Im very confused by my vets advice on my dogs

[Anothernightofnosleep]

I feel pretty stupid posting this because i know i sound totally ridiculous and probably pretty naive but i could really do with some advice.

we have a 3 year old male dog who is not neutered out vet would bot do it as he has anxiety problems and has seen a behaviourist who also told us it could make things worse. He is actually a lovely dog great with our kids etc and as long as you keep him in familiar places you can keep him happy. He was always craving the attention of other dogs but then would toally panic when they came near and end up on a state - so after speaking to the vet we decided to introduce another dog. A female puppy.

the vet advised us to let the female puppy have her first season but send out male dog for a holiday at mother in laws house which he would be happy with as thats one of his happy places 😁 so that was the plan.

we were told to look for bleeding the separate them - at least thats how i understood it.

But its just not going how it was explained to me!

the two dogs adore each other make dog has really chilled out the sleep together play etc it wonderful.

But from about 4.5 months our make dog has been trying to hump the puppy. He was obsessed with licking her “bits” and just constantly at her even waking us up at night to get to her. Vet said this was probably showing dominance so we ignored it.

but then 3 weeks ago it just suddenly stopped he doesnt try anything with her anymore shows not more than a minimal interest in licking etc.

she is 6 months now.

she is acting really oddly and more huggy than normal but we havent noticed any bleeding. Im panicking that she has somehow come into season super early - and our dog was here and that she is pregnant our vet has just repeated the advice he gave before.

Im getting really cold feet about letting her have her first season as i dont feel like i am being great at this at the moment.

has anyone had their dog spayed before the first season? I am thinking of just going to another vet tbh but i dont know if im just being a crazy person about this.

pic of the two little ones in questions just because they are so sweet!

Please don't spay your bitch before her first season.

It's very important for all sorts of reasons which can be researched, like the growth plates closing.
Personally I would not neuter before 18 months when most dogs are physically fully grown.

Get your dog chemically castrated in the meantime!

You would know if she was in season, her vulva will be very swollen and the first week or 2 she will bleed and you will notice it on her bedding and floor. Don't spay her before her first season, as a previous poster said it will affect her growth etc. Personally I wouldn't spay or neuter until 18-24 months especially a male as they a slower to mature than females.
They look so cosy together and it's brilliant your boy has settled with his partner in crime. Ask your breeder when the mum went into season for the first time, that's usually a good indicator. X 🐾🐾

She's way too young to be neutered.

She could be coming into season this early though - just keep an eye out for any bleeding and get ready to separate them ASAP if necessary.

Maybe if she's a bit bigger now she's told your dog off big time so he's backed off? I'm not sure why he's lost interest. I think even if she were pregnant he would still be sniffing etc. as that's what dogs do. My bitch is not neutered and dogs sniff her and lick all the time regardless of season (when she's in season she's on lead and walked away from other dogs anyway).

Ps. The window for getting pregnant is a little after the main bleeding so if you didn't see any blood, it was either very well licked up or she's not been in season yet.

It is entirely possible for bitches to have a season from 4 months of age (especially in smaller breeds) Not all bitches bleed or have obvious seasons.

you need to get her scanned

what breed is she? Smaller breeds are fine to spay earlier

I never noticed our dog have a season. She was spayed at 14 months in the end as we couldn't wait any longer for her to have a season.
Vet said from looking at her vulva she'd definitely had a season, but it must have been silent.

You can't rely on not seeing blood. With some dogs, it's very tiny drops and - as @MerryMarigold says, they can get licked up before you see them.

I would also be concerned she is pregnant.

As others have said, text book seasons and your bitch’s seasons can be very different. Some bitches show no visible signs at all - I have one here!

I know she’s been in season recently because my experienced stud dog was mad for her on the optimum days, but despite being very dog savvy and having bred litters myself, I could have missed it if i didn’t know my boy.

As she was very late to her first season, we watched them carefully at all times and ensured they weren’t left together when no one was watching ant anny time for months really, and she will be spayed next month.

Is one dog a dachshund? If so, which one? Dachshunds shouldn’t be spayed / neutered until 2 years?

(sorry if neither are, the black one just looks very long on the photo!)

Hi sorry for being so late replying we had a bit of an emergency and i ended up having to go away the last week.

We have a vets appointment in a weeks time so hopefully that will help.

we are not 100% sure on the type of dog she is the person who originally had her ( but changed their mind after a few weeks) said they thought she was half beagle half cocker spaniel but we couldnt say for sure.

she is pretty long - she has huge paws compared to my other dog!

i added a couple more pictures of her 😁

she is really healthy and happy at the moment if she was pregnant she would say 4 - 5 weeks i think just based in when the male dog stopped trying. I dont see any major signs at the monent and there has been no obvious signs of a season yet either so we havent moved the male dog to MIL yet.

although if they can show no signs then am stumped.

The vet didnt seem concerned at all when i called but i dint know if thats because he doesnt think she could be pregnant or if hes not concerened if she is 🤔

She is loved and happy either way thats the main thing i hope.

Your vet doesn’t sound great (dominance theory has been fully debunked). Our bitch was spayed at 8 months before her first season and no issues.