Entire males and dogs in-season

[Oscar 12345]

Poor Otto..... he has been doing so well and his dog to dog reactivity is much less these days in fact I would say now that he only has issues when large male dogs and spaniel/cockerpoo types and in his face. So I have been feeling normal on our walks for quite some time. However, we have a bitch in-season in the village. He has been a bit quiet indoors for a few days and we have seen a female brown lab that is one of his pals and she must in-season, I know she isn't spayed. Cue howling and wailing on the High Street and Otto's urge to pick up her trail and follow her. Well he now sits by the door constantly wanting to go outside or he sits in a corner just looking at us, he isn't sleeping during the day and must be shattered. It's quite sad really and I can tell why some people think their dog is depressed. He will play but as soon as we stop he goes back to just sitting and looking at you. He hasn't lost his appetite which I know some do. This is very new to me as all my over entire males have never been this way, even had in-season females very close to them and never reacted. Does this last very long after the female's season has passed? I used to be quite relaxed about females being walked around in-season however I hadn't ever experienced what it can do to entire males. It may be heightened because his testosterone has just come back after 12 months. I do feel sorry for the chap and I have no clue how the lab's owner manages her if there are large male dogs around, she was also pulling like a steam train to get to Otto. On the positive, I think an elephant sized cockerpoo could walk right past him at the moment and he wouldn't blink an eyelid as he is so focussed on finding Molly.

[zeta1454]

Hi Julie - that is a shame especially as things had been going so well recently with Otto. Male dogs can vary quite a bit in their sex drive in my experience with 4 different male dogs in our household over the years with both mini schnauzer and Affenpinscher bitches. The affens without a doubt are highly sex-driven the boys and the girls and our 2 current castrated males are just as wound up by a girl in season as the entire male. In fact, the girls all favour our "top dog" who will be 13 years old this summer (and who was castrated several years ago) over the 4 year old entire dog!

I am surprised that the owner of the brown lab is not more thoughtful and responsible really in walking her bitch in the village at this time when other dogs are around. It can be extremely hard for anyone with an entire male dog to successfully keep their dog/s back if they are attracted to the scent and could result in a range of potential accidents to dogs or humans, apart from the stress of the experience.

As Otto is being affected by her scent it might help if there is a way of taking him out somewhere that Molly is unlikely to have been as the more chances he has to pick up her scent the worse he will be and her scent will carry and stay on surfaces where she has 'marked'.

I would expect that things should settle down though once her season is over. The scent changes at different times of the season and is at its most inviting to male dogs in the middle days (10-14 days in ) when the bitch is ovulating and mating is most likely to be successful. Once she has passed this point (which may last longer in some bitches), her scent will be less inviting and the attraction should wane. One of our affen males was very accurate at knowing the prime time for mating and would check the girls in season regularly but make no attempt to mount until ovulation time. (We did intervene to keep them apart of course at that time as we haven't used any of our males for mating). Not all dogs are so accurate with the timing and some will be very wound up by an in-season bitch for most of the three weeks she is in heat but in our experience the worst time is the mid-period and they do settle down once the season is over.

As you say, some male dogs are much less driven and, until you experience the behaviour, it is hard to imagine how bad it could be! Our first male mini was nowhere near as bothered as our male affens and I have known other male minis to be equally laid back in the presence of an in-season bitch. It is no excuse though on the part of Molly's owner not to bear in mind that she could be causing unnecessary stress and potential accidents to other people and their dogs by walking her when she is in heat.

I hope things do settle down for you and Otto very soon.

[Oscar 12345]

Very helpful thanks Leigh. I did wonder when the females were most attractive and it occurred to me that maybe she was only just coming into season if she was continuing to walk her at around 8.30 - 9 am in the morning. There are lots of entire gun dogs in the area so it is surprising. I am walking him a different route for most of our walk but we have a cut-through mid way on our Lane and they always use it and I have no way of avoiding any scent there although if things don't get any better I will jumping in the car to avoid that for a while. Thanks again.

[Oscar 12345]

Thankfully he is settling again now that we are carefully selecting our route. I have been giving him some Valerian and Skullcap tablets that may be helping. Someone on another chat forum has said that one of her dogs also experienced a rejuvenated adolescence when the implant wore off which lasted for 4-6 weeks so it could be that that has made him ultra sensitive.... can't sit on the floor with him at the moment because he is finding my arm very attractive and he has a vice like grip......