# Managing entire dogs and bitches living together



## Thorne (May 11, 2009)

I'm not in this situation myself but i've been wondering how others manage to have entire dogs of opposite sexes living together?

For those of you who do, do you use kennels or do you split the house (so to speak) when a bitch is in season?

Like i said i don't intend to find myself owning intacts of both sexes but i was just curious, i can imagine it being a tricky thing to do! 

Esme x


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## Tanya1989 (Dec 4, 2009)

It can be a bloody nightmare. Forever juggling dogs about so that they never come into contact with each other. Always having the males caged and then 2 doors (at least 1 locked) between the dogs. 
Out in the garden separately, bitch on a lead as we only have low(ish) fences. The boys won't eat for about a week, sometimes the length of the whole season. Howling ad crying throughout the day and night, from both dog and bitch. Bitch remains unwalked throughout the season so she is going stir crazy, but dog still gets walked. He smells of an iseason bitch still, so all the other males try to hump him, which he really doesn't like, so then you have to watch out for signs of aggression.

:scared: :scared: :scared: :scared: :scared: :scared: :scared: :scared:

I often wonder why it is I do it


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## nfp20 (Jun 29, 2010)

Under normal circumstances and at the moment isn't normal I play the crate and rotate game too. I have dane sized crates for my weimaraners with boards between each so that they are all still together in the same room but without being able to make close contact. All get let out seperately, all get walked seperately girls together my boy on his own and I try to get George out as much as possible so that he has some respite. He has learnt slowly that all the dribbling in the world and the chattering is not going to get him anywhere but it doesn't mean he wouldn't try. I keep mine like that for at least six weeks to be on the safe side.

If George loses too much weight and I do keep him with a bit on him most of the time then he gets shipped off to my parents where my other male spaniel is. Two dogs get on well so no problems there. 

However as I said times are not normal my cocker bitch instead of my Weimaraner male because of the hair and allergy issues got shipped to my parents and unlike here where its like a military operation they've for want of a better word 'cocked' up and I'm now cleaning up the mess making sure they get as good a start as my planned pups would.

Its not impossible to do but you can't afford to have any slip ups and I know people get sick and tired of having to run a household of rotating dogs when they don't normally it takes up an awful lot of time and with bitches you can have problems reintroducing them again hence why I don't split mine but still keep them apart to avoid any fisty cuffs.


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## archielee (Jan 30, 2009)

He he hard hard work


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## tiddlypup (Oct 4, 2008)

oscars still entire at the moment and the mastiff bitch i rescued came in season,baby gates everywhere,dog in,dog out,lol nightmare


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## Tanya1989 (Dec 4, 2009)

tiddlypup said:


> oscars still entire at the moment and the mastiff bitch i rescued came in season,baby gates everywhere,dog in,dog out,lol nightmare


My aunty had dogs mate through a baby gate :scared:


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## swarthy (Apr 24, 2010)

We've got one entire dog and 5 entire bitches - we have been quite lucky with our boy - up until now he has not really bothered when the girls are in season - now he gets quite vocal when the girls are ready for mating.

I've got kennels outside, crates and 3 doors secured inbetween when all inside.

At peak mating times, he is quite happy to just potter around the garden sniffing wee and chilling  (overall he probably gets the better edge of the deal when one or more of the girlies is in season )


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## Freyja (Jun 28, 2008)

My boys have never bothered before about the girls being n season. But this time we did have a bit of whinging and whinning but not a lot. I too play the cage and rotate game. Its no so bad with the 2 big bitches as the 3 boys are not interested in them. Jasper is castrated so means I never have to crate an in season bitch on their own as I can put him in with any of them that get stressed if they are on their own.

Every one in the house, there is only 3 of us all adults as my son is 17 now, knows if a bitch is in season so they are never allowed with the boys. Little Willow is only with the others under supervision and is never left on his own with the bigger dogs anyway.

When they are in the garden my boys content themsleves with wandering round sniffing and licking were the girls have had a wee although I do always put the boys out first and then the girls then clean up and put disinfectant down.


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## Kaida (May 5, 2010)

With my two I just crate and rotate. My boy goes slightly off his food for the first day or so of her season, and finds her scent very intertesting, but after that he's not bothered really. Actually, a couple of times on her first season he got upset when crated away from her, so I crated the two of them in the same room but 6 feet apart, and I wasn't ever further than the next room away (so I'd have heard any break out attempts!), and they then both just went to sleep. But normally he just chills for most of her season.

