Or, Everything You Need to Know about Your Weim’s Heat Cycle
Hey, we’re WAY past gross here! I learned to say “bitch” in a conversation and not bat an eye long ago, and after three girl Weims—and three girl pups–I feel like I’ve earned the right the share some of my experiences.
Most Weims are about a year old when they first go into heat (technically “estrous”), although it can range from 8 months to 2 years and still be within the range of normal. Usually they are about the same age as their mothers, so this can be a good guide.
Cycling every 6 months is “average” and I’ve found that to be true with my girls. It can be anywhere from 4 months to 8 or 9 months. Some females are like clockwork and others are all over the place, impossible to predict. They usually cycle along with their female housemates.
What is actually going on? Dogs are a diestrous species, meaning that they go into heat (or season) twice a year. This, like everything else, is variable, as some dogs will have three heats a year and others of specific breeds will only have one heat a year. Most Weims have two a year.
- Proestrous: 9 days (range 2-27 days). When you notice that your dog begins bleeding, “day 1” on the calendar. Your girl will be attractive to males, but will not let them mount her. Keep her away from them so nobody gets hurt!
- Estrous: 9 days (range 3-21 days). Your girl will accept a male. This is highly variable from bitch to bitch, but tends to be in the second week of her heat cycle. She will “flag” her tail if you scratch her at its base and acts very flirty. Keep her inside and supervised at all times! Note in the photo accompanying this article, that Roxie is Day 13, a high risk time for pregnancy.
- Met-estrous: Average 90 days. If she is not bred, this is the time when she may show signs of “false pregnancy.” Her hormone levels are the same whether she was bred or not.
- Anestrous: Varies. Hormonal inactivity until she goes back into a heat cycle.
While you do get used to them cycling, it’s a pretty big pain in the butt (to be clear!). For many reasons, I do think it’s worth it to let them have that first cycle. Researchers are beginning to do some studies that show that not only is it better for canine athletes, but it is also better for bone development, as well as allowing their bodies and minds to fully mature. Those hormones play some very important roles in the body beyond just sex!
So how do you know that she’s getting close? Marking and swelling of her vulva are pretty sure signs that it’s imminent. Some people don’t notice the swelling first, but with Weims who live in the house and are near you all the time? You will likely notice the changes in her. And she will mark like crazy for the weeks (even a month or more) leading up to her first season— probably worse than any male dog you’ve ever seen.
Your girl might just act a bit “off” for a few weeks before, too. Those of us who regularly go through it start to recognize patterns. She might start acting a little bitchier, clingier, or more hyper. She will either be more playful with her canine housemates or she’ll be snappy with them and not want to play. She may go off her feed—although this is one my dogs have never had an issue with!
Just remember that each dog is different, just like we’re different. Some women like to go out and run ten miles when they are PMSing. Me? I choose Ben and Jerry’s…
How about the mess? Some girls keep themselves fairly clean, others not so much; some bleed quite a bit others not as much. It will not be a flood, but it is noticeable for anyone who has white walls or nice furniture and you probably want to crate her when you can’t watch her if you don’t have furniture/rugs that are easily cleaned. All of my girls have had a few days when they bleed a bit heavier towards the beginning of their heat but it’s been light after that. They generally bleed for a week or 10 days, with even two weeks being normal.
After that, the discharge turns more straw colored, pink, or brown and it’s generally less copious. This is the really dangerous time–although you have to keep an eye on them the whole time and we keep our dogs away from other dogs for at least three weeks, to a month until we get the pattern down. Six bitches. No accidental pregnancies.
Remember, she’s not herself! During days 9-16 (again, totally variable, but sometime in there), your little girl will turn into a full blown hussy. If you have other dogs–even females–she may try to get them to mount her. She may mount them. It’s a bit embarrassing! Do not punish this behavior, it will go away when the hormones do. Just tell her “no” or “off” in a calm voice and don’t make a scene.
