When Will My Labrador Puppy Have Her First Season

A dog’s first season can be a messy and turbulent time for pets and owners alike, but if you’ve decided not to neuter your new puppy or if you plan to breed from her in the future, it’s an inevitable stage to be gotten through.. Let’s take a closer look at the dog heat cycle, understanding your bitch’s first season and how to make life easier for her during this time.

When will my labrador puppy have her first season. 7. Can I breed my bitch during her first heat cycle? Theoretically, your bitch will be perfectly capable of conceiving a pregnancy during her first season, so you must take care of her and keep her away from entire male dogs during this time. Really good overview – I have an 8 month old black labrador bitch and knew we wanted her spayed but it was a question of when – a surprising lack of information available to “Joe Public” when it comes to researching best time to spay (before first season or not). My vet wouldn't spay my dog before she had had her first season. She said it was important for her to mature fully because dog hormones stay static - ie if she had been spayed before she had had her first season she would have retained puppy hormones for her whole life. If your puppy hasn't been spayed, she'll come into season for the first time at around 5-8 months. Unless you want to breed, there's no benefit for a puppy to come into season and many owners decide to have their puppy neutered before this happens.

I have been feeling like the worst dog owner in the world for not getting my springer spayed before her first birthday (and she is now in season). This helps me feel a little better about allowing her to grow up a bit before having the op (even though it's a bit of a pain to manage a springer in heat). Puppies develop at lightning fast speeds. One week you're bringing your little cutie to your house for the first time, and seemingly the next, she's on the verge of her first heat cycle -- gulp. Female puppies can become pregnant long before they reach a year old, so take the matter seriously. The first season will usually begin between the ages of six months and two years of age, and will last for between two and three weeks. Left unspayed after the first season, bitches will continue to come into heat around twice a year, or once every six months. The focus of her attentions My lab puppy started her first season on Feburary 1st, a week short of her first birthday. Everything seemed normal…bleeding for 11 days, then pinkish for a few days. Swelling went down, but we waited a full 4 weeks.

Her season will (normally) last for 21 days. So you have to legislate to keep her confined (that means not allowing her out in the garden on her own even) for the entire 21 days. First seasons are often shorter than her later seasons will be however, but just because her discharge has stopped before 21 days, doesn't mean she's finished. Many, understandably, who purchase a female puppy don’t know overly much about seasons, or, may have dim memories from childhood dogs, but its all got a little blurred. I hope this helps. Q: When should I expect my bitch to have her first season? This varies enormously. Is it possible that my dog can be in season just 3 months after her first season? We have just noticed spots of blood (really red compared to her first season) on the floor and on her bedding and yesterday I did notice that her private parts looked larger than normal. Thanks Pippa for a very informed item. My 11month choc lab has no had her first season yet and I found it unusual until a few people said there dogs were late starters. Apparently my puppy’s Auntie was 15 months before she had her first one. Must admit I’d never hear of joint problems occurring in bitches who’d been spayed too young.

This is known as your Labrador first heat or first season. For many dogs, this generally occurs around 6 months of age, but for large breed dogs, the cycle may start later as their bodies grow and mature a bit slowly. Hence for a Labrador retriever, its first heat may start between 9months to 12 months of age. But this is not a rule. I only kept Molly on lead and away from other dogs for 21 days from the start of bleeding. However she didn't bleed for as long as Maisie - one week in her first season and two weeks in her second. I'd say Maisie was safe, but I know some people say you need to wait for 28 days. Her first season was very strange and made her really ill off her food etc. She felt terrible and I didn't want her to have to go through that again so I had her spayed when I could. She's still very small and just as silly at 13 but I found that giving her that bit of extra time to mature helped her in the long run. Your Labrador dog goes into heat during the first three stages, which are also called “active heat.” During these stages, your Labrador’s body is getting ready for possible pregnancy. Dogs are most fertile 9 to 13 days after her “active heat” starts. The fertile period typically lasts for 5 days.