Thanks Merlinsmum oh wow no not familiar at all which was why I was wondering. Half an hour or more But after that do they seperate normally?

Heck neither wonder Bitkin mentioned a book and standing around whistling

I certainly don't expect it to happen, have been very careful the last couple of days especially in case she's getting to the receptive stage, mainly walking through the town in the evenings once the shops are shut, no dogs around there.

Tupac2legs, I certainly wasn't thinking I would get into that situation, heaven forbid, eeek just pondering as I walked, although I take her to the park I'm always very careful and we head off if we see a dog.

Yes they do - of course The male's swelling goes down after his job is done, and they part.

Recommendation: The Book of the Bitch is great, everything you need to know about all that stuff and your girl's reproductive system, even if you don't want to breed.

Would I recommend it to anyone who has a female dog? Yes, even if they are going to spay their girl.

I grew up with only female dogs in our family - Merlin is the first male. It was quite usual for us not to take our girl/s out at all during a season but we did have plenty of our own space back then.

The stories of male dogs setting up camp outside are true! But it tends to happen much less these days, if at all, with fewer stray dogs and more neuterings.

Nevertheless, a male dog CAN smell an in-season bitch from a great distance. If entire males are kept in the same home as in-season girls (separated!) they may go off their food, howl and whine and pine, chew through doors, leap tall buildings at a single bound, halt speeding bullets, etc etc just to get to the laydeeeees

For this reason many (good) breeders keep either dogs, or bitches, but not both. It can be too risky to prevent accidental matings, and where there's a willy, there's a way

That's really interesting merlinsmum, thanks for the info. I wonder how I got to this age without knowing that Isn't the internet great, can learn so much from it. I can see me trying to have a sneaky peak at dogs as I go past now see if I can spot anything

I'll have a google for the book even though Lana is definitely getting done this year. My previous dog was a bitch as well, I can't see me ever wanting a male dog, the thought of them lying on their backs with their bits on show put me off hahaha

I had no problem with Lana's last season either, it must be because so many dogs are done nowadays and as you say no strays going about.

The dogs trying to get to a bitch sound like the Milk Tray man trying to get to his woman.

Sadly taking a bitch in season out for a walk & allowing her to run free offlead in a public park is NOT a laughing matter. Even the most obedient bitches can & do become disobedient when they are in season.

There is no 100% safe way of walking an in season bitch unless you have access to dog free secure areas & letting an in season bitch off lead is a big no no

Wouldn't have to be a big dog either, entire"street"dogs(& even some castrated ones)are usually aggressive to other dogs & humans around in season bitches, the most aggressive are the most successful ones.

The middle week is usually when the bitch is most receptive, but all bitches are different & bitches can be mated even when they appear to have stopped being in season after 21 days & have puppies

Totaly agree and tbh I have been surprised by some of the posts on this thread!!!

I have seen a boxer dog leap his 8 foot fence to get out and cry at the door of my friends dog when she was in heat

I know of someone online whos bitch was in a fenced in run in her garden when a dog broke into the garden and the bitch backed herself right up to the fence to get herself preggers to this male

I have seen the effects on the males when they are getting the scent of where an in season bitch has been walked - the stress and the amount of weight they loose over that time

I have seen the sstresses in the bitch being constantly on the lookout for males to chase off - or later on to flirt with

Personaly I would not be walking around other dogs - its not fair on your girl, or on the other dogs and not worth the risk - just because there IS a morning after pill it shouldnt be used as a contriceptive

Yup, I am a little concerned about the carefree attitude here. OP, you may think the worst case scenario is that your bitch allows a dog to mate her and off you trot for the morning after pill from the vet, but what about the other potential situations? I imagine mating itself is not 100% risk free - if your girl is just a medium-sized mixed breed then what if a large/giant breed decides to come along and mate her? Her hormones may say yes but what about potential injury that could be caused to her by this unnatural combination?
Also, you're letting her off-lead - she's recalling so far but when she's at her most receptive you cannot guarantee she won't be just as desperate to mate as the local unneutered dogs. What if she runs off to mate and gets lost? Runs across a busy road to an entire male on-lead the other side? Runs over to a dog-aggressive dog on-lead? These are just the issues that affect you, what about the effect it has on males in the area? As said above, males can be driven to distraction just by the scent of a female in season having been walked there earlier. We had a similar discussion on another dog forum and even sniffer dogs with all their traned self-restraint are apparently put off by the scent - someone recalled how they found themselves with a sniffer dog practically glued to their leg on a train and had to explain that they had a bitch in heat back home that the dog could obviously smell on his trousers! This scent might cause an ordinarily well-trained male to go off on the trail of it and what if that trail led out across a busy road?

To simply say "Oh well, if it happens it happens" is totally irresponsible and selfish when there are so many potential risks. Not to mention, I imagine that letting your female be mated could possibly trigger off a phantom pregnancy even if the morning after pill was given, and may potentially effect the male's behaviour if it was his first time mating a dog. Also I wouldn't count on the injection being 100% effective, if we can't get human birth control 100% effective then I imagine the dog versions aren't either - a quick Google is coming up with a few figures, some say 9%, but some say as low as 80%. Why risk it?

I used to not walk the bitch if dogs were interested. I found dogs are only interested in the fertile period anyway.

I dont walk mine when she is in season

My current dog is interested all through a bitches season even though he's castrated but the real danger time is when the bitch is eager too & doesn't say no. My current bitch at the right time in her season would literally try to goard my last old boy to rape her at this time showing him what to do & then backing up & offering it to him on a plate. Thank goodness she's now speyed as I don't think I could cope with her & my current old boy. As for dogs at the house it doesn't happen so much now as less dogs roam but when I was younger there was a persistent fox terrier in our area & when the bitch was receptive you had to keep yourr windows closed or you found him in your house.

Henry is a nightmare when there is a bitch in season, he can smell them a mile off and will try to drag me to where they have been

We've actually met up with people that have inseason bitches off lead, fortunately Hen is alway on his lead, but they don't seem to realise how quickly two consenting animals can tie...I've seen it happen within seconds and, once they are on, there is no stopping it until it's over.

The bitches, (on 3 ocassions), have come running over to us, tails on one side, teasing Hen. I've called out to the owners, only to be told she's very friendly, she's in season but a) she's a different breed to yours so they won't mate, b) just push her away if she gets too much, c) it's her first season so she won't get pregnant. d) wouldn't their puppies be lovely?

I simply don't think these owners I have met are aware of how strong an interested dog is and how it takes all my strength to keep Hen from committing all sorts...I know this thread is light hearted but from the ownere of an entire dog, those people walking in-season bitches off lead can really be a pain in the bum