My female boxer has just gone over 1 yr without a heat

Question
Hi Renee,
I have a beautiful female boxer. She is 3. She had her first heat at 1 yr old and her second heat eleven months later. I bred her on that heat. She has amazing bloodlines and she meets all AKC standards. She has 12 champions in her 5 generation pedigree.
Anyway, she had an awesome litter of 6 puppies. Last June, she suffered sub-evolution of the placental sites, it took forever for her to stop bleeding, about 14 weeks and her vulva still always looks swollen and puffy.
She just passed the 1 yr mark with no heat. I am sure that she has not had a silent heat because I now have my own stud and he has not tried anything with her at all. She appears to be a little more swollen than normal and she seems a little grumpy towards him and she has been humping my other female but she did this a few months back to, the humping, not the grumpiness. She is usually very docile and sweet. My vet says that she is fine and not to worry but I am just wondering if the problem that she had from pregnancy the last time could have made her sterile.
I can't find an answer to that question anywhere. I plan to breed her this year because I have several people who want a baby from her and I want one too but if she has this problem agin this time I will spay her.
Do you know if once she has it she will get it again? My vet says no but I would like info from others.

Thanks,
Libby

Answer
Hi Libby. Some girls have weird cycles, no doubt about that. The extra trama that she experienced may be causing the delay. If you have other females, or can expose her to another female in heat, that may just help bring her in. Females that are housed together often cycle together. The signs you are talking about may be her coming into heat, so I'd watch carefully. As for her having the same problem as before, it's really hard to say for sure. It's not something that you can say for sure no, she won't have it again, or yes, she will. What you'll have to do is to keep a close eye on her for the first sign of trouble, and get her help if something goes wrong, which I'm sure you will.:-) I wish I could give you a definite answer on this one, but I really can't, no one can. When breeding dogs, anything can happen, we just have to be prepared for it. Good luck, and please let me know if I can help with anything at all.