# First Heat...



## hunny518 (Jun 5, 2012)

Aria is in the middle of her first heat! When it started I couldn't believe how emotional I got! I laughed at myself because I was pretty embarrassed when I burst into tears when I told my husband.. Haha I think it was just another sign that my baby girl is no longer a baby. She has been getting the ultimate royal treatment. Heating pad, belly rubs and extra cuddles. 
This is my first experience with any of my dogs going into heat because I'm a huge spay/neuter advocate. 
She hates having to wear the panties and I have started letting her take them off at night in the kennel because I would hate to be all strapped up while I'm trying to sleep. 
Tomorrow will be seven days and I'm praying the mess will be done by Monday. She had a show on Sunday and we had to keep wiping down her beautiful white legs because things were really going then. 
Anyone have any useful tips to keep her comfortable? She had to wear the disposable diapers for the first couple days because I couldn't get her a washable pair right away but she kept chewing the crotch right out of them, and with the washable pair she keeps ripping the pad out


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## Aubrey (May 18, 2013)

These!
Pants for Dogs ::: Thongs :: Regular & Bikini


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## Manxcat (May 6, 2013)

Awww your baby is all grown up! Well, teenage anyway...

When Pippin had her first (and only) heat and was miserable I kept saying to her that Mummy understands but Daddy doesn't...!! Hubby was just moaning about hormonal women... lol


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## Tiny Poodles (Jun 20, 2013)

Oh poor baby! How long does the bleeding last? All of my girls were spayed before their first heat, but I've decided to follow the current thinking and allow the next one to have at least one, maybe a few heats. I don't look forward to it though - since my dogs are wee wee pad trained, it will be constant observance, and quick getting the panties off before she hits the pad, because I sure don't want her to learn to pee in her panties!


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## Indiana (Sep 11, 2011)

I just used old boys' underwear, and put the "Y"-front opening over her tail. They fit her well and she didn't mind having them on at all, romping and playing as usual. It made me smile when I saw her go dashing by with her tail wagging madly, wearing her little striped undies though! Dogs are quite different but Indy's was pretty easy. Heat cycles are only 2 or 3 weeks long, so you're almost done.


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## hunny518 (Jun 5, 2012)

Manxcat said:


> Awww your baby is all grown up! Well, teenage anyway...
> 
> When Pippin had her first (and only) heat and was miserable I kept saying to her that Mummy understands but Daddy doesn't...!! Hubby was just moaning about hormonal women... lol


That's what I keep telling her too.. Lol I had severe endometriosis with my periods putting me through 3 laproscapy surgeries and finally having my periods stopped all together so I am quite sensitive to this. I swear her first day I immediately started getting sympathy cramps. Lol for about 5 days all she really wanted to do was sleep and cuddle but last night she brought me one of her toys to play our routine fetch game, it was the first time in days that she was up to playing. Today she has been a bit more active as well


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## hunny518 (Jun 5, 2012)

Aubrey said:


> These!
> Pants for Dogs ::: Thongs :: Regular & Bikini


Thanks those are really pretty an amazingly they are very local to me I was so shocked I even know what street they are on


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## Aubrey (May 18, 2013)

The thongs are nice because they have a lot less fabric to annoy the dogs.


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## Manxcat (May 6, 2013)

hunny518 said:


> That's what I keep telling her too.. Lol I had severe endometriosis with my periods putting me through 3 laproscapy surgeries and finally having my periods stopped all together so I am quite sensitive to this. I swear her first day I immediately started getting sympathy cramps. Lol for about 5 days all she really wanted to do was sleep and cuddle but last night she brought me one of her toys to play our routine fetch game, it was the first time in days that she was up to playing. Today she has been a bit more active as well
> 
> 
> Sent from Petguide.com Free App



Ouch for you - rotten thing for you to go through, you have my sympathy. Pippin was just a bit sulky and moody but that was mostly before the actual bleeding started - PMS I guess!!! Once she was about a week into it she was pretty okay. Didn't help that she came on heat (first show) just a few days before we were going moving house!! So not only was she hormonal but she was upset because we went into a holiday let for 2 weeks... Talk about bad timing!!!

Good thing with having a tpoo though is that there wasn't much of anything, so didn't have to go along the pantie/thong route!! Just the odd spot to deal with...

Sure your girl will soon be back to normal )


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## gr8pdls (Jul 13, 2010)

*current thinking ?*



Tiny Poodles said:


> Oh poor baby! How long does the bleeding last? All of my girls were spayed before their first heat, but I've decided to follow the current thinking and allow the next one to have at least one, maybe a few heats.


I just completed a course taught by Dr. Peggy Root from the U of Minnesota. This is from the course notes:
For female dogs, the high incidence and high percentage of malignancy of mammary neoplasia, and the significant effect of spaying on decreasing its incidence make ovariohysterectomy *prior to the first heat the best recommendation* for non-breeding animals. The demonstrated increased incidence of urinary incontinence in bitches spayed before 3 months of age and possible effect of CCL injury in bitches spayed before 6 months of age suggest that spaying bitches after 6 months of age but before their first heat is most beneficial


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## Tiny Poodles (Jun 20, 2013)

gr8pdls said:


> I just completed a course taught by Dr. Peggy Root from the U of Minnesota. This is from the course notes:
> For female dogs, the high incidence and high percentage of malignancy of mammary neoplasia, and the significant effect of spaying on decreasing its incidence make ovariohysterectomy *prior to the first heat the best recommendation* for non-breeding animals. The demonstrated increased incidence of urinary incontinence in bitches spayed before 3 months of age and possible effect of CCL injury in bitches spayed before 6 months of age suggest that spaying bitches after 6 months of age but before their first heat is most beneficial


Thanks for posting that - I do have to say that it really contradicts much of what I have been reading/hearing the last year or so, but it does make me think that I will have to get even more information on this topic - and of course will certainly speak to my Vet about it when the time comes.
And one thing that it does not mention is that thin, over-tall body shape that they speak of with early s/n -one of my girls who was spayed @ a year, but prior to having a heat, kept on growing until she was about a year and a half, and definitely had that kind of build, and that is also something that I want to avoid having happen again. And one thing I am thinking I might do in the future is to have x-rays done to see if the growth plates have closed - what do you think of that?


