If this is not your first time on this blog, then you might already know that I’m a proud owner of two Siberian huskies. And they are a handful. If you are thinking about adopting or buying a husky, then you should read what you need to know before getting a husky.
As I said before, I have one mischievous male husky and a loving husky lady, or the properly used term a husky bitch. A female dog of reproductive age that has not been spayed is called a bitch. When the bitch is in heat, every day is a challenge. Especially when you have a male and a female dog living in the same household. During the heat cycle, the female produces a scent that attracts males. And my husky male is no different than others. If you own a bitch then you’ll see that she is irresistible to male dogs during heating. Also, she will start to be more outgoing and flirtatious because she enjoys having admirers.
You must keep the male and female separate during the heating cycle if you don’t want them to mate. Even doing so, this will not resolve the issue of scent which excites the male. The scent can lead to stress for both animals. If you have more than one male and a bitch in your household, during the heating cycle it’s advised to separate males too. They might be aggressive with each other.
Signs that your dog is in heat
The vulva will start to visibly swell. Don’t worry, this swelling is not painful. This happens a few days before any discharge or bleeding will occur.
You will notice a bloody discharge from your dog’s vulva. You can’t miss it, especially with a fluffy Siberian husky bitch. Some females don’t discharge so much, others do. It was pretty obvious with my lady because she has a white fluffy booty and I was prepared for her to have her first heating cycle.
Love is in the air, or to be more precise the pheromones and hormones in the urine are the signals sent to the males. She is letting them know that she is here and she is will be ready for mating soon. You will see that your bitch will urinate more often.
My Siberian husky bitch became more loving and she demands more attention and love. She didn’t retail at all and I still follow the same routine. Also, daily training sessions are still in order.
How to calm a husky bitch in heat season?
Give more attention to your bitch during the heat cycle
My husky bitch asks for more attention during the heat cycle. Your bitch may become clingier and more affectionate. If this is the case, then you could speak to her, cuddle her and stroke her more. By doing so, you will help her relieve most of her stress and anxiety. She experiences new things and it’s normal to be a little bit off.
Still, not every bitch acts the same. A bitch may also become grumpier and she will ask you to give her some space. Sudden changes in behavior can be expected during the heating season. Some bitches can totally change their behavior.
Play more with your bitch during the heat cycle
A bitch during the heating cycle needs more attention from her owner. Playing with her will make her happy and more relaxed during hormone changes. You can play with her thug of war, fetching and all the fun stuff you were already doing before the heating season. If she is in the mood for playing and she has extra energy to burn, then start playing. My husky lady is crazy energetic during the heat cycle, so I am playing a lot with her.
You can play more in your garden, especially if you’re afraid to go on walks with your bitch during the heat cycle. If you’re living in an area where are many loose dogs, then you might not be so comfortable during walks. Male dogs will smell her scent and they might come after her. Also, make sure that your husky bitch will not escape from your garden when she is unsupervised. Siberian huskies are escape artists and during heating, a bitch will really want to go on some romantic dates. Check your fences and make sure that your gate is closed. Expect to see some male dogs lurking around your gate also.
Training with your female dog during the heat cycle
The training sessions will keep your female’s dog mind occupied. Training is a bonding experience between you two. Challenge your dog’s mind while working on new tricks. There are so many fun tricks that she can learn even during her heat cycle.
Daily walking
Daily walking with a bitch during a heat cycle can be a challenge, as I said before. If it’s safe to go for a walk, then you should go. This will burn that extra energy. Dog parks are a no go. Keep your bitch in leash the whole time during walks.
Clean your female dog during heating
Cleaning your bitch will remove some odor. You can bathe her if this will not cause her too much stress or you can clean only the booty area, where the scent is more pregnant. You can also use some dry shampoo. During walks, you can put some natural lavender oil on her tail. Lavender oil is a flea and ticks repellent and it also covers some of the odor.