First few days they're just heavily supervised (never ever alone together, or even in the same room if the person in the room with them might get distracted, like watching TV or whatever), and at this point he'll sniff her a few times each day, but mostly just lying down and snoozing as normal, or playing with the humans. I will point out both dogs are small enough to be easily controlled physically, and Chloe is very clear about not being interested at the beginning of her season. If I had a tarty bitch, or a larger breed, or a dog or bitch I didn't know well enough to predict and read intentions, I'd crate from the beginning of the season. If we ever go out, they are both crated and there are at least two solid doors between them.

Then as the season goes on we crate or hubby and I spend time in seperate rooms with one dog each.


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## tiddlypup (Oct 4, 2008)

Tanya1989 said:


> My aunty had dogs mate through a baby gate :scared:


its not one gate,peppers in the dining room with gate,then theres the kitchen inbetween and another gate oscars a bit dim bless him,i dont think he realises,its pepper thats the nightmare,lol


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## nfp20 (Jun 29, 2010)

lol gates won't present any issues to a dog when there is a bitch in season, you would be surprised how quickly they can get over a dog gate when they really want to. Baby gates are far too low as well for a large breed dog.

None of mine will clear the dog gates when they are out of season but both my bitches can and my dog well he clears a 6ft plus fence in training so a piddly dog gate really isn't much of an issue.


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## moboyd (Sep 29, 2009)

I have since had a few spayed and neutered, but for many years we had 3 girls and two boys all entire, my eldest boy was a total nighmare when the gilrs were in season, I couldnt even let him see them without hysterics, so the way I managed it was on the very first day of season, the girls were seperated, I have kennels but to be honest, all he would do all day was stare at the kennel, and the girls would be taunting him like sirens lol, so it worked a LOT better by having the girls stay in our van (its a van fitted out with large crates has fans and aircon fitted, and an awning to keep in shade and out of weather) the girls are a lot happier there, they can get in and out of the van run around the front driveway, and the high wrough iron fencing would keep out any tresspassers(never seen any dogs wandering into our avenue in 20 years). the boys would remain to the rear of the house and be quite content by doing this, now its not so much of a bother, one girl is entire, so when she comes into season, her and her mother will go to the front, and the boys(one entire) will stay at the back, all is happy and peacful now, and no chance of unwanted matings.

Mo


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

Tanya1989 said:


> My aunty had dogs mate through a baby gate :scared:


i will never forget the first time i had a breeder tell me [with intense disgust] 
that a visiting F in estrus had been bred by the wrong-stud *thru the cyclone fence of 6-ft wire runs.* 
she bred and trialed Labradors; her field-champ was a gorgeous 5-YO, and this F was to be bred to him.

the F arrived not-yet in heat; she watched her carefully, handwalked the F on leash, took temps, 
watched her urine, etc; *came down one morning and the F was already tied to the younger-M, 
right thru the wire; both dogs were uncomfortable, but OK.* 
the breeder said it is too bad she did not choose her other neighbor - the intended sire. 
she had to call the owner long-distance and explain the problem; this was before DNA-profiling 
of multi-sire litters, the F was to be sent back for the INTENDED mating a year later, 
for room-and-board only, plus one pup.

she told me she never realized that dogs could mate thru a wove-wire fence; 
after that, all Fs were in END-runs with an empty-run beside theirs, to preclude hanky-panky.

i have since spoken to other breeders who had similar experiences, and a few pet-owners, too. 
leaving a F in heat in the backyard is a very bad idea... dogs have jumped, climbed, dug, 
scaled walls, etc, to get to a F in estrus.

*if the dogs are tied - DON't try to separate them! * U can seriously hurt one or both, 
OR worse, start a fight! forget throwing buckets of water, too - 
the part U want to shrink is out of any conceivable reach. 
just wait, be ready with leashes, and lead both away; *then call for a mismate jab, ASAP.*

hopefully nobody has to deal with this, 
- terry


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## Thorne (May 11, 2009)

I commend all of you for your evident patience! Certainly sounds like one hell of a juggling act.
As for dogs mating through baby gates and fences, i'm genuinely amazed


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

Thorne said:


> As for dogs mating through baby gates and fences, i'm genuinely amazed


where there's a will, there is generally a way - never underestimate the desire to breed.

a girlfriend of my teen-years was horrified when her lovely 17-hand Anglo-Arab hunter was bred - 
by a stubby, shaggy Shetland - the mare lay-down and the stud climbed a dung-hill to reach her rump. 
[i never saw the foal, nor any picture - he was gelded and sold as soon as he was weaned; 
she was too embarrassed to even talk about it.]

