Maltese in heat

Question
Hi I have a MALE AND FEMALE Maltese.  The female is 9 months old and the male is 17 months old.  They weigh the same.  My male has 1 toy he humps every now and then but WOW for the last 9 days he will NOT stop humping the female. I have checked her and theres no bleeding, she can't even walk for him humping her AND she even humps him at times. Today is the 9th day of this and still no blood.  IS SHE IN HEAT??  She lays and let him lick her (THERE)...could they be keeping the blood cleaned up and me not seeing it??  They are house dogs and we would LOVE to breed them but I have been watching for blood.  She is swollen a little but NOT to the extreme that SOME websites seems to make you believe.  But could it be something else and NOT IN HEAT????  Today being the 9th day they seem to have calmed down some.  They haven't even been sleeping at night for the past 8 nights for him trying to hump on her, even her head hahahhaa...SO please tell me something.  I HOPE she IS in heat, I have never had any kind of puppies born for me in my life.  SO yes I am like a first time grandma in waiting

Answer
Hello Brenda,
In most normal heat cycles (which comes about every 6 months or so), the female will start bleeding and between the 9th and the 11th day is when she starts her "standing heat".  In "Standing Heat", the male will be able to get her pregnant.  She will stay in "standing heat" for about 1 1/2-2 weeks before going out.  
She may be having a false heat, where she has the smells but no blood and she shouldn't get pregnant.  

You should wait with your girl to become pregnant until she is at least 1 1/2 yrs old.  At this early age, her body isn't ready to carry puppies yet and her getting pregnant now could hurt her and the puppies.  By letting her mature, you insure that both her and her puppies will be healthy during pregnancy and deliverly.  
You should also get her a pre-breeding Vet exam just to make sure that her body is healthy enough to carry and deliver a litter and that she doesn't have any genetic problems that could be passed on to the puppies.  

Since she is so young, you should keep her up in a crate when she is in heat so that the male can't get to her.  You also need to take her out to potty on a leash (even if she is trustworthy) so that she doesn't run off in search of a male or so that you can get to her if a male approches.  

I hope this helps you some.  If you have other questions for me, please feel free to ask.

Thanks for using AllExperts.com,
Kim