First Female Dog

Question
We have always owned male dogs until this year when we purchased a female chorkie, and I am curious about how often females go into heat.  Is there a normal cycle to expect, and what sort of things are normal such as swelling in that area, blood spotting, etc?  She will be one year old in July and has two (?) heats.  One seemed to last about 2 weeks, and was followed almost immediately by a 3 week bout.  She is sooooo tiny, and swelled in that area like crazy.  Her breasts were swelled up enough to make her almost appear to be gaining milk.  We were a little concerned that she might have gotten pregnant because of how much the breasts swelled, but turned out not to be pregnant.  How much of this is normal, and how often can we expect to see her go through it.  She does have a vet appointment coming up soon, but if you could give us some idea what to expect in the meantime it would certainly make us feel better to have more knowledge about what to look for as normal and what is not. Thank you. --Ellen

Answer
They normally cycle once every six months but it can vary from dog to dog. Every bit of that is normal, including more frequent urination and even crankiness. Usually heats last three weeks, but dogs can have split heats which yours apparently did. This most often happens on a first heat cycle.
I'd have her spayed asap so as not to have to deal with this.
Good luck and enjoy your girl :)
CIndi