Do my dogs know something I don't?
Asked by
longgone (
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)
March 22nd, 2016
I have my two dogs with me, as well as my young, intact male’s sister. The sister (Lucy) was in heat just now. We kept them apart for four weeks, then went for a walk together last week. All was good.
Today, both my dogs are acting like Lucy is right in the middle of her heat. The young one keeps trying to jump her. I had to separate them to ask this question. What’s happening, any ideas? I’ve never observed anything similar. They played fine together last week, nothing unusual at all.
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4 Answers
This suggests a number of possibilities. Simplest and most reasonable, is that Lucy came into contact with something that had the scent of her heat on it, maybe where she had brushed up against some furniture, or a door or something. The scent transfer would be enough to make the boys react.
A much more complex possibility is if she has been switched to a grain free diet recently. Some of them have legume fillers (soy, some peas or beans) that are high in phytoestrogens that can wreak havoc with normal hormone levels. Unlikely but possible. A friend who is a hobby breeder had such issues while her dogs were on grain free food.
There you go, from basic to complex possibilities. :-)
I’m fairly certain I’d know if they’d changed her diet, but the scent transfer idea is a smart one. Thanks! I hope things are back to normal next time, this is very annoying.
@canidmajor pretty much hit the proverbial nail on the head. If you haven’t changed their diet the scent transfer is the most likely cause. Are you planning on letting her have puppies? If not, why not get her spayed, that would solve the issue entirely.
@Battousai87 Lucy doesn’t live with us, so it’s not much of an issue. Thank you though!
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