my pekingese

Question
My Pekingese dog is about a year old, and she started to lick her vagina and it is swollen. She licks it all the time. It is approximately like the size of a little carmex jar. Is she going into heat or is something wrong with her. Thank you!

Answer
Yes your dog is coming into heat. She will have a swollen vulva for 21 days or so. She will bleed after the 7th or 8th day. After she bleeds for a week and she will be receptive to a male then. If she is only a year old you should not breed her yet. She shouldn't be bred until she is two years old.

If she isn't going to be used for breeding then you need to get her spayed or she will develop mammary tumors that will be very hard to control.
Remember that while she is in heat (the whole 21 days) you need to keep her in the house and not let outside without being on a leash. Male dogs can smell a bitch in heat for three miles and will breed her through a chain link fence even.
So keep her totally confined until her vulva is no longer swollen.
She will go back into heat in another 6 months and you will have to go through this again unless you get her spayed in the meantime.