Q. How often do females come into heat?
A. About every 6-8 months.
Q. How long does heat last?
A. heat cycle typically lasts 18 days.
Q. When will her first heat be?
A. Anywhere from 6 - 24 months. Every dog is different and can vary depending on size. Smaller doodles typically have their first heat sooner while standard labradoodles have their first heat later.
Q. How will I know she's in heat?
A. At first, vaginal discharge is blood-tinged (In the winter, you may notice this in the snow outside where she pees, or you'll notice a drop of blood on your floor) and the vulva is swollen.
Q. Is it messy?
A. Typically you may notice a drop of blood on the floor here or there. For tile or wood floors, this is easy to clean up. If you have carpeting, you may want to use a doggie diaper. Each female is different but most keep themselves quite clean. Their bed can get stained while they're in heat so you may want to put a towel over it.
Q. Does she have a bloody discharge the whole 18 days?
A. No. She will likely have a bloody discharge for the first week but then when the female is receptive to males, her vaginal discharge decreases in amount and is straw-colored.
Q. Will I have to worry about her getting bred by other male dogs?
A. A female in heat can attract male dogs by her scent so, it's important to not let her outside alone unsupervised while she's in heat, even if you have a fenced yard.
Q. Will she be sad to come home and leave her puppies after she's done raising them?
A. While mama dogs are very attached to their puppies when they're born, and rarely leave their whelping pen, they start to wean them naturally when the puppies are about 6 weeks old. Slowly they nurse them less and less and start to become more and more interested in getting out and about for periods of time away from their puppies. By the time the puppies are 8 weeks old, the mama dog is ready to see them go! 🙂 She's happy to be back home with her family again.
Q. Will she be confused/miss us when we have to bring her to have her puppies?
A. Our guardian dogs love people and are happy to be here with us and also having the opportunity to play with the other dogs here. We stay familiar to them by seeing them for vet appointments, and seeing them each summer for our guardian BBQs. We make sure she feels as at home here as possible and has a comfortable, relaxing setting to have her puppies. Once they're born, her puppies are all she will think about and will want to be with them constantly. So, no she won't be sitting around feeling sad about where she's at. 🙂
Q. Can we visit while our guardian dog is at Lewis Manor with puppies?
A. Yes, absolutely! Being part of the guardian program is an exciting way to be part of our breeding program. You'll get to see your guardian dog's puppies go on to be placed with families who will get to experience the same love and companionship your guardian dog brought to your family!
Q. How many litters would a female have?
A. All of our females are retired at 6 years of age, so could have about 5 litters.