With my girls, they generally get very well acquainted with their crates, usually their choice, when the bleeding is heavier. Our whole house is doggie friendly–leather, tile, and hardwood–so we abandoned the diapers. (Plus we had one too many darts out the doggie door with the panties still on—yikes!) If you teach them that they have to wear the diapers then they do okay. You can also buy little boy’s underwear and turn them backwards, so the tail sticks out the hole. If you’re planning on spaying your girl after her first heat, this is probably your best bet.
What about after her first heat? You may notice a few things about her. For one, you might notice her nipples are larger than they were. They will decrease in size a bit, but they will always stay bigger as long as they are under the effects of hormones (i.e., until she is spayed). The same goes for her vulva. It will get much smaller than it was when she was in season, but never return to its pre-estrus size.
There are some abnormal things to look for in an intact bitch after her cycle: chiefly pyometra. This is not common in young Weims, but can occur after her first heat, and is life threatening. This occurs 2 to 6 weeks after your girl is in heat, and is due to an infection in the uterus causing it to fill with pus. Symptoms can vary, but ANY time you suspect illness in your female after she is in heat, she needs to get checked out by a vet. They can get septic (massive infection) very quickly and die, often with very few symptoms other than they go off their feed and appear lethargic and very thirsty. It is a medical emergency.
False pregnancy is quite common and harmless when mild. You will generally see signs about one to two months after her heat: nesting, swollen mammary glands sometimes even with milk production. She may even adopt a special toy that she carries around the house. Where this is dangerous is that these false pregnancies tend to become more severe as your girl gets older and can cause her significant distress—can you imagine? Talk to your vet or an experienced breeder about it if your girl shows signs.
Most breeders recommend Fort Knox surveillance when your girl is in heat, and that is what we live by. All of my girls have been pretty lazy during their heat cycles–which is great for them because I pretty much don’t let them out of the house. They potty in the yard and that’s it. They can get pretty bitchy with each other, but I allow more scuffling than normal because I totally understand. 😉 I hope this was helpful and answered some questions. I wouldn’t trade living with the bitches for anything!
Of course, I live with a bitch as she is featured here. I hate it. She was really good wearing her Bitchwear and a maxi pad inside for over two years, but nowadays, she wants to eat the pad (eew). So she can only wear them when I am home and she is supervised. Otherwise, she is locked away without any panties making a mess. Fortunately, I have old sheets to spread around to help with the mess.
This video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CsMbyyqOxgw is her first cycle with a neighboring dog. When I noticed all the comotion at the fence while she was out to potty, I had a feeling that the other dog was male and not fixed. I knocked on the door and asked and sure enough, he wasn’t neutered. So, no more unsupervised potty breaks and on a leash she goes in my own backyard. This fence behavior only lasted a few days during what I suspect is the PRIME time for mating. Before and after she wasn’t remotely interesetd in the fence or what was on the other side.
It is important to note that if left to their own devices, these two would have figured out a way to get to each other whether it be over, under or through the fence. Best place for a bitch in heat is locked in the house.
You boy dog owners have some responsibiltiy too… if you notice that your boy has lost his brains and pacing the fence, there could be some street walkin hussy out there teasing him… best to bring him in.
Do you have any siggesstions on how to get my two female weims to like each other again??? Kali is 3 and daisy is 5. There both are female blue weims. Daisy and kali were best buds before kali started her heat cycle. I could see a trend happening that disturbed me when they started raising their voice at one another. They were in an altercation and ever since then they have to be seperated. I had the bright odea of putting a muzzle on both of them and letting them wear themselfs out with no harm done to either. Though they saw that they couldnt harm one another it still has not helped so i keep them seperate. Any suggestions?
I don’t have an answer for you… I have had this very situation happen myself when my girl became pregnant. I have not experienced a bitch fight before and I never want to. Everyone says that those are the most ferocious, and I honestly would never truly trust the two together again. While I think that it’s probably possible to rehab them with a lot of time, I would opt for separation for the safety of all.
