This is a post that came from a behaviourist local to me, which was very sensible
💋 IS YOUR FEMALE DOG DUE TO COME ONTO SEASON OR CURRENTLY IN SEASON? 💋
Did you know, you shouldn’t walk her where other dogs will be off lead? You should also try to avoid other dogs as much as you can. In other words, please stick to pavement/street walks at quiet times.
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🗣️ “WHY?”
Your female will be releasing pheromones signalling their availability and this can significantly affect male dogs, entire AND neutered.
Not just male dogs either. Some female dogs can behave more aggressively towards in season bitches.
Every time your female dog urinates, they leave a scent-rich breadcrumb-like trail of desire. Even as they walk around, she leaves a scent trail (skin particles, hair and scent particles in the air) that dogs may pick up and abandon their owners to follow.
Keeping your bitch on lead does not stop them leaving this scent trail. This is why you should walk where other dogs will be on lead- such as by a road. Being on lead will stop a dog following their nose after you bitch, which could take them into a road and cause an accident (This sadly does happen!).
Dogs have an amazing scent detecting ability, tracking the scent on the ground or by picking up particles in the wind.
You could be 1 kilometre upwind from an owner whose blissfully unaware you’re there, so is unable to avoid you! Suddenly their dog could catch the scent of your bitch and take off, ignoring their recall while trying to track your bitch down.
This happens and it’s so stressful for owners who have no warning and no chance of keeping up with their running dog.
In some instances, dogs can run into roads and get hurt.
You may not even be aware, having walked from park to street an hour earlier.
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🗣️ “ISNT THAT A TRAINING ISSUE? MALE DOGS SHOULDNT BE OFF LEAD IF THEY DON’T HAVE 100% RECALL?”
If only it were that simple!
What do we use to motivate a recall?
The primary reinforcers for recall are food and toys 🏀 🍖 🐶
The reason any species eats is to survive is to have the energy to find a mate, to persuade them to mate via behaviour rituals and then have energy to do the ‘deed’ itself.
Do we really expect a dog who isn’t starving hungry to ignore an in season bitch just so he can eat a few treats?!
A few treats is unlikely motivating enough, unless that dog has zero or low sex drive or they are so desperate for food they feel like their life depends on it.
I don’t starve my dogs to get training results and unfortunatly, both my neutered and entire male have a sex drive if presented with the opportunity- so that rules that out.
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Well, what about toys?
Dogs are more motivated to play when other resources are in abundance. Finding a mate is a rarity, unless it’s a stud dog who puts Peter Stringfellow to shame.
Unless a dog has been raised to value their toy/toys above all else- then play will likely be put on the back burner if there’s opportunity to procreate.
I personally want toy motivated dogs, not toy obsessed dogs. I’m not going to make my dogs toy obsessed and hijack their genuine enjoyment of walks (causing subsequent potential physical and health problems) on the off chance we encounter an in-season bitch.
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😱 FEAR / PAIN ⚡️
The only thing that will likely over ride sexual motivation (in dogs who have a sex drive!) is avoiding an aversive.
You can’t breed if you’re dead or injured- so these pathways in the brain can override those involved in procreation.
So, yes you could motivate a recall away from an in-season bitch using aversives (Ecollar, prong, bollocking the dog for not responding) if you wanted- but that’s not how I motivate my dogs to respond to me personally.
I’d rather put my energy into educating owners on making sensible choices for all dogs involved than risking emotional and physical fall out by using aversives, just incase they come across an in-season bitch.
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🧠 SWITCHING OFF 🧠
If we reflect on the sex education we had back in school- you may remember learning how blood is diverted away from the brain to the sexual organs in preparation for sex.
If you think back to any time you were full of lust, you were probably a little less on the ball than normal.
We even have sayings such as; ‘thinking with his insert choice of word ‘ to describe how men can make poor decisions when they have sex on the brain..... and it's not just men that are guilty of this.
Think about the last nature documentary you watched. Males can fight to the death to mate- so in some instances, even fear and pain is not aversive enough. The goal to procreate sometimes becomes all consuming!
So, when a dog who has a sex drive comes across a bitch in season, or the scent of a bitch in season, we can’t expect them to be in full control of their frontal cortex processes (that's the executive function part of the brain).
For some dogs, it can take a small, faint whiff for them to become focused on a single task (the lady herself), for others it may take a deep inhale while their nose is inserted right under the bitches of a bitch. You just don't know the saliency each male dog is triggered by- hence why you should not let your bitch get close to dogs or leave their scent where dogs will be off lead.
