The American Beagler Forum

I know nothing about any of this, so please bear with me. At about what age will our pup come into heat? How will we tell? Will she spot? She is in the house, so there is a little concern She is 7 1/2 months old. Pretty sure we are going to get her fixed, but don't want to do it right during hunting season. Slight possibility we may breed her one time, how old should she be? How often do they come in heat? How long are they pregnant? Thanks and sorry for all the newbie questions!

Doug

she could come in know and i have seen them just past a year old before they came in. i like to wait till the second heat to breed and they carry the pups roughly 62 days.

they make doggie diapers for famles in the house. Keeps down the mess and may help to keep any boys at bay. Some females may act like males and like to try to hump everything in sight. She'll be a'ight.

padeerhunter: Her vulva will likely swell and then she'll spot. Some swell a lot and it's real obvious, but we have some that didn't swell a whole bunch but if you watch close you should notice a change. Also the spotting can be heavier in some dogs. Since females can be different in their presentation, it's wise to keep a close eye out.

Our house beagle would NOT tolerate the diapers, she hated them and pulled them right off. I've had bigger dogs that wore them with no problems, but not this little girl. Unfortunately we have light colored carpeting. I wish I had put them on when she was a puppy just so she'd had been used to having them on her butt, but I didn't so we had to clean spot messes for a good while with her.

Old timers rule of thumb- 7 days coming in, 7 days in, 7 days going out. Hope this helps some and good luck

padeerhunter wrote:I know nothing about any of this, so please bear with me. At about what age will our pup come into heat? How will we tell? Will she spot? She is in the house, so there is a little concern She is 7 1/2 months old. Pretty sure we are going to get her fixed, but don't want to do it right during hunting season. Slight possibility we may breed her one time, how old should she be? How often do they come in heat? How long are they pregnant? Thanks and sorry for all the newbie questions!

Doug

You should first learn how to evaluate if the female is "Breed Worthy".

I say the previous because you stated "I know nothing about any of this". This being the case, you need to seriously consider if you have the experience to honestly make the decision if the female is "Breed Worthy". I suggest taking her to a few trials and just see if she can even place. You need to know her pedigree & running style first.

This is not met to discourage a newbie, just make you think.

Keystone Kid wrote:

padeerhunter wrote:I know nothing about any of this, so please bear with me. At about what age will our pup come into heat? How will we tell? Will she spot? She is in the house, so there is a little concern She is 7 1/2 months old. Pretty sure we are going to get her fixed, but don't want to do it right during hunting season. Slight possibility we may breed her one time, how old should she be? How often do they come in heat? How long are they pregnant? Thanks and sorry for all the newbie questions!

Doug

You should first learn how to evaluate if the female is "Breed Worthy".

I say the previous because you stated "I know nothing about any of this". This being the case, you need to seriously consider if you have the experience to honestly make the decision if the female is "Breed Worthy". I suggest taking her to a few trials and just see if she can even place. You need to know her pedigree & running style first.

This is not met to discourage a newbie, just make you think.

You won't discourage me, and like we both said, I don't know anything about this stuff. Now, I have no intentions of running her in trials. She is just going to be a rabbit hunting dog. I have her pedigree and even though she is very young yet, I think she is running great. I'm not sure how fast she is--have nothing to compare her to. Me and my boys are enjoying her very much hunting with her. I see places that offer stud services on here (I would think that the male would have a good pedigree to be offering this service ) and was just thinking about it possibly. Thanks for all the info so far!! Keep it coming please!!

Doug

"breed worthy" is an important thing to know. But so are the pros and cons of breeding. They can bring a lot of heartbreak and a lot of expense (vet bills for mother if something goes wrong, shots and wormings for pups, etc etc etc). It is not as simple as throwing 2 dogs together and having a cute bunch of pups around. Please do your homework. Also, be prepared to keep 4 or 5 if you don't have buyers, it happens to alot of people in our area.

I've had some come in heat as late as 16 months.