppies are growing up. Last week, Miss S went into heat for the first time. Having a dog in heat is complicated enough as it is. There's the matter of keeping everything clean and then the matter of not letting her out and about where there might be unaltered males around. It gets even more complicated when you have an unaltered male in the same house who also happens to be her brother.
We don't want to mate Miss S or Miss M right away. I read in several articles that you should wait at least until the third heat to breed them because they are not completely mature yet. We don't plan on breeding them very often, and we don't want to do anything that will compromise their health or growth. On top of that, we absolutely DO NOT want Miss S mating with Mr. M.
So...we have been keeping a very close eye on the two of them. Last week, Miss M was bleeding, and Mr. M was interested in smelling and licking her, but he wasn't trying to mate at all. We would let them play a little together but didn't let them out of our sight, kept them separated part of the time and started having her sleep in a crate at night. Starting Thursday of this week, Mr. M seemed a lot more interested, and Miss S started acting a little more interested in him. From that moment on, we started keeping them separated- no more playing together for the next couple of weeks. We started setting a timer so that they would each have equal amounts of time in and out of the crates.
When she first started bleeding, we went to Petsmart and got some of the disposable diapers. They didn't fit very well and were hard to get on. We went through the package in about 4 days. At $19 per package and given that heat can last 21 days or even slightly longer, we decided it would be cheaper to just go ahead and get the reusable one. It is so much better! It fits better, is easier to put on and can be used with regular feminine pads (which are way cheaper than the ones they sell at the pet store).
We don't want to mate Miss S or Miss M right away. I read in several articles that you should wait at least until the third heat to breed them because they are not completely mature yet. We don't plan on breeding them very often, and we don't want to do anything that will compromise their health or growth. On top of that, we absolutely DO NOT want Miss S mating with Mr. M.
So...we have been keeping a very close eye on the two of them. Last week, Miss M was bleeding, and Mr. M was interested in smelling and licking her, but he wasn't trying to mate at all. We would let them play a little together but didn't let them out of our sight, kept them separated part of the time and started having her sleep in a crate at night. Starting Thursday of this week, Mr. M seemed a lot more interested, and Miss S started acting a little more interested in him. From that moment on, we started keeping them separated- no more playing together for the next couple of weeks. We started setting a timer so that they would each have equal amounts of time in and out of the crates.
When she first started bleeding, we went to Petsmart and got some of the disposable diapers. They didn't fit very well and were hard to get on. We went through the package in about 4 days. At $19 per package and given that heat can last 21 days or even slightly longer, we decided it would be cheaper to just go ahead and get the reusable one. It is so much better! It fits better, is easier to put on and can be used with regular feminine pads (which are way cheaper than the ones they sell at the pet store).
Miss S has been handling it pretty well. She's been a little more lethargic than normal and slightly more irritable at times. She has always been protective and can't always tell the difference between when the other puppies are playing and when they are fighting. As soon as the others look like they are getting rough, she steps in and growls at them until they stop. That has gotten a little stronger since being in heat. If she is in her crate and the others are playing or trying to take each other's toys, she growls at them from her crate to get them to stop. We don't want her to feel like it's okay to be aggressive, so any time she starts getting pushy, we immediately put her in time out.
Overall though, she hasn't really been much more aggressive than normal. She's even been snuggling with the cats. As I write this, she and Kitty S and Miss B are snuggling together on the bed- something I wasn't sure we would ever see!
Earlier, Miss B and Kitty P were snuggling on the kitchen floor when Miss S joined in and tried to snuggle too.
Overall though, she hasn't really been much more aggressive than normal. She's even been snuggling with the cats. As I write this, she and Kitty S and Miss B are snuggling together on the bed- something I wasn't sure we would ever see!
Earlier, Miss B and Kitty P were snuggling on the kitchen floor when Miss S joined in and tried to snuggle too.
Mr. M is getting used to the new system of taking turns being out. We had gotten him a male diaper to wear to buy us a little bit of time in keeping them from mating, but he doesn't have to wear it when they are not out at the same time. This evening though, he kept looking at it on the arm of the couch and tried to jump up and get it. So we put it on, even though Miss S was in her crate, and he totally calmed back down and went about playing again. They are so funny sometimes.
Miss M has decided that we need to play with the water hose every time we go outside, and Mr. C is just enjoying getting to play by himself with Mr. M when Miss S is in her crate. The two boys actually play really good together when the girls aren't trying to break them up or take their toys.
Miss M has decided that we need to play with the water hose every time we go outside, and Mr. C is just enjoying getting to play by himself with Mr. M when Miss S is in her crate. The two boys actually play really good together when the girls aren't trying to break them up or take their toys.
Mr. C : "Whatever. At least I don't have to wear a diaper."
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