Once 'triggered' by the scent, male dogs can switch off, fail to respond to their recall and generally require physical retrieval.
It can take them a while to calm down even after being removed from the scene. Some dogs will even run back to find the bitch when let off lead later- crossing huge distances to find her.
Please think about that when you cross the main road from your local park with your in season bitch.
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🗣️ “WHY NOT GET YOUR DOG NEUTERED THEN?”
For dogs that struggle to switch off from their quest of searching for a mate, even when no stimuli (scent or presence of in season bitch) is present- this is a consideration to make.
However, for dogs who are responsive to owners UNTIL the scent (urine) or presence of an in season bitch - suggesting an irreversible operation that can have health an behaviour implications as a solution is hardly fair.
Plus, neutered males can still be very interested in in-season bitches and some will even mount and tie with them, given the chance. My neutered male Tooey has tried to mount an in-season bitch with a concerning level of confidence! Luckily, he was right next to me so I could intervene swiftly.
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Please remember, owners of entire males have to manage their dogs 52 weeks of the year, maintaining a recall so they don’t roam and cause a nuisance.
In contrast, owners of unneutered bitches have to make routine and management changes for a mere 8 weeks a year.
To summarise:
💧 Your in season bitch leaves a scent trail where ever she goes, that can be detectable by dogs for hours after.
Dogs can abandon owners tracking the scent trying to find your dog. They may go up to other dogs in the hope that they are your dog.
Thus why you should walk your in season bitch at quiet times in locations where other dogs will frequent less, and be on lead- such as on street walks.
💥 🤛 Amped up boys may be more confrontational to other dogs or people and other bitches may be hostile to your bitch.
You wouldn’t judge two male sea lions fighting over a harem of ladies on a beach- so why expect different from another species?!
In season bitches can also become understandably aggressive when harassed, as they’re only receptive (and more willing) for the final week of their season.
It’s really not nice for in season bitches to be paraded around and getting unwanted attention. Some get very anxious about this.
🩸 A heads up, your bitch is most receptive after bleeding stops- so ceasing to bleed doesn’t mean back out to off lead walks with loads of dogs. Extra distance from other dogs is needed.
😩 All the hoo-haa involved with owners trying to grab their amorous, fixated and persistent male can be very stressful for all involved, which can lead to your bitch developing anxieties about other people or dogs.
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ARE ALL MALE DOGS SEXUALLY MOTIVATED?
Nope.
Male dogs can differ in sex drive. Some will be interested after the faintest whiff, some become interested after they get their nostrils up the britches of the bitch. Others could be slapped around the face with a vagina in peak oestrus and not be interested.
Just because you've met a male dog that wasn't interested, it doesn't mean all will be like this. Remember, you don't know what happens in the trail of scent you've left behind you. Just because you didn't see chaos, it doesn't mean your in season bitch hasn't caused it.
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In the past year I have encountered more in season bitches than ever before on walks.
This is either because owners don’t know, or they simply don’t care!
There’s no IFs or BUTs. If your bitch is coming into season or in season- avoid other dogs.
👄 GIVE OTHER OWNERS A HEADS UP!
If you encounter a dog - call ahead to their owner so they can keep their dog away! Because as soon as those nostrils pick up the scent of desire- it’s game over.
The amount of times I have identified a bitch as in season because of the body language I observe in my dog after he’s sniffed her. The owner is then like “oh yeah, she is”.
I find this so unbelievably frustrating. With warning given allowing me to avoid- I now have to deal with a sexually frustrated dog (stressed) who needs 5-10 minutes to calm down once physically removed from the scene. I’m lucky he won’t travel back and can continue with his walks once out of scent and sight range. Many others aren’t this fortunate and some dogs really struggle to calm down.
If your bitch is in season you wouldn’t generally be allowed to take them to:
❌ Training classes
❌ Dog comeptitions (agility/shows etc)
❌ Daycare
❌ Boarding
No sensible professional dog walker would in their right mind take them on a group walk and some secure fields will also not allow in season bitches.
You may find your groomer refuses to groom them too!
This is all for good reason. With this weight of canine professionals putting these boundaries in place- I really hope dog owners pay attention as to their reasons.
The scent (of in season bitches) causes chaos which is challenging to avoid- because you can't see scent in order to avoid it.
YOU however can help avoid contributing to chaos by keeping your in season bitch well away from other dogs and not walking them in places off lead dogs will encounter them or their scent.
Please be a considerate and sensible dog owner and please keep your in season bitch well away from dog walking hotspots.
Please stick to street walks, quiet times and ask other owners to give your dog a wide berth.
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