Help: what to do: New rescue spaniel seasonal bleeding: Help

[foolonthehill]

Ok I know someone out there will be able to help this rookie dog owner.

4 Days ago we adopted a 2-4 year old female springer spaniel from a rescue.
We knew she had had puppies previously and was not spayed. Previous owners had said her season was a couple of weeks ago so rescue were waiting for a few weeks before spaying.

She has been perfect and we already love her.

BUT today she has started to bleed, quite a lot, it's messy, I have small children and don't know what I am doing. Please help...

How to keep her clean?
How to cope in the house?
How to exercise?
how long to avoid intact males...and how do you do this??

I hate excluding her as she is only just getting to know us.

BTW I have lots of children but am on my own...so all exercising will be with many of us and I can't do late night/early morning walks etc.

[midori1999]

She should keep herself clean, but otherwise I would confine her to an area that's easy to clean if you can still spend time with her that way? You can also use a pair of mans boxers (tail through the front!) or buy special 'pants' for in season bitches, although I personally don't like these for a few reasons.

I wouldn't exercise her while she is in season personally, it's not fair to her or to other dog owners, but instead do lots of training and ball games etc in the garden to tire her out/keep her mind busy. I would also be very careful about leaving her in the garden unless she is supervised, as a keen male may well scale a 6ft fence to get at an in season bitch. I would count 4 weeks from the first day of bleeding to be on the safe side.

It would also be worth speaking to the rescue/their vet/a vet if it's possible she may have been a season a few weeks ago, as if that is true (and obviously it may not be) then this could indicate a problem.

[Scuttlebutter]

Hi, Fool, sorry to hear this. Did you adopt from a rescue in the UK? It's virtually unheard of for a rescue not to spay/neuter before adoption goes ahead.

We went through something very similar with a foster bitch recently, and she is staying with us till she has her spay op in mid October. The bitch will be bleeding for around a week to ten days. We just gritted our teeth and kept cleaning - fortunately our downstairs is quite dog friendly, and not too much of a problem. I believe you can get dog nappies - a sort of padded towelling affair that the bitch can wear - have a look on Google. If this is the only season she is going to have with you, and the only unspayed bitch you have/will have, it may not be worth the expense/bother, but I guess it depends on your attitude to mess as well. We certainly didn't find it too onerous and we wash things like dog beds very regularly anyway.

It's very important your bitch is NOT exercised around entire males for at least three weeks. After the bleeding dies down, is when she is at her most receptive, and we found that even our neutered males were very interested and there were lots of attempted humpings.

You will need to either confine her to the garden or find somewhere very secure to exercise her. You should also bear in mind that male dogs will be able to smell her from at least a mile away, so please ensure your back garden or anywhere she goes for a wee is VERY secure, and no Romeos can break in/jump over walls/tunnel under.

We erred on the side of caution and did not resume full "social" walking till four weeks had passed, though by then she was going out regularly very early in the morning when nobody else was around. It's also an idea at the end of the season to ensure all soft furnishings and the dog are given a good wash/bath to remove any lingering traces of scent. Once season has finished, you then have to wait around three months optimally to have her spayed. Is the resuce contributing to the cost of this?

The reason for this delay is the dog's cycle, and after the season, there is still a lot of blood flow around the uterus. As hormones decrease, blood flow decreases so three months on, is low point of cycle when safest to spay. However, what you should also be aware of is after season, is the danger time for pyometra, an infection of the womb, which is lethal. Unspayed bitches are most at risk, and risk rises with age/number of seasons. Keep a VERY close eye on her and whisk her to the vet if you see any discharge, or she is off colour/high temp once season is finished.

For secure dog exercising, see if your local greyhound charity can recommend somewhere (most have somewhere secure off lead you can use), try a dog training school, or the other option is a local riding school - if they have an indoor manege, this would be perfect as secure with a good floor. Many riding schools are happy to hire out for an hour especially during week days when business is quieter.

I know it feels like a faff when it happens, but it really is over very soon.

Good luck

[foolonthehill]

Thanks. I knew you'd be founts of wisdom!

The rescue was reputable and in uk she was waiting for operation and choice was to either foster and then to us or straight to us...no foster available so straight to us. in their defence they had been told she had had season 4 weeks ago and had booked her for spaying....were caught out by inaccuracy of info I guess.

My garden is small but fortunately very secure (though I'll be taking no chances!!) 6 foot walls and surrounded by many other gardens, no access from street and no intact males near...phew.

My main problem is the little children. We only have 2 rooms downstairs...kitchen is hard fl;oor so that's ok