Coming into Season

[Rosie]

I'm hoping that someone can help me with a query about Ellie.

She had her first season at end of May / beginning of June this year when she had just turned 1 year old.  I have read that thereafter bitches come into season about every 6 months and I wondered if this was the case.

She has her first agility competition at the end of November and I am concerned that she will not be able to run as she is in season.  I also have a holiday early December and do not really want anyone else looking after her at this time - although my mother in law is fantastic with her I'm not entirelly convinced that she will keep her in and away from other dogs.

Hope that someone can help

Thanks
Rosie                    

[KellyP]

Hi Rosie,

Bitches are like women .. no 2 are the same  
As a result not all bitches will come into season once every 6 months. With some its 4 months, some could be 12 months and some could even be as late as 13/14 months between their seasons.
Unfortunately until she has had a couple it will be impossible to know exactly what her "pattern" will be. However it is my understanding that some bitches may not even fall into a regular pattern, they may be a couple of months out each time.
I also think that colour may have a slight influence on the regularity of seasons - for example parti-clours, such as blue roans, tend to "start" their season's later in life (around or after 1 year) and tend to have longer between each one.

HTH

Kel                    

[LindaW]

Hi Rosie,

The text books will tell you about every 6 months but it does vary as Kelly says.  They do tend to come into season at inconvenient times which is a pain.                    

[Jane S]

Hi Rosie
 
You'll be pleased to know none of our bitches has ever had seasons every six months so its extremely unlikely that Ellie will either - ours are more along the lines of every 8-9 months so its likely (though I can't guarantee it) that Ellie will be the same (bitches often follow their mothers in how frequent their cycle is)

Jane