Help! My normally lovely dog is driving me crazy...

[GoddessofSuburbia]

Before I begin, please don't anyone flame me- I've never posted on here before, and I'm a bit scared!

I'm beginning to feel a bit at the end of my tether, and I could do with a bit of help or advice. My dog is 18 months old, and usually very good, albeit bouncy. Normally she has one 4-5 mile walk a day, but this last week we haven't been able to do so, as she's in season. She was booked to be spayed on the day she started, but the vet advised that we wait until after it passes. I've been doing lots of playing with her in the house, as well as teaching new tricks in order to attempt to keep her occupied. She's a jack russell cross and scarily intelligent, so this has been fairly successful so far.

The problem is she won't stop whining apart from when she's in her crate. This is a very new thing, literally it's only happened in the last few days. She's also desperate to be literally next to the cat, despite the cats reluctance to have her glued to him 24 hours a day. Hes an old boy, and whilst he is patient with her, needs a break from the constant playing/ear washing/thorough sniffing he gets! We're trying to ignore her whining, as she doesn't need anything that we can see- she has food and water available, and she doesn't need to go out for a wee, and rewarding her when she's quiet. It's a strategy worked well when she was a puppy and discovered the joy of barking for barking's sake, so I'm hoping it works in this situation.

Does anyone have any ideas of what more I can do? It's absolutely horrible watching her pace and appear to be distressed. I feel like I'm being such a bad owner...

[Skinheadmermaid]

You're not a bad owner. This is normal behaviour for a dog in heat. She's feeling out of sorts and is probably bored as she hasn't been walked. Another week and she should be back to her usual self.

[Skinheadmermaid]

You can walk her by the way, just keep her on lead and away from any parks. Late at night is probably the best time.

[JustMe1990]

I don't want to cause any offence here, we all have our own opinions, however, I have an entire bitch and I would never recommend walking in heat!

There are more entire males around than you think, they could well be off lead and if they smell a bitch in heat they probably will run over and attempt to mate no matter how obedient they are usually.
Hormones are powerful things.

An entire male and a bitch in heat is a bad combination, neither dog will be quite 'itself', you can't accurately predict how they may behave.

I walked my bitch just as she was coming into heat once (I didn't realise), a male that she usually is very sweet with was VERY interested in her, he followed her constantly, trying to sniff at her, getting really in her face. She got very nasty indeed, snarling and air snapping.
Totally out of character for my bitch who is usually very friendly and patient with everyone, including rude, 'in your face', boisterous dogs.
The male continued regardless until his owner got him.

An entire male will find the presence of a bitch in heat that they can't mate intensely frustrating, it really isn't fair to put them through it imo.

[GoddessofSuburbia]

In desperation, I just took her out for a quick walk around the block. It's not normally something I'd do, but given it's dark already here, and blimmin' freezing, I guessed there wouldn't be many people with dogs around. Thankfully I was right, but I was twitchy until we got back. Hopefully she'll settle a bit now...

[Skinheadmermaid]

I would agree JustMe but as OP said her dog was a jack russell cross i'm just guessing she's big enough to pick up if they saw another dog. If she was a newfoundland it would be harder

[crapcrapcrapcrap]

I honestly see no problem with walking a Jack Russell cross when it's in season - unless a dog is too big to scoop up in your arms if necessary, there's no issue. Obviously kept on lead and away from hordes of other dogs. My pup is in heat and we've walked right through, albeit on lead, and only a couple of times I've had to referee because off lead dogs have been too interested to the extent that she was uncomfortable with their presence. Walking briskly on with her and explaining to other owners why we're out stopping is fine.

It might be different if I only had access to one busy park or something, but otherwise I don't see the need for her to suffer being incarcerated!

[RandomMess]

Perhaps we should design and market a "bitch in season" dog coat!!!

[hoochymama1]

Thanks for this thread Just coming to the end of hoochypups first season and its been ok. Walked her on lead, mostly in the park. It was hard to predict how busy it would be with other dogs, but we had no problems. Very few whole dogs.
Once or twice interested whole dogs, but able to pick her up as she is a westie
The breeder recommend to me that dpup have two seasons before she is spayed. Any thoughts on this ?

[Aked]

Hoochymama, the sooner the better. They lose the protective benefits of spaying after three seasons. Each season increases the risk of mammary cancer later in life. Some vets will recommend spaying even before a first season.

[crapcrapcrapcrap]

No time to go into the whys and wherefores but after the first season gives maximum benefit on the basis of current evidence. Other vets will have their own ideas but that's mine :)