Pyrenees Mountain Dog?????

[golfbravo]

Probably not the best dog to be given as a gift as they grow so big but this happened to us last summer!!

French friends gave us a puppy and she is now 9 months and is in heat!!

We've never had a dog before!! How long will it last? How long do we have to keep her isolated to avoid pregnancy?

All helpful suggestions welcome!!

Get her spayed afterwards.

Well that's another question. Someone told me we should wait until she has been on heat twice!!

How long does it last?

There is NO need to wait till she's been in heat twice.

Any vet will tell you that, too.

Spaying does NOT stunt their growth. That's a myth.

What it does is prevent unwanted pets AND reproductive cancers in your bitch, thus prolonging her life.

Ditto what expat said. Usually lasts about 3 weeks but can be longer - most fertile time generally starts about 10 days in but this can vary so don't take any chances!

My mum had a lovely pyrenean bitch - she was spayed very young and had no problems.
Oh they're just so gorgeous and furry

Beautiful majestic breed. Definately keep her away from males for 3 weeks (including no unsupervised play in the garden). As for spaying, it does not necessarily stunt growth, actually it can have the opposite effect by making the hind legs grow quicker than the front legs creating an unbalance in the spine. In smaller dogs this is generally not a problem but in larger dogs (or huge dogs like the PMD), that have hereditary hip conditions, this could cause problems. Vets are not hip or skeletal specialists so I would give the PMD Breed Club a call and ask their advice on early neutering. Also ask if early spaying will have an effect on her coat - in my breed neutering ruins the coat making it very difficult to groom.

imbalance