Stimulate your dog with toys
Stimulate your bitch with interactive toys. Toys that dispense food are a miracle during the heat cycle. Especially, if you’re bitch has a problem with appetite in this period. If she doesn’t want to eat too much of her regular food, then you can spoil her with some tasty treats. You can give her fruits or vegetable treats too. Make her work for them and place them into a toy. Keep your bitch mind busy.
Chamomile tea for your female dog during the heat cycle
Chamomile calms my dogs and it also has anti-microbial and anti-inflammatory properties. I put a few spoons of chamomile tea in their water bowls from time to time.
Conclusion
A bitch first-time heat cycle can be a bit overwhelming for you as owner and also for your female dog. The bitch hormone level changes and she may act differently. She will be stressed, clingier and moodier and she will also bleed all over the place if you don’t use a diaper. Be patient and give her the needed attention, because she deserves it. You are her owner and you need to care for her and help her to go through the first heating cycle.
My experience with a male husky and a bitch husky living in the same household is still an adventure. They have almost the same age, and here comes the challenge. Fortunately, my house allows me to keep them in separate rooms during the heat cycle, but they want to be together and they are not shy about that. Siberian huskies have a wide range of vocals and I’m hearing all of that.
Now I keep a daily routine with a lot of exercises and walking for both of them. I need to keep these active huskies as busy as I can if I want to have some quiet time.
I hope you enjoyed this article. Let me know how it was your experience during your bitch first heating cycle.
20 Comments
My 9 month old is now in heat and has taken to pottying #2 in house. She was completely house broke and it’s happening every day. What can I do?
Do you keep her on a consistent feeding schedule? If not, start. If she already has a schedule, take her for a walk after she eats. If you feed her in the morning and in the evening, take her for a brisk walk after both meals. Don’t feed her after 7 pm to avoid accidents during the night. I hope this helps you. If not, let me know.
I am so worried it is true that they are escape artist. We have separated them as they cannot be together as the male is older than the female. She is still very young and cannot mate now. So it is a huge challenge. I enjoy the article it makes me realise that it is a natural thing and i should not worry about it but keep them busy.
Hello! My husband and I have two huskies . brother and sister one is 1 year and 2 months and the other (female) is about 8-9 months ans in her first heat cycle. It is driving me to the brink of insanity ! I cannot keep them seperated for long and my male husky is going nuts and keeps us up ALL night with him trying to get to her.. Meanwhile i think she is stressed from it all…. Any ideas ?! We need to get them both fixed and we are aware
Sorry to hear that! If you can’t keep them outside in kennels, you will not get any sleep. Getting them fixed is the only solution. It’s their instinct to mate. When you make an appointment for your female to get spayed, be sure that the heat cycle is over. Spay her before she gets her next heat. Because this was her first heat, she might have her next heat cycle sooner than six months. Six months is usually the period between the heat cycles.
Thank you this has been really helpful. Hace a male and a female and she got her first period. The difficult part will be seperating them cause they are all the time together.
Happy to hear that you enjoy the article. It’s hard to have a male and a female husky in the same household when she’s on the period. If you need some help, don’t hesitate to ask.
My Husky has just come in to her 3rd season. With this one she has started to go in the garden and howl. Is this normal. With her 2nd season she went through a phantom pregnancy. She is booked in to be spayed in may.
Is the howling normal. First time owning a Husky.
Howling is perfectly normal. Don’t worry about it. Your female husky might howl because she is a husky or because she wants to let other male dogs know that she is in heat. Howling, crying, and whining can be a mating call to other dogs from the neighborhood- ” Hey boys, I’m here, and I’m ready to mate!”
I have two Huskies the female is blind about 10 years old in the mail is 12 years old two litters from her brother and sister she’s in heat he’s fixed but doing the same behavior thank you for your Insight
Even if your male dog is neutered, he can still smell a female in heat, and he might want to mate. This can be one of the reasons why your husky male wants to hump her. If he persists with humping behavior even when she’s not in heat, he may want to hump her in order to get her attention, or because it feels good, or he might be bored. Humping behavior may not stop after getting him fixed because neutering doesn’t remove all the sexual behaviors. Try to train him not to hump her. When your male wants to hump her, make a sharp noise to tell him no, or tell him no. If your husky male is also whining and trying to get at her at any cost, he definitely smells that she is in heat. Don’t forget to take your male husky for a long slow walk. Even he is an old and wise dog, he still needs to exercise a bit and he will be tired after. Hopefully, he will be tired enough and he will not have the energy to howl, whine or try to hump the female. Let me know if I can help you more.