Very interesting!I`ve always owned dogs. So this was very educational for me.
Now I know what I have to look “forward” to.
Thanks! 🙂
Thank you! Very helpful now that i am raising a little ‘bitch’.
Very helpful. Now that Sasha is getting close to that age. And my Vet told me something I didn’t know…that even though Gunner is neutered he may still be very interested in her when she goes into her heat cycle. Didn’t know fixed males would notice. But no puppies here.
im raising a bitch as well…..weimy…..named Gretchen…….oh my god what a mess she is…..we also have an intact male bull terrier and it is a full time job to keep the bullweimer population at o……….
not a lot of fun but they really do love each other and he feels that we bought him his own run way model and he lives to give her kisses….he would like to give her more than that but we keep them both apart when we need to…..they are both great dogs……..
we would like to get her out to field abit…she is already showing that she is a perfect pointer….we live on an eight acre farm near warrenton, va
Thank you! Our weim, Bleu, just had her first cycle. She was crated a great deal of the time and had supervised potty breaks. I started panicking bc her nipples are larger but this info helps a great deal!
I have a question, have a weimaraner bitch now 5 months old and a weimaraner male 8 years old. We like to breed once but not when she first comes into heat: possible at her 2nd heat cycle. But to separate the two is not possible. The male is not used to be somewhere else – will go into major depression. What do I do to pass the first heat of our bitch? Any suggestions? how do the injections for birth control work if only administered once?
Thanks for commenting.
Kirsten, I have to be honest with you, you WILL get an accidental breeding if you cannot separate the two dogs. If you are trying to breed the two of them later when she’s mature he will likely be too old to produce. You can do a mismate shot and you’ll have to go to your vet several times, I’ve never done it but assume it’s costly and I would use a reproductive specialist not a regular vet. Sure seems easier to plan out a breeding in advance….
Hi Anne. Thanks for your comment. What is a mismate shot.read about stud stoppers. Does anyone have experiences with this birth control measure? Thanks
Getting my 3.5 yo fixed this week. She had the disorder they are prone to when first shots administered. Lots of paranoia as that was not a fun journey. She had her next round of shots trouble free so now it’s time to fix after 6 months post shots. She just had heat, but she leaks, it’s yellow and thicker than pee but doesn’t smell like pee. Anybody have an idea on what that is? It’s like she has no control over it, usually after she has peed it will flow. Hoping that goes away after fixing her. She has never been bred. I vaguely remember my Dalmatian had discharge similar but that was long ago.
Anybody with females for sure let me know. Tired of washing bedding and thank god for leather furniture!!!
In puppies, females can get puppy vaginitis which is caused by their anatomy and being closer to the ground. For older bitches, it could be vaginitis that resolves itself or an UTI, or even an infection in the uterus. Probably a good idea to get her spayed. Good luck, it’s usually an easy and uncomplicated procedure.
thanks for the very informative info! I have a Rhodesian Ridgeback and I think she is just starting her first heat. Thanks for taking the time to share this stuff. It answered the majority of my questions.
We have 2 weimaraners one is a male that is 2 and one is a female that is 7 months old. We want to breed them but defiantly don’t want to do it when she very first goes into heat. How long is it recommended to wait before breeding a bitch?
Hi Bethany, usually it’s recommended that you wait until 2 as the bitch will be mature at this age, and also you will be able to do your health clearances. The recommended tests for Weims are listed here: http://www.caninehealthinfo.org/brdreqs.html?breed=WE
Thank you so much! We were thinking of waiting that long but weren’t too sure what the recommendation was. I have talked to a few different people along with referencing your website and that seems to be the best. I just wish our male was AKC registered, he is purebred but his dad isn’t registered, because our female is and they are going to make great puppies but we aren’t in it for the money. We just want people to be able to have a great dog bred.
