Birth

Question
We own a Toy type dog "papelon " we do not wish to bred others, She is now in heat. Would like toknow if this will effect her life style, if not
Spaded...............

Answer
hi William,Unless you are prepared to be responsible for those puppies for the rest of their lives and unless you are prepared to have your pregnant bitch possibly die giving birth, don't let her be bred!

The entire "Heat" period lasts an average of 21 days, but this may vary with some dogs.
The actual "breeding time" is only a matter of 2 or 3 days in the 3 week period, but this time can be very difficult to determine.

The symptoms at the beginning of the heat cycle usually starts with her paying a great deal of attention to and licking at her vulva frequently, and there is some hard swelling around the vaginal area.
She will begin dark red bleeding from the vagina.
The flow may be fairly heavy the first few days and usually decreases in amount over the next week.
The colour also changes from dark red to salmon colour as the heat progresses.
The vulva, or area around the vagina, swells considerably and then begins to soften, as her progesterone level rises and her body prepares to release the eggs from the ovaries.
She will curve her tail over to the left or right side as she becomes closer to the actual mating time and will urinate frequently to spread her scent for the males.

You can avoid blood spots in the house by putting little boy's jockey type underwear with a fly on her.
Place a Light Days pad into the shorts and then put the pants on backwards, so that the tail comes out the fly.
A 30 lb. dog uses a size 6 or 6x jockey underwear.
Disposable kiddie's 'pull-ups' can also be used, but they are quite expensive.
Change the mini-pad regularly as needed through the day, and give her time to clean herself when she comes back into the house from doing her 'chores' before you put the pants back on her.
Remember to remove the 'pants' when you let her outside to 'relieve ' herself!


Do not take her for walks at all, but keep her confined to the fenced back yard for the whole time.
The reason for this is that she will urinate frequently while on a walk, just to let the boys know she is available.
The males will pick up the scent and follow her trail to your home.
You really don't want a motley collection of canine suitors hanging around your house.

If you don't ever want her to have puppies, then take her to the Veterinarian to have her "Spayed" (not Spaded, as some people call it).
This common operation removes her uterus and her ovaries.
When male dogs are 'fixed' the procedure is called "neutering".
So, female dogs are spayed, male dogs are neutered.

Recovery from these altering surgeries are fairly quick with little complication.
These procedures also offer some protection from mammary and testicular cancers.

I hope this is helpful! Sending wagging tails your way,Nicole!