my neighbors had a gorgeous fawn Dane bitch who lived in a box-stall designed for a draft-horse 
when she was in heat, in their stone-foundation barn; one morning they found something had dug 
at the dirt, under huge sliding-doors on tracks, that led to the upper-floor hay-mow and threshing floor; 
they thought the half-depth tunnel with the small heap at the opening was a groundhog.

no; her hubby plucked a filthy, matted Poodle-mix, creamy-white and urine-yellow, off her stall wall, 
inside the ground-floor, climbing like a monkey. 
she already HAD a roofed, 6-ft high attached outdoor run, for in and out; they lined the stall 
with cyclone-fencing, too, after that.  just to be sure... 
her suitor weighed about 20 or 25# and half of that was probably his filthy, matted, wet coat - 
it was spring, and the dirt road was muddy. Lord only knows what bizarre offspring they'd have made... 
or how far he had wandered, questing; he had no collar, nor any sign he had even had a collar - 
no bridle-path, no worn coat, no discoloration.


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## shazalhasa (Jul 21, 2009)

I guess we're in a good position when it comes to seasons, I keep the boys with me and the girls go to stay with my fiance.

It's a bit of an ordeal for him when he comes here to visit though as my middle boy flirts with him lol, jumps up on the settee, nuzzles into his neck and tries to get on his arm whilst whining non stop :lol: nice !!! hehehe

When Tipsy had her first season a couple of months back, I kept her with me for as long as I could. The boys were in the kitchen, she was in living room in a crate at night but they were allowed to be together during the day with me keeping watch for the first week as they weren't showing her any interest, just a bit of sniffing and marking where she was weeing in the garden. She started flirting a little, well it was more nagging really and neither boy was interested in her but to make it easier, I packed her little bag and sent her on holiday down to OH's house with her mother (Coco) for canine company to snuggle upto.

I know many will say that allowing her to spend the first few days with the others was irresponsible but I work from home, am here all day so am able to watch them and keep things under control.


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## Malmum (Aug 1, 2010)

I used to use the no see each other approach and as I have my back garden divided in two, each would use a different side as smelling a bitches pee makes matters worse. In the house doors would be closed so they couldn't see each other for three weeks, sometimes more and they would go out in their sides of the garden seperately, in case he jumped the fence. They are Malamutes and can easily get over a 4ft fence during a season. I would hose the ground after the bitch had toileted to try and minimise the boys distress. Dettol ruled inside the house but of course he'd still be able to smell her and would whine constantly.

This all worked well for her first six seasons and i'd always intended to have her spayed but never seemed to be able to find the cash - what with having five dogs. Then a hospital stay for three days meant I had to trust the then OH to continue the regime and seven weeks later found my girl was pregnant - devestating! I wasn't told as he'd thought he'd caught them in time - fool!!

Raising the litter, health testing done AFTER the event and the worry of labour was all too much and now they are both spayed/neutered, should have done it before. Definitely the only way to be sure of no pups. 
Am now divorced!!


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## shazalhasa (Jul 21, 2009)

I can imagine it must be really hard to keep control over bigger dogs, especially ones that are able to scale walls and fences... thankfully my little ones are so small that they have to take a running jump just to get on the settee


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## nfp20 (Jun 29, 2010)

Malmum said:


> I used to use the no see each other approach and as I have my back garden divided in two, each would use a different side as smelling a bitches pee makes matters worse. In the house doors would be closed so they couldn't see each other for three weeks, sometimes more and they would go out in their sides of the garden seperately, in case he jumped the fence. They are Malamutes and can easily get over a 4ft fence during a season. I would hose the ground after the bitch had toileted to try and minimise the boys distress. Dettol ruled inside the house but of course he'd still be able to smell her and would whine constantly.
> 
> This all worked well for her first six seasons and i'd always intended to have her spayed but never seemed to be able to find the cash - what with having five dogs. Then a hospital stay for three days meant I had to trust the then OH to continue the regime and seven weeks later found my girl was pregnant - devestating! I wasn't told as he'd thought he'd caught them in time - fool!!
> 
> ...


Never easy if you have to leave them in someone elses care. I'm doing that exact same thing now.


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## Tollisty (May 27, 2008)

Ember will go to her breeder again when in season  She has kennels and lots space. For her first season I kept her here for as long as possible, until Chester was very interested, which was about a week. I hope to breed Ember and keep a bitch, so Chester will be castrated, I can't have two entire bitches with him entire as well.


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## Bellasmaid (Aug 18, 2010)

I have an