I have a question, my girl allowed a Male to “tie” with her back in August, it was only once, but she ended up with signs of a false pregnancy. Had she been pregnant she would have had pups last month around the 16th. Well this is now Novemeber and the male dog is back and she is allowing him to “tie” with her again. I believe he has gotten a hold of her several times but I am unsure, only caught them tonight. Is it possible she is actually in heat 3 months after the first “tie” with this male dog. I am at a loss, any information would be of great help. Thank you
Yes it is possible. It sounds like it could be a split heat and yes they can get pregnant. Keep an eye on her. You can get an ultrasound to confirm pregnancy at the vet’s.
Thank you for the information. Do to her age (11) I believe we are going to take her to get fixed. We have never had issues with putting her on her lead rope out back to go potty until this year. And from what I have been told the owners of the male dog ( 3 streets over) doesn’t care what he does.We have leash laws to where if your dog cant be contained in the yard you have to have a lead rope to make sure they dont leave the yard. And to top it off he is somewhat an aggressive dog, my oldest son said he had growled at him a few times when he was out back playing in the yard and our female was on her lead rope. I just hope that do to her age that getting her fixed, or allowing her to go through pregnancy if she is indeed pregnant wont hurt her in anyway.
At 11 you should take her to the vet. If she’s pregnant, I can’t imagine she’d be able to sustain a litter, and at best I would imagine a pregnancy at that age would be risky for her…
My female dog is Sadie she is mixed Jack Russell terrier & Chi she was in heat I put doddy diapers on her for pertction she has not interacted with a male but Ger nipples are swollen does that mean she’s pregnant?
This was very helpful. Thank you!
Was wondering about a second dog as I have a Male 16-month. Some recommend giving a female, and I’m getting a second dog your dog should be 16 to 24 months old and well socialized with your current family is this true. Does gender matter . What would you recommend if morning to have a second dog .
Thank you for all of your information.
It’s usually easier to have two of different genders in general, but it mostly depends on the temperaments of each individual. 16-24 months is also a good age difference. Best of luck with your new addition.
Interesting string of comments. Our Weim puppy, Ruby Tuesday, is 12 months old and started her first season 4 weeks ago, although male dogs showed a lot of interest in her for a couple of weeks prior. The season seemed a bit erratic and she didn’t bleed a lot or constantly. It appears to have “re-started” and she is bleeding a lot more now and showing more physical signs. We consulted the vet and all seems ok so I guess it is either a split season or a prolonged one. Either way, it will be difficult to judge when she is “safe” again!!!
We were due to run in her second Gundog Working Test this weekend – in Puppy and in Novice – and it looks like that won’t be happening now. I even have a hotel booked as it is a fair trek away from home. At her first GWT, she took 2nd place in puppy – and it is the toughest test in the UK – I was a bit proud!!!
Awesome to hear that she did so well on her test Mike! One of the hard things about having an intact female is having to miss out on some events, and they always do seem to come into season at the worst times! Hope you will be able to get in on the next test with her. Good luck!
PS – She may start to get more regular after this first heat cycle.
Great information. Just about exactly what my bitch does. Unfortunately mine is a 4 month bitch. Had to laugh when I first witnessed the “Hussy” coming out in her.
I also do obedience and have had to miss out on some events.
I appreciate all of that info. I was told that my one year old is in heat. She pants a lot and mounts every people she can get her teeth on. Is that normal at all or something else wrong?
It’s hard to say just based on what you wrote, but if other people think she’s in heat, she probably is. Usually they get swollen back there, and they will also bleed, but some keep themselves so clean it can be hard to tell. The mounting isn’t necessarily related to her heat cycle, it is a dominance thing. I’m not sure about the panting. Dogs usually pant because they are hot, anxious or in pain. If you aren’t sure what is going on with your girl, I would take her to the vet.
My girly is on her first cycle now. Day 10 , swollen more than I expected but looks ok ( I guess) and bleeding seems heavier today. How much swelling, flow is normal and when to be worried and go to the vet?
It all sounds normal to me. I wouldn’t be too concerned!