Pet Friend

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Emma's Puppy Heat

Emma just finished her first puppy heat at 14 months old. She will be able to be spayed now that she has had her first heat, advised by her breeder, Lin Hainlen. Lin and other Rhodesian Ridgeback breeders seem to agree, that spaying should not be done until after the first heat. They say the risk of have an incontinent female is almost nothing, were as, incontinence is common when spaying is done before the first heat. So, Emma has a surgical date in May. We have all taken the week free of activities so that we can be at home with her, and let her rest and heal.

I thought the heat cycle would be messy and a problem with dogs gathering around our home. Neither was the case. The first 15 days, there was a little blood, so Emma wore a doggy diaper with disposable liners. It was very simple, though a little expensive. After the first couple of days Emma would bring her diaper to me to put it on when she entered the house. Emma is a house dog, in that she is where ever I am, either out-of-doors or inside. When I am working, she is on a bed in the same room. There are clean beds in every room in the house, and on the porches.

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