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## 3dogs (Nov 3, 2010)

It must be a Spoo thing because my toy & mini you can hardly tell they are in heat. Besides the obvious swelling of the Vulva both my girls have to watch to catch the 1 spot of blood on 1 day to even know they started to bleed. If I didn't have a Neutered male Spoo I wouldn't even know.

Hope all goes well. Did the Dr. address the issue of "bone cancer" in dogs with S/N before maturity? Mammary Cancer IS treatable, bone cancer usually not & higher incidence of death from "bone" cancer. I wonder why that issue is never talked about by vets. I swear it must be a scare tactic.


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## gr8pdls (Jul 13, 2010)

I know a lot of performance people do x-rays of growth plates before spaying and starting heavy duty jumping. The growth plates close at about the time of puberty.

As far as bone cancer, Dr Root's table lists bone cancer as a low incidence and increased occurrence after spaying. Poodles are not predisposed to bone cancer like some other breeds. The table has about 10 different conditions, the likelihood of developing the condition, and whether spay increases or decreases the condition. On the whole, for most breeds, spaying seems the best choice.


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## hunny518 (Jun 5, 2012)

I have always spayed and neutered my dogs around 6 months old. 2 of my female dogs prior to Aria had incontence. Not sure whether or not it's because of spaying at 6 months or not. intended to let Aria got through her first heat before I was going to spay her because that's what I had been recommended to do by my breeder and vet and I also felt it in my gut that it was the best choice, but this was all before we decided to go ahead and show her after all. So now that we are showing her, I may have a few more heat cycles
To go through. Ugh. 


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## Carrie-e (Oct 23, 2012)

Tia my 4 month old miniature puppy is the first girl I've ever had,and I want to have her spayed but have been given conflicting advice on when to do it. Too early and it cancause incontinence and after the first heat,it can increase the risk of cancer. If she doesn't have her first heat too early,maybe at 8/9 months,I could have her done just before. Are there any signs that they are about to come into heat?


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## grab (Jun 1, 2010)

hunny518 said:


> Thanks those are really pretty an amazingly they are very local to me I was so shocked I even know what street they are on
> 
> 
> Sent from Petguide.com Free App


I don't have any intact females, but someone on my FB has several and she swears by those


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## Tiny Poodles (Jun 20, 2013)

You know, in medicine there is almost never just one right answer - there are risks and benefits in every option, and it's up to the individual to make their own choice of which set of risks and benefits they want to bet on.

To me, I think it just makes plain sense that if you remove the naturally occurring hormones before the bones, muscles, and organs have finished developing, you run the risk of interfering with the normal growth process - my next girl will have one - two heats before spay (depending upon if the first one is a full heat), because I choose to take the very small breast cancer risk, in exchange for reducing the risk of orthopedic issues and urinary incontinence.


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## hunny518 (Jun 5, 2012)

Tiny Poodles said:


> You know, in medicine there is almost never just one right answer - there are risks and benefits in every option, and it's up to the individual to make their own choice of which set of risks and benefits they want to bet on.
> 
> To me, I think it just makes plain sense that if you remove the naturally occurring hormones before the bones, muscles, and organs have finished developing, you run the risk of interfering with the normal growth process - my next girl will have one - two heats before spay (depending upon if the first one is a full heat), because I choose to take the very small breast cancer risk, in exchange for reducing the risk of orthopedic issues and urinary incontinence.


Well said 


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## poodlecrazy51 (Dec 31, 2012)

*how old is she at first heat?*

My standard puppy just turned 6 months. 26 weeks. I bought her on a limited registration to spay her, as I always do. But does anyone know when a standard gets that first heat cycle? I wanted to wait as long as possible before spaying her, but definitely before her first heat cycle. hmmmmm.


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## cookieface (Jul 5, 2011)

poodlecrazy51 said:


> My standard puppy just turned 6 months. 26 weeks. I bought her on a limited registration to spay her, as I always do. But does anyone know when a standard gets that first heat cycle? I wanted to wait as long as possible before spaying her, but definitely before her first heat cycle. hmmmmm.


Your breeder should be able to give you an idea of when her females (or females in your girls line) tend to have their first season.


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## gr8pdls (Jul 13, 2010)

My Standard girls have always been around 14 months with one holding out until 18 months.


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## hunny518 (Jun 5, 2012)

Aria just turned 13 months old a couple days ago and is just finishing up her first heat


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## Indiana (Sep 11, 2011)

I gave up waiting for Maddy and had her spayed at 16 months, but Indy didn't have her first heat until 22 months. I thought that was pretty late, even for a standard!


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## Tiny Poodles (Jun 20, 2013)

Indiana said:


> I gave up waiting for Maddy and had her spayed at 16 months, but Indy didn't have her first heat until 22 months. I thought that was pretty late, even for a standard!


Oh my, I had no idea that it could take that long!


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