Bitches in Season advice on the stages?

Can anyone give the stages of a bitches season from beginning to end please?
For example:-
What to look for when it may start?
When they are receptive to mate?
What and how long vulva is swollen and pink?
How long bleeding lasts?
When safe to walk outdoors again?
What to look for to know its safe again?
And anything else I may of missed.
Thanks

I am sure that someone is replying to your questions as I write

May I suggest that you buy The Book of the Bitch by Evans and White? This will answer all your questions, plus some you may not have thought of

Thanks for the advice SB will do that. I have only 3 more days till our dog show and am getting palpatations its never going to end. 4th week of her first so dont have any clues to how long she will go.

i think that depends on the dog your not on your own holly is only on d6........

I am paraphrasing from my trusty Evans & White (long time since I have had an intact bitch )

Pro-oestrus - lasts 9 days average. The vulva is swollen & there is a blood-stained discharge. Attractive to males bitch will not allow mating. (Test for this by dabbing vulva with a white tissue to see if blood is present)

Oestrus - lasts average 9 days. Bitch will accept the male. Vulva is enlarges & turgid. Discharge straw-coloured. Ovulation occurs about 2 days after start of oestrus. (High risk of pregnancy)

Met-oestrus - lasts average 90 days. This stage occurs in the unmated bitch & hormone levels equivalent to those seen in pregnancy are present. During this stage bitch may shpw signs of false pregnancy.

Anoestrus - variable, but average 75 days. This is the period of sexual inactivity between seasons.

Seasons as such usually last 21 days. Bitch should be separated from intact males for 28 days to be on the safe side.

How have you estimated the length of her season? If you have accurately assessed the start then she should not be showing signs at four weeks. If this is her first season then her vulva may remain slightly enlarged. It will probably never be as 'tight' as it was pre-season. Is there any discharge?

Well I walked Keena on the lead all throughout her season and it was fine so I thought I was very lucky...just didn't realise it's when they stop bleeding is when all the interest starts!

so when I thought it was done and over with that was when it was worse and we had one male dog that wouldn't leave us on one walk and he was humping the air next to her going crazy! So that is when I would say they are most receptive! Although bless her she didn't know what it was all about! She just thought he was trying to play. He on the other hand knew different! So be very careful in the final stages.

good post sb i have read some can go 4 weeks but most are 3.i think it depends on the dog also could it be longer with it being the first?

Yes she has been bleeding very red blood but today it's going brownish and she is still very much swollen.
Thankyou for taking the time to get your book out thats very kind of you.

I'm thinking it's right when the show will be on that she is going to be at her most receptive unfortunatly

Think you might be right. She is in her 4th week from when I first noticed her vulva going pink so maybe I have calculated wrong and started counting too soon.