My son decided to replace his adopted husky with 2 female huskies from a breeder. He has no interest to breed them he wants them spayed but the breeder had him sign a contract saying he would wait till they are 2 years old. I see a life of hell in his future. I am trying to help but my pets are always mutts from the shelter. I want to laugh at him having to deal with it but I live close enough I see it’s going to be my problem. Why do breeders make you wait when science say it’s best at 4 months to spay.
Many studies investigate spaying consequences before two years of age, or more precisely before the dog reaches adulthood. There are many pros and cons. I’m guessing the breeder ask for a two-year period because many orthopedic surgeons recommend waiting until the dog reaches skeletal maturity to spay her. Siberian huskies are predisposed to orthopedic diseases, such as hip dysplasia. Your son will not have an easy job because he will have to clean after them and keep them away from male dogs. I hope his adopted male husky found a new home or he is staying with you. Happy to hear that you adopt from the shelter.
My girl is (hopefully) nearing the end of her first season. She’s been so good, accepting the nappies and wanting more cuddles. We have a male a month younger then her who has had no interest in her during her season so it sounds as though I got lucky. I was hoping to wait for her to be 2 years old before neutering but if the behaviours are likely to get harder than maybe I should reconsider. It’s hard to know what’s the best for her
Hi , my husky is 10 years old and is in season now . My problem is this time she is constantly pacing and whining , where as before she seemed to just breeze through them . She’s hardly eating but will accept treats and is fine when exercising. Im just worried about her constant whining , im on the verge of calling the vets . Is this normal ?
Female dogs can start crying, pacing, and whining during the heat. Your sweet girl is 10 years old, so if you suspect that something may be wrong, I advise you to go with her for a checkup. I’m not saying that might be something wrong with her, but a veterinarian should check her at her age to see if there are any problems regarding her overall health.
We just got an 8 month old Alaskan husky from a friend that was having a hard time with her being cooped up all day long. They knew we had a 6 year old male malamute husky that is really well trained and loved. He is not fixed. Well when little miss Nala came here she seams to have gone into her first heat. So my question is is that normal for so young? Or could my male possibly done something to start it?
Your husky girl can be in heat when she is 6 months old. After the bleeding, she will want to mate, so you should keep them separated. The next heat cycle will start in 6 months. Note the date in the calendar or set a reminder and keep your dogs separated to prevent unwanted matting until you take one of them to get spayed or neutered. To respond to your questions, yes it’s perfectly normal like miss Nala to be in heat at this age. It is not too young, it’s normal. Your husky boy has nothing to do with this, but he will want to mate with her if she wants so be careful and make sure they don’t get the chance.
My female husky is a year old and is in her first heat season, she has been bleeding for 21 days and her vulva is still swollen. Even tho we keep her and my male husky separated and supervised when together he ended up mounting her today when my son left them for a few minutes in the backyard (totally our fault) they ended up tying, she screamed like she was being seriously injured and then when loose she was extremely distraught and licking her vaginal area, spinning in circles, biting at her tail and panting really hard for about 10 mins before calming down. I was wondering is bleeding for 21 days okay, will she mostlikely get pregnant from this encounter and her being distraught like that is that normal.
Thanks in advance from a worried husky mom.
TLL
I hope you went with your husky girl to the veterinarian. It’s not normal for a dog to bleed for 21 days. Even when she is in heat, she only bleeds for a maximum of 9-10 days. You should go as soon as possible with her to the veterinarian. Think about spaying your husky girl or neutering your husky male. Wish you the best and I hope your girl will be better soon.