Hunting with dog in Heat

[spearingboy]

My dog just came into heat today. This is my first female dog and this is her second cycle and it happens to come right during the fall. Just wondering if you guys/gals can give me any advice I'm not sure how'll she preform hunting this weekend. Should I bring her with? Should I take any precautions other then keeping her away from male dogs as far as hunting goes? Thanks a lot for any help.

[Swamp Scooter]

She will still hunt but just pee a lot more. I had a female that was in season during hunting. I finally bred her to get the cycle changed. It was a planned breeding of top quality dogs so it was not for just the change in timing.

Also if it is a young dog she may change her timing as well. My Chessie for the first couple of go arounds came in right in prime hunting time. Then she held off for a longer period of time before the next one. Now she is in heat after I am done with the bird hunting so it worked out well.

[WALLEYENUTZ]

SB,
If you are hunting on public land or where there will be male dogs around I suggest that you leave her at home. I had an experience with a female that was in heat and it wasn't good. My buddies male chased that female all day along with many other males.

my two cents

Jon

[BDR]

I agree if your on public land leave her behind. It is not fair to other hunters(with males) to bring her out. All the training in the world goes out the window when they get that scent.

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Brian Rogers

Iceleaders
JR's Tackle

[email protected]

[Bryce]

Leave my dog at home because you can't control yours? What the heck does that mean? When my hound is on the pro's truck, she isn't denied her training time because she's in season. The males are just expected to "get over it" and perform. Take her along Spearingboy and follow the tips above to keep her away from rogue males. That's really the beauty of public land. A high percentage of dogs that work it are out of control and a good portion of those coudn't hunt up a hot dog in a phone booth. I've shot uncounted roosters over the years within a 100 yards of the parking lot.

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IBOT's # 17 & 248

[fishtrap3]

There are tabs that are suppose to work. If they do I don't know. They are called Femme Tabs. I don't think I can post where they have them though. Maybe your vet could help. Or email me and I can tell you what catalog I saw them in. fishtrap3 at msn dot com.

[This message has been edited by fishtrap3 (edited 09-25-2004).]

[MikeYager - Suzuki]

Don't lose track of her even for a few minutes. Last week at my buddys we let out the dog in the dark yard while we were out there drinking a couple sodas. Forgot about her for about 5-10 minutes. In that time she got banged by a total mutt just out of our site range. Saw the dog when it was over and in later days. His is a nice lab. Bad deal.

[This message has been edited by Suzuki (edited 09-27-2004).]

[Redlantern]

I agree with you , Bryce. Why should I not be able to bring my dog somewhere because someone else doesn't have control of their dog. That said, there are enough people out there with dogs that won't listen that I would be very careful to avoid an unwanted breeding.

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Erik Torgerson

[setterguy]

I think thats what people were trying to say, its better to be safe than sorry. What reprecutions would someone have? Are there any? Is there anyway to terminate an unwanted dog pregnancy? I have never come across the situation but would be interested in what people had to say on the subject. Personal opinion, I would leave her home or go WAY up north. A good tip, next year before hunting season is about to start bring her around another female that is in heat. Sometimes you can trigger it if they are close. That way you can change the cycle to not interfere with the season, or you could get her spade.

[BDR]

Nobody has said anyone can't. This guy asked for opinions for what he should do and I gave mine. Maybe I should have kept it to what I would do rather than suggesting what others should do. Its true it is public land, do what you will. Your right there are many uncontrolled dogs on public land but I wouldn't purposely add to the problem.

As far as how my dog is controlled. Very well and others on this site would back that up. However so controlled to take away his #1 god given instinct. I doubt it. But I don't know as my Male was fixed at an early age so it really isn't a problem for us. But I have seen it be a problem for another.

I think the suggestions of changing cycle times are great. I did not know that was even possible.

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Brian Rogers
FM Sponsors

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[This message has been edited by BDR (edited 09-28-2004).]

[BLACKJACK]

Take her hunting, it won't hurt her. I've had females in heat during the hunting season and taken them hunting many times without any adverse affects. As for the guys that say don't take her out, thats fine if you have a second dog to take out, but if its your only dog, hunting season is too short not to go out when you have the chance.

[gspman]

There's a reason at field trials that bitches in heat are braced alone or with another one in season. A male dog will lose his cool no matter how well you control him. And most trialer's dogs are far better trained than the average Joe's dogs. Even if the dog can be kept under control it won't have it's mind on hunting.

If I were hunting where I knew for sure there were no other hunters I would hunt her. If there were other hunters nearby with dogs I wouldn't. I think we need to think about others and not just ourselves. Why ruin the hunt for others just so you can get yours? That's just plain selfish.

Also for training, usually it's one or two dogs at a time unless it's for situational training. Even then the pro will avoid pairing a female that is in season with a male. No pro I know would run a male with a female in season. That's just plain counter productive.

Put her up unless you can be absolutely sure she won't disrupt others.

Just my $.02
gspman

[Bryce]

Good points all. Back to a couple of the simple points. Your female will hunt fine when in heat. The males around her (especially if used as a stud) may be affected. There is a morning after shot. There are some health risks associated with it as there are with whelping a litter. Had to use it on my old dog and had healthy litters afterwards.
On the more finicky points. I understand the purpose of no females in heat on the grounds of dog games but to say dog games and hunting even remotely compare performance levels is far from the truth. If the games level of pressure was that of hunting, I'm sure I have the NFC. My dogs going hunting. If I'm with a party that it's affecting dog performance, we'll work out some type of rotation or seperation. If I'm affecting other people on that land, I guess I'm thinking of myself. Just as they're thinking of themselves blaming my dog for ruining their hunt. I've found that if I don't think of myself... no one else will.

