Does this sound like Split Heat, Prolonged Estrus, or bad Sense of Timing?

Yandharr

I wanted everyone's opinion on this before I take Ciqala to the vet.
This was from a convo I had with @brada1878 after which he suggested either of the two possibilities:
"If she 'started' around June 16-17 (strictly judging from Saru's behavior) shouldn't it be over now? A couple observations: I finally saw a drop of blood (yes, singular) yesterday (Jul 13), it was pretty dark. No real slutty behavior, just circling him and sitting, she tries to be near him but doesn't put up with his advances. They get to interact probably 3 hours out of the day but she's gotten pretty mean and I had a few scuffles between the two with teeth."

The week of the 1st, I saw clear discharge, never any blood up to that point. Swelling seemed to be noticeable around the 2nd. This is when my male started acting insane. Just yesterday i saw one drop of blood, for the first time, nothing else the whole day. I did a q-tip test today and there were a couple spots of blood on the first test, but nothing on the second.

My questions:
1.Is it possible that my male noticed her going into heat before she actually was? This would be consistent with his behavior change. Around then (June 16-17th) he was interested, but not fanatical No humping, just sniffing/following. As of last week, he is absolutely nuts (Going on 2 weeks of crazy).

2. Does a split heat mean two consecutive and complete cycles or half here and half there? I suppose the concerning part is the blood, yet I've not seen any at all until yesterday and none today, besides the q-tip.

until the vet is open, i'd like to hear some input from you all.

ayk

1. When I was taking my foster puppy to puppy class, one of the instructor's aids commented that the pup smelled like she had a bladder infection or maybe she was going into heat. She said puppies usually get the bladder infections and recover from them own their own. I'd never heard of that generalization before, and I couldn't detect an off odor. I asked some other dog folks online and they've never heard of puppies getting and recovering from bladder infections before either.

This was probably three weeks before the foster pup did go into heat (pooled blood) at exactly 5 months+1 day of age. So maybe there's an precursor odor being detected by your male dog before the heat actually starts? Is he an experienced male?

PoetikDragon

There are split heats, false heats, silent heats, prolonged heats, absent heats, ... lots of things can be abnormal with a dog's heat cycle. Most are not a concern unless you are trying to breed, or unless it is indicative of a greater problem, like cysts or ovarian cancer. Each and every heat cycle a bitch has carries the risk of contracting pyometra, and this risk increases with age and more irregular cycles. Seeing blood isn't very bad - seeing off-white/yellow/green/grey pus would be indicative of a uterine infection, in which case you may only have a short time to take action and avoid a rupture that could kill the dog.

Calia

This is her first heat, right? I remember asking my vet about heat cycles (before Miyu was spayed) and he had mentioned that the first heat can be weird as the body "learns" how to do it (just like a girls first period).

You don't really mention what the physical signs were for her starting her heat on June 16-17, was there swelling/discharge or was it just the bitchy behavior? If she was just being bitchy with minor swelling, she might have not been in heat at that point and may in fact be starting her heat on the 1st. Talking with a shiba breeder friend about early signs of a coming heat (again for Miyu), they mentioned a change of personality similar to PMS as well as some humping behavior. Miyu was pretty bipolar for a few weeks before actually bleeding, pissy one moment and humping Tikaani the next. When she started to bleed, the boys showed some interest with crotch checks and pee sniffing, but weren't fanatic. When the bleeding started to decrease, the boys were nuts and constantly on top of her as she offered herself to them. It was pretty crazy and my boys are neutered, I can't imagine the insanity of an intact male.

Anyways, I'm not really that experienced with heats, just going by discussions, Miyu's one heat, and my mom's intact Chihuahua. These are just my thoughts from what I've read here.

sjp051993

The insanity of an intact male can vary. Kuma becomes to total nut when the female is about ready. He quits eating and sleeping and constantly whines. Tora is in season right now and has hit her ready point. Kuma was screaming at the top of his lungs if she got out of his sights, or if another male got near her. I had to physically remove him from the house just to calm him down. He is spending a few days with "Grandma" until Tora is past her cycle.

PoetikDragon

Oh, just FYI, some bitches are very clean and some are very messy. She may he been spotting for a while but the flow was light and she licked herself clean so you couldn't tell. That is what my American Akita did - and because she has always had prominent sexual characteristics, she never looked more swollen than usual, so it was absolutely impossible to tell if she was in heat.

Mosura on the other hand is like a Niagra falls of blood coming out her rear end - so gross!

Yandharr

@Calia - I didn't see any physical signs around then, it was just humping and my male's behavior. there's no more humping behavior on her part but she'll stand near my male and show teeth & growl when he starts to whine.

@ayk - no, he's not. Though his first run in with a bitch in heat was around 9-mos. he didn't care until the last 2 weeks.

@poeticdragon .... gross. lol

Yandharr

I guess the up side to this is that she's been really nice to me.

BradA1878

@Yandharr -

1.Is it possible that my male noticed her going into heat before she actually was? This would be consistent with his behavior change. Around then (June 16-17th) he was interested, but not fanatical No humping, just sniffing/following. As of last week, he is absolutely nuts (Going on 2 weeks of crazy).

>> Yes, for sure. Sometimes our males will react to hormonal changes MONTHS before the females come into season. This is why it's so important to check their color and swelling.

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