Tell me what to look for so that I know Bella is coming into season please.

[fleshmarketclose]

Bella isn't speyed as yet, we have a vets appointment next week to sort that out. Nobody seems to know when she was last in season. Rescue have asked previous owner, with no response, as it needs to be done between seasons. I am completely clueless as to bitches,I didn't even know what a dog's vulva looked like so I have no idea whether Bella is showing signs of coming into season. I am assuming not so far as Eric and any other dogs we have come in contact with haven't been pestering her and there has been no blood. What should I be looking for between now and the vet's appointment? Will the vet be able to do a test to determine when she can be speyed? Any advice? I will ask the rescue to pester the previous owner again obviously but they were told they couldn't remember so not sure that will alter.

I didn't really know exactly what to look for. You probably already know that a season comes roughly every 6 months. When it does happen it's fairly obvious. The vulva swells, there may be some blood, and keep her on a lead! You will see it. She may also stick her tail up more often.

You need to keep checking her vulva so that you know what it looks like. That will help you notice when it starts to swell. Some dogs swell loads, others not at all.

I took in Dog2 at the end of last year knowing she wasn't spayed but not knowing when her last season was. She came into season after living with us for 7 months. Her vulva didn't really swell and she only bled a tiny amount. From the moment we got her I put a light coloured blacket in her bed to make it easier to notice any blood.

Male dogs tend to notice a bitch in season (but some don't). Your dogs behaviour might change too. Both of my dogs started humping everything a lot when they were in season.

My tiny dogs vulva swells up so much it makes me wince. It looks sore (don't know if it is or not)!

Plus the blood, And she becomes a sad needy little shell of a dog!