# Can anyone tell me about split heats?



## aznVampire (Jul 20, 2010)

I've tried researching about split heats online, because my dog is in heat right now, but I can't seem to find anything that actually gives me information about it. 

Can anyone explain to me what a split heat is and how to tell if your dog has a split heat?

P.S. Is it strange that no dogs are hanging around our house even though my dog is in her 2nd week of heat?


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## Elana55 (Jan 7, 2008)

I do not know what you mean by a 'split heat.' 

Here is how it goes (generally). The dog is in heat 3 weeks. Usually. 

The dog starts to bleed and that indicates she is coming into STANDING heat the first week. Male dogs may hang around. The second week, the bleeding becomes lighter pink and for a few days she would allow male dogs to mount and mate.. she will be in STANDING heat (she will stand and allow breeding and she will also flag with her tail.. hold it to one side etc.). The THIRD week, the bleeding returns and the dog is not longer in standing heat and is going OUT of heat. When she ceases to have a discharge she is out of heat. Male dogs will start to disperse (maybe.. if you are lucky) toward the end of week 3. Typically it is 21 days.. give or take a few days.

If you live in an area where the dogs are largely neutered and you clean up the areas where your dog pees or most people keep their dogs on leash, you won't see male dogs hanging around. I know of a couple of people who do not have this issue because they take their female in heat down the road and have her pee there. Guess where the male dogs go??? LOL


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## Willowy (Dec 10, 2007)

aznVampire said:


> P.S. Is it strange that no dogs are hanging around our house even though my dog is in her 2nd week of heat?


Not necessarily. Maybe most of the dogs in your area are neutered, or kept properly contained. There are more leash laws now, and they're better enforced. And many pet dogs are neutered. Not like when my mom was a kid. . .she says that whenever her childhood dog went into heat, there would be 25-30 dogs hanging around their house for a full month. Fun times.


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## LynnI (Mar 27, 2010)

I don't know if I would call it a split heat the same way I know it is in horses. Dogs can and do come into heat as often as every 3 months or as late as every 18 months. Dogs along with horses can have what is called a Spec/Silent heat, which is showing no signs of being in heat but they have a vivable ovum. In other words, can or will stand for a breeding and conceive.
As a side note: Spec heat comes from the old days when the only way to tell if a mare was having a spec/silent heat was to put a Speculum into the mare and check her cervix, lol long before the days of ultrasound 
Hope that helps or what you were looking for.


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## aznVampire (Jul 20, 2010)

> I do not know what you mean by a 'split heat.'


Well, I was looking up stuff about dogs in heat and then came across something called a "split heat" where a dogs shows signs of heat (swollen vulva, discharge, etc.) which last a few days and she will stand and allow breeding but will not be able to actually have puppies because she isn't ovulating. Then the discharge stops but 2 to 4 weeks later, the dog has discharge again and this is her "true heat" where she can actually get pregnant and is ovulating. Apparently it's "very common" for dogs in their first heat cycle. I didn't really understand if this was common or not and was wondering if anybody had any experience with it. 



> Not necessarily. Maybe most of the dogs in your area are neutered, or kept properly contained. There are more leash laws now, and they're better enforced. And many pet dogs are neutered. Not like when my mom was a kid. . .she says that whenever her childhood dog went into heat, there would be 25-30 dogs hanging around their house for a full month. Fun times.


That makes me feel a little better but I am still worried about my dog getting pregnant. Even though I go outside with her and never leave her unattended, my parents just leave her outside in the morning. Today, I explained to them for what seems like the one hundredth time that she shouldn't be outside alone but all they say is, "It's early in the morning. There's no one out there. Stop worrying." -.-


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## Willowy (Dec 10, 2007)

Um, yeah. She should _never[/] be outside unattended while in heat. There might not be any PEOPLE out there but there is probably at least one intact male dog running around. You really should have a serious talk with them. They're going to end up with "grandpuppies" if they aren't careful. Were you just waiting for her to have one heat before spaying or is there another reason she's still intact?_


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## LynnI (Mar 27, 2010)

aznVampire said:


> Well, I was looking up stuff about dogs in heat and then came across something called a "split heat" where a dogs shows signs of heat (swollen vulva, discharge, etc.) which last a few days and she will stand and allow breeding but will not be able to actually have puppies because she isn't ovulating. Then the discharge stops but 2 to 4 weeks later, the dog has discharge again and this is her "true heat" where she can actually get pregnant and is ovulating. Apparently it's "very common" for dogs in their first heat cycle. I didn't really understand if this was common or not and was wondering if anybody had any experience with it.
> 
> 
> That makes me feel a little better but I am still worried about my dog getting pregnant. Even though I go outside with her and never leave her unattended, my parents just leave her outside in the morning. Today, I explained to them for what seems like the one hundredth time that she shouldn't be outside alone but all they say is, "It's early in the morning. There's no one out there. Stop worrying." -.-


Where did you see that? I have several excellent breeding books and I don't recall ever reading that (not say it isn't there, just that I don't recall it).

Personally I have had a few intact girls and first time inheat girls for many years now and haven't experienced it. With an intact stud dog in the house, I watch all my girls all the time to make sure one isn't showing any signs of heat or that he isn't showing even the tiniest bit of interest in them. I never take for granted that the girls are going to come into heat when I expect them too and they could easily surprise me. So I watch all the time to avoid any oops breedings and a litter that wasn't carefully planned and wanted 

So if you don't mind, I would appreciate it, if you could post the link. Thanks.


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## aznVampire (Jul 20, 2010)

> Were you just waiting for her to have one heat before spaying or is there another reason she's still intact?


It was taking us awhile to get an appt. for her to get spayed. We had one scheduled but had to reschedule when we found out she was in heat.



> Where did you see that? I have several excellent breeding books and I don't recall ever reading that (not say it isn't there, just that I don't recall it).


I read a few articles. Here's one:
http://www.vonevmans.com/articles/rx-199007-ej-phonerings.asp

Another:
http://www.labbies.com/reproduction2.htm
If you scroll down, it's under "split estrus."

(There are a few more articles but I didn't post them because they have less information.)


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## LynnI (Mar 27, 2010)

Thanks, now I am going to go pull out my books and see where I missed it


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## aznVampire (Jul 20, 2010)

> Thanks, now I am going to go pull out my books and see where I missed it


Ahaha no problem.


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## Xeph (May 7, 2007)

Mirada's mother was bred on a split season, lol


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