seasons - is bleeding a first sign?

Is the bleeding the first sign of a season?

If Takara doesn't come into season for another 6 weeks I don't want to keep her attached to my side for those whole 6 weeks plus her season, so what is the very first sign, when should I begin to keep her safe from the boys?

My aunt has a horse so am getting a horse lead to do recall with, but want to make sure she's safe from any horny male while she's in season.

Do you know what I mean? When will I know she's come into season straight away?

You should begin to see some swelling around the area of the vagina, it increases in size before a season begins. Not all dogs bleed when in season, one of our dogs has clear seasons, where although she is very swollen, there is no blood or discharge. You will probably also find that she licks at herself a fair bit. I dont find a huge problem taking the dogs out when they are in season, i try to walk somewhere pretty remote so that they can still get out.

The only sign I had of Teagan being in season was she wee'd whilst on a walk, and then the bleeding started.
(She never wee'd on walks before).
There was no swelling, or any other indications.

Hi Lottie ..before Takara comes in season her hormone levels will change , many bitches secrete hormone in their urine and give off a scent that is attractive to dogs.. so even thought Takara may not appear to be in season other dogs may be 'interested' in her.. The first signs that allert you to the start of a season will probably be the swelling of the vulva then a discharge..but not always a discharge as Abbey says. In some bitches the discharge is very heavy in others hardly anything at all. I am sure you will be aware when the time comes

My girls swelled up quite considerably a couple of weeks before they bled, and went into manic depressive mode

Harvey behaved with them for about a week then I removed him for about a week and then introduced him back to them. He let me know when was the right time to remove him as he was like a dog posessed but by the time I let him mingle with them again he was quite calm

Yep same as anne, Keisha swells for a few weeks before season then i am constantly checking her back end and annoying her... she hates then me cos she hormonal I say stop keish we all girlies here lol

Florrie was swollen for a cou-ple of MONTHS! before she came onto her first season, i didnt even notice any blood when she first came on last week i didnt even notice any blood she was just very quiet and wanted to sleep with the cats, then i noticed a few dots of blood.
As Abbey said some bitches can have, silent seasons...

oooh.

Well she tends to get a 'big bum' when she needs a number 2 (or that's how I know!) lol so as long as it's very different to that.
At the moment she's having mood swings, no blood but she is going to the loo A LOT!

Oh wouldn't it be nice not to have to clean up after her? I bet that doesn't happen lol.

I really hope I'm not too dim to tell! Will I be able to tell? At the moment, she's not offlead at all anyway as I'm retraining her recall so I doubt she'll be offlead before her season starts. It's just, I don't want to take her to training and drive all the dogs mad I won't be liked much! lol

Get her a pair of doggie knickers for the house, means your not constantly cleaning up after her

These doggie pants are great (they are made by Mikki) the only thing you have to watch is the elastic straps can make the groin area a bit sore, i sewed soft pieces of material onto the elastic to pad it out.