# What To Expect During the First Heat



## pippa31

So...after reading lots of articles, talking with our trainer, talking with our vet, and reading posts here, we are 95% sure we are going to have Pippa go through her first heat before we spay her. I have NEVER gone through this with my dogs before (I always spayed at 6 months). Can anyone let me know what I am in for during this first heat cycle? ???


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## littlebit

My 11 month old V, Kona, is going through hers right now. She has been mopey, slightly less active, a little more clingy, and DRIVING ME CRAZY lol.


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## redbirddog

http://redbirddog.blogspot.com/2009/12/female-vizsla-heat-cycle-explained.html

Hope this article can help. My guess is female owners understand this better than us guys.

RBD


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## KashagLake

Hey! We let Holly go through her first heat too...and I had never experienced it before either & honestly had no idea what i was doing! But we got it all figured out and wasn't that bad... we ended up buying little boy undies (tail goes through the hole) & use pantyliner's for her, very successful...you can also buy diapers for them & use a liner or disposable diapers. When shes coming into heat you'll noticed a lot of swelling in her rear end...Holly started to swell then i think a day or two later she went into heat. Get lots of old towels for her crate...I ended up changing her bedding about 3 times a day (I was a bit anal with the cleanliness of everything) Yes their attitude changes, Holly was tired, less active and was big time clingy. Since her heat she has transformed into the sweetest dog & she has matured; we think letting her have her first heat brought the best out in her. Let me know if you have any further questions!


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## PumpkinsMom

My Vizsla (Pumpkin) is 14 months old and is going through her first heat cycle. She's been bleeding for 2 full weeks. Is this normal? She's also been very cranky (whining all the time, which is extremely abnormal) and she seems to be in pain, or at least uncomfortable. Do they cramp and go through the same type of symptoms that we do?

She also vomited yesterday, about 8 hours after she ate breakfast, and her food seemed to be entirely undigested. Is it common to get sick -- either from the hormones or from licking herself clean?

I'm just worried about her mood, because she seems to be depressed! Any response would help out. She's my first intact female, and I don't want to mess anything up with her or inappropriately ignore abnormal symptoms.


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## flynnandlunasmom

Pippa's mom, if you do a search for "Need help, first heat" there is a very recent thread about this because a few of us on the forum all had our girls go into heat around the same time. There's a lot of great info.


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## flynnandlunasmom

Actually, I should have addressed my comment about searching the other talk thread to to Pumpkin's mom, not Pippa's mom.


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## Angie NG

We are very unsure on the decision about letting Bella have her first season or getting her spayed. Our vet did say she
was happy to do it after 6 months but after reading these comments and many more threads on this subject I'm not so sure. It is a decision not to be taken lightly as I am aware of the risks of not letting her have her first season, decisions decisions hey!! :


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## threefsh

*PumpkinsMom* - 2 weeks of bleeding, cranky, off her food - sounds like a typical first heat to me! 

*Angie NG* - I highly recommend waiting for your pup to go through her first couple of heats before you get her spayed. We have compared Riley to several sisters who were spayed at around 7-8 months and they are so different in their development! Riley is shorter than one sister, but they were shocked to discover that she weighs the same. When you compared them side-by-side, her sister was much taller/longer, but her chest was also substantially smaller. Riley is also faster than most of her altered siblings (impressive, given her knee injury).

Here is my blog post on our first heat with Riley: http://www.ltlor.blogspot.com/2012/06/vizsla-heat-cycle-females-perspective.html


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## AKGInspiration

About a month leading up to the first heat you will notice a change in the V of the Vizsla (ha, no pun intended).. more swelling and looseness.. totally normal. You might notice other dogs are beginning to notice her more too. This can last quite a while as girls can go slowly into their first heat. You will find she might get more moody, restless, whiny, needy, mopy, and just unsettled. When she goes into heat you will understand why she was like that the month before lol. Just how it goes.

During heat I find my girl has less energy and sleeps quite a bit... and still shows signs of all of the above. This is the big thing to remember, when you first notice that bleeding/dripping _mark it on calendar_ . Count 21 days out from that and you have an estimate on her cycle. Some can be slightly longer or shorter but most follow that routine. These 21 days your safest bet is to have her ON LEASH. She will not be her normal minding self, and you can't blame her for that. So don't take chances. Watch her when she is outside, even in a "secure" fence. She not only will be hormonal but neighbor dogs pick up on it too and might come knocking. It's amazing how males will travel for girls... and I have known many girls to get lost when they are in heat because their ears just magically turn off.  So play it safe please and keep her heavily monitored for those 21 days... Especially after the first week around day 11.. when they typically are most fertile. 

As far as care while in heat.. We bought several pairs of the cotton fancy pants... we put liners in and keep things clean. In the house she wears them.. not in the yard or her crate. You may want to give her more crate time than usual so she can have a break from the pants and take care of business. 

Hope that helps, I never found Luna being in heat to be that big of a deal lifestyle wise. Kinda enjoyed the lower exercise requirements. She is happy to wear her fancy pants and otherwise is pretty normal.


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