Hey, fellow pet lovers!
Today’s post is going to talk about how we can care for our pooches while they are in heat/season. Last Tuesday’s post was all about The Canine Estrous Cycle, so I thought I would stay on the topic since both my girls are currently in heat and I want to try to make them as comfortable as possible during each stage of their cycle. So today’s post is going to mention various things we can do to care for our pets while they are in season and might be suffering some discomfort.
Let’s jump straight in and learn how we can help our fur babies to be as comfortable as they possibly can during their heat cycle!
How to know when your dog is in heat?
The first thing to mention is how do you know when your pet is in heat/season?
It is very easy to know when your dog is in heat as there are various signs you can check for such as
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Male dogs becoming more interested in your bitch.
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Swollen vulva and blood expelled during the first stage, proestrus.
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Swollen mammary glands during the third stage, diestrus.
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Lack of appetite or increased appetite.
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A change in mood.
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Your pet may become more restless.
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Tail tucking, a sign your pet wants to mate with male dogs.
Your dog’s heat cycle is when her body is preparing for the possibility of getting pregnant and having a litter of pups. It normally takes place every 6 to 12 months and lasts about three to four weeks on average.
There are four stages to your pets heat cycle and these go on continuously or until you decide to get her spayed. Your pet will have her first heat cycle when she reaches sexual maturity (puberty), this varies between different breeds and small dogs tend to reach puberty a lot faster than larger breeds.
To learn more about each stage of your canines heat cycle, check out my previous post on The Canine Estrous Cycle.
How to care for your pooch when they are in heat?
There are many ways we can help our pets while they are in heat/seasons and are most likely suffering some discomfort. Here are various things we can do to help make our lives a little bit easier and also our pets during their doggie period.
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Doggie pants.
The first thing to do is to get your pet some heat pants for when the bleeding and vaginal discharge starts. We got Nia some plain black ones and they do the trick but thankfully Lily doesn’t bleed as heavy as Nia, which means we haven’t had to stick any on her.
Here is a link to a 3 set of doggie pants, I couldn’t find the ones we got Nia so I had a little search and found this brand.
To order simply follow the link below but make sure you look at the measurement guide beforehand and measure your pet to ensure you order them the correct size.
Before heading to the checkout, change to the correct size pants on the order page.
Since I haven’t purchased these pants I cannot assure the quality and effectiveness but there are many happy pet parents who have left a good review, so I am taking their word for it.
*By purchasing through this link you are supporting epoch.pet as we get a small amount of commission, with no extra cost to you. This money helps keep the blog up and running and allows us to purchase pet products to review on our site.
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Hot water bottle.
Another great hack is to fill a little hot water bottle up and stick it in your pet’s bed or somewhere they can go and lie on it, this might help them if they are dealing with cramps and just want to get comfy and go to sleep. Lily loves her little hot water bottle and whenever she is in heat I always fill it up for her so she can cuddle up with it and get comfy.
Always supervise your pet and never leave them alone with a hot water bottle!
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Lots of cuddles.
Of course, lots of cuddles always makes a massive difference!!
Both my girls have been super needy lately, Nia and Lily have wanted cuddles all night the last few days. Make sure you give your pet lots of affection and plenty of cuddles to keep them happy and make them feel loved during each stage of their cycle.
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Give your pet a good balance between exercise and relaxing.
A really important thing to talk about it that your pet might have more or less energy when they are in heat but my girls always seem to be a bit more lethargic and just want to take it easy for the worst of it. However, they still need to go out on daily walks and providing them with enough mental stimulation is vital for keeping them happy.
Keep a close eye on your pet and take it easy if they seem to have a little less energy than normal. We like to give the girls lots of treats and do some indoor training with them to make up for the lack of physical activities when their heat gets too bad.
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Walks during off-peak times and never off the lead.
Another important thing to note is no more trips to the park or running around of the lead while your pet is in heat, as you need to keep her away from all males dogs if you don’t plan on breeding her. The girls hate it when we walk past the park and don’t go in, Lily especially since it is her favourite place to go in the whole world!!
However, they just cannot go when they are in season as there are too many male dogs around and it would cause a massive fuss. You need to remember to never let your pet off the lead when they are in heat and always have a close eye on them when they are out an about, even if they are just in your front garden or backyard.
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Lots of treats and indoor training.
Even though your pet cannot run around outside or interact with male dogs you can still do fun indoor training and give them lots of yummy treats to take their mind off things for a little while. Do fifteen minutes to half an hour of training each day with your pooch if they are feeling up for it and this will give them some much-needed mental stimulation and also some much-needed fun.
Check out our homemade treat recipes so you can have some yummy training treats on hand at all times, as we have our
- Homemade Dehydrated Pork Treats
- Homemade Dehydrated Chicken Treats
- Homemade Dehydrated Liver Treats
- Homemade Dehydrated Lamb Treats
There are so many things you can do to try to make your pet as comfortable as possible when they are in season. My girls love cuddles when they are in heat and I love hopping into bed with them and having an early settle down when I can tell they are feeling a bit down in the dumps.
Thanks for reading this post and remember to always keep a close eye on your pet when they are in heat/season and just be there for them when the worse of it occurs.
I hope you all found this post useful and your pooch can benefit from some of the tips and tricks to elevate some of their discomforts during their heat cycle. If you have any post suggestions or any specific topics you would like me to write about drop a comment down below.
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