Age of first heat ?????

[Muckdogs]

Alright, never having owned a female before, I am admittedly unversed in the natural cycle of things. That being said, I have a potentially crazy thing happening at my house.

Within the last two days, my 17 week old female has started emitting a rather strange odor. Pungent, musky, almost gland like and persistent. Stinks up the whole room. Definitely not dirty dog/wet dog/pissy dog odor. I know what those things smell like. This is different.

Here's another factor. My male is acting very strangely. When we let them out of their crates, instead of taking off like he normally does, he goes up on his back legs and stickes his head in her crate and sniffs until I drag him away. Also, he has been a lot more interested than usual in planting his nose in, well, you know where.

I have not seen any spotting and it seems to me extraordinarily unlikely that such a young pup can be coming into season. But, can anyone tell me, honestly, if it is possible or if they have heard of such a thing.

Any ideas regarding this or other answers. Originally, I thought of parvo. I worked at a vets long enough to know the smell of a parvo pup, and originally was worried. She is vaxed and has no signs. Eating great, drinking tons, no energy loss whatsoever, etc.. so I think parvo is unlikely.

One other thing on this note that may or may not be pertinent. She did have a bout of diahrrea since Tuesday morning. But, I believe that is becasue she had her first pig ear as it happened right after that. A couple of cans of pumpkin firmed it up. But, the diarrea coupled with the smell made me think of parvo immediately.

[Miabella]

Are you sure it's not anal gland? Because your description of the stink fits it to a T!

[Muckdogs]

I thought of that and it may be possible. Maybe what has happened is this. Anal glands are usually blown(expressed) when the dog craps. But, it is my understanding that only firm craps will do the trick becasue of the pressure that must be applied to them from the inside (gosh, how I miss the clinic days of clogged up dalmations -> those are the worst). Maybe, because she had the runs for a few days, the glands were not getting expressed and they filled. Finally, they may have just blown in the crate from overpressure. Definitely in the crate because I can't get the smell out of it, even with clorox. Come to think of it, I did see her drag her butt a few times. Never made the connection.

Does this sound like a reasonable explanation?

I'd still like to know the approximate age for the first heat for future segregation purposes.

[Miabella]

Sounds reasonable to me!

I believe the earliest is generally 6 months, although 5 months can happen. But some females don't have their first heat until 12-14 months.

[LynnS]

Bella has expressed her anal glands for no good reason (in the living room) and the smell was just as you described - that coupled with butt dragging makes this likely. I do not think it is possible for a female to come into season at that young of age.

[spidey]

Sounds like anal glands to me, too. It's fairly easy to learn how to express them at home (let me add - in the bathtub, with shampoo at the ready!), and this is something you may want to get into the habit of doing, since impacted anal glands are a big basket of no-fun. Some dogs just don't express them when defecating, regardless of stool consistency - whether this is because of a minor deformity in the gland itself, or an unusually thick fluid consistency, who knows, but I do know that some dogs have chronic anal gland trouble even when they have high-volume, firm stools.

[BostonRott]

Several thoughts:

Heat cycles don't really smell.

She's probably undergoing normal hormonal changes as she grows/matures that will interest your male from time to time.

First heat cycle varies with the bloodlines and the dog's individual maturity rate, but a good rough guess is 8-10mos. You might want to ask the breeder when her girls usually come in. :D

[Muckdogs]

;)

[Judi W]

Puppy bitches get vaginitis easily and it usually resolves itself with maturity. It does seem to intrigue the boys as well.

Keep an eye on her and watch for a discharge. That is the more likely culprit

[Mattweiser]

Muck,

My last bitch pup (Mal), used to express her anal glands often (every day in the crate)... yes NASTY....

it was a drive issue... welcome to the world of "my cup runneth over"!!!

:)