Ayla is in season, advice please

Hi, Ayla came into season this morning she is 7 months now so is this about right? She seems a bit quiet today and just wants to be fussed over is this normal behaviour?
Ayla normally gets 2h walk everyday so what can I do to keep her excersied as I'm worried about taking her out incase a entire male comes into contact. She is booked to go into kennels on Friday for a week so I'm also worried about her going although the kennel are more than happy to take her.

Becky x

hi - i wouldnt reccomend walking her while in season

someone with more knowledge about this will advise you about times but i think its 3-4 weeks...

i have heard about male dogs jumping in gardens to get to bitches etc.... so idkeep an eye on her at all timesand keep her supervised....

Tilly has just finished her first season (9 months) & I followed the advice on here. I kept her in for the first 2 weeks, then I did a few short lead walks round the streets at stupid times (very early morning & late at night) by Monday this week I was back on offlead walks (that was 4 weeks from the start date) but put her back onlead when other dogs approached just to be sure & see how she re-acted. Today was the first time I didn't put her back on lead near other dogs & she was fine (no signs of any funny business on either side)
I suppose dogs are different but the first week she slept most of the time. The 2nd week she was really moody & didn't want to be stroked at all she also barked at everything She stopped being naughty completely around the house! Every day I spent about 2 hours training & excercising in the garden. By week 3 the bleeding stopped & she was more like her normal self & is back to being naughty now, plus zoomies have resumed!!

I hope there are no intact males in the kennels surrounding her...the torture!!

Have you got any industrial estates near you? I know they are not particularly interesting for owner or dog, but you could walk her on lead around there. They are usually well away from residential areas so you wouldn't get much (if any) foot traffic, never mind loose dogs.

Thanks for the replies. We live 5 minutes walk from a industrial estate so when her bleeding has stopped I will start by taking her around there.
Luckly our garden is secure and there are no male dogs living near us so she will be safe in the garden. So far today all she has done is sleep and eat only a small amout of her food.

Your bitch couls be at her most fertile when the bleeding stops (think about it!) so this is not a good idea. A bitch is only ready to be impregnated for a short period in her season, which continues after the discharge has stopped. This varies in different bitches, but with mine was usually after 20 days, when the discharge stopped.
Because I have neutered males as well I always knew when my bitches (pre-spay) were ready so I took them out to deserted places, beaches etc apart from then. If you`re not sure when your bitch is fertile, play safe.

Thank you, think I will keep her inside until at least a week after bleeding has stopped. I will then take her out either early morning or late evening when there are not as many dogs about.
I'm also really worried about pyometra as my last dog had this after her season and needed spaying and antibiotics.

There is no right or wrong age to come into season for the first time - most are between 6 and 12 months but some are later (or earlier) than this. Knowing when her dam first came in might give you an indication but 7 months is fine.

I do not agree with keeping them in for an entire month whilst they are in season. You will need to be very careful for at least 4 weeks (the dam of one of mine wasn't ready to stand until day 25 of her season!) however unless she is at her 'peak' I do not see why you can not lead walk round the roads at unsocial hours or as has been suggested, use industrial estates. A lot of Mals I know would go stir crazy if they were kept confined for 2 months every year.

In order to detract from the scent you can wash her well and apply either lavender or vanilla essence to the fur around her back end, both are supposed to help mask the scent.

As an aside, a 2hr walk every day may be a little excessive whilst she is still so young

Why not discuss the best time to spay her with your vet and then at least you won't have to go through it again. My girl got a pyo - we nearly lost her

Thanks, I'll try the lavander as I really dont want to keep her in for a month as I know she will go crazy. I will walk her around the roads and on the industrial estate during unsocial hours, but will keep her on lead. She gets walked twice a day morning then night, each is about 45 mins to an hour. I think we'll cut this down then until she gets older. She hasnt had a walk today and seems happy just to play in the garden.
We're not sure about getting her spayed as we may have a litter from her in the future with my partners Mal but will do all the nessacery health tests first and talk it over with my vet as we got Ayla from a kennels (her last owners dumped her at 14 weeks ) so do not have details of her lines, but I have contacted the kennels and they will get the information and pass it on to me.