[LABS4ME]

Gotta be honest here... myself, I would not bring my dog if she was in heat.... Been there done that! Not worth it if there are any males around, even if she wants to hunt while in heat, if a male comes over and is tagging along her side, doing his best to do what he wants to do, it's not like she'll be ignoring him going about her hunting. It will disrupt her, you and the males owner. Nothing will be gained from that. Now if you pull up to an area and you can see there are no others hunting in there, you may want to go ahead and try it. I've been on private property before and females who were in season were allowed to hunt minus the males.

At retriever trials, NO females in heat are allowed on the trial grounds! The best trained male dog will not be under TOTAL control and at best will do slip shod work. I had to postpone my last female test dog from achieving her Master title due to coming in heat. Trainers if they have a bitch in heat rarely put them on the truck with the stud dogs as they will not give them a good work out. They generally will run them seperatley and after all the stud dogs are done.

If you're going to be hunting with a friend with a male dog, you'll have your work cut out for you. Even if hunting them seperate and leaving the bitch in the truck, the male will not want to leave the truck and will act totally unoccupied when in the field. If it's the girl's turn to run, be prepared to hear some of the finest vocals you'l ever get out of a dog.

When people ask me what are the pro's and con's to a female, this is the #1 con. I know it stinks that the hunting season is short and you potentially can lose a couple weeks of the season with a dog in heat, but that is a sacrifice if you have to make if you want to keep a bitch intact. Spaying will solve this problem if breeding isn't planned.

Bottom line is, you can do what you wish, but if other dogs are present, I feel the quality of your hunt will be diminished.

Good Luck! Ken

[LABS4ME]

I understand the "me" frame of thought, but in reality it doesn't mean it only will affect the male and his owner. It will affect both owners and both dogs.

The scenario you pose on test/trial grounds can go both ways, you state they don't allow them because they are trying to achieve a higher level of work so they have to diminish interuptions, but in the same regard it was stated that these are the highest trained dogs so they should be able to work through it, but in reality they can't.

What do you do with a male dog that will literally cover a half section at a time to be by and try to mount your female? You can only yell at the other guy so many times, but that isn't nessacarily going to make him put his dog away either, I agree if and by themselves a female will hunt when in heat, but there is no way she will be hunting when she is either trying to ward off the male's advances or is trying to stand for the male for a tie... and the whole time you are yelling and trying to seperate the two... I've seen it firsthand 2 years ago in So Dak. an otherwise very good and obedient male was literally turning himself inside-out trying to get over to another friends female that was hunting a quarter section over and he put zero effort into his hunting. Both owners were frustrated beyond words until they finally took turns hunting them, and even then the male was a marginal at best. They both had the attitude "I'm hunting my dog!". Nobody won...dogs or owners (maybe the roosters with all the comotion) And then there is the accidental breeding... I guess myself I do not want to go through all that to hunt one more weekend with my dog. But each person has to make there own decisions.

Points here...

* Your female WILL hunt if not bothered by a male, but she will not have the opportunity to hunt if he is activley trying to mount her.

* If there is a male within smelling range, expect him to come a calling as long as he is in the same vicinity as your bitch

*A tie can happen quicker than you can blink an eye, and you do not want to seperate them once the tie has happened. You now have a breeding.............

*Find an obscure piece of public land or try your mightiest to get on private land to minimize conflict, or just do whatever and hope for the best.

Good Luck!

Ken

[duckbuster]

I am a female Lab guy. Always have ,always will be. I generally hunt on my own because of that I wouldn't give it a second thought about not hunting her this fall, she was due to come in the 2nd week of September, but as of today has not. If I were to hunt with a friend who had a male I would not hunt them together.
LABS, if you don't mind I would like to clarify one thing about bitches, heat cycles and trials. In season bitches are found on trial grounds during trials they are just not allowed to run. Pro's from out of state just keep the dog on the truck and will air the dog seperately. If it were at a National and at the morning bitch check your bitch was spotting she would be sent home.

GOOD HUNTING & BE SAFE!!

[MikeYager - Suzuki]

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[This message has been edited by Suzuki (edited 09-30-2004).]

[LABS4ME]

D.B. Clarification noted... when I said on the "grounds" that is what I meant. Not to mean they couldn't stay on the truck. You are not entitled to run them or "air" them out on the actual grounds that will be used. Sometimes my posts aren't specific enough... gotaa just buckle down and except to be specific means more typing...

On a side note, how's that girl of yours doing? My partners dog washed out of all 3 derbies, one was ashame as a "no bird" should've been called. She had no way of seeing that low flyer and just marked off the gunshot, still almost pulled it off but ended button hooking in the bird scent from the boxes. Oh well it's on to quals!

Good Luck!

Ken

[Bryce]

Cripes Labs, here you are talking like we're at the Temple having a cool one and all I'm doing is trying to start a ruckus. I've had the 1/4 section thing happen. Heel my dog and let the owner trek on over to the circling male. After the second trek, he decided to hunt elsewhere. The tie in an intant is why I gave the old girl the morning after shot. She bolted in a snowstorm and when I found her 10 minutes later, she was running with a mutt. Don't think they had time to perform the deed but how do you sell a litter like that?

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IBOT's # 17 & 248

[LABS4ME]

Dangit Bryce I blew it! I'll be giving ya a call in the next week or so... you don't layin' down road? Maybe a little duck hunt is in order to celebrate.
Talk to you soon...

Good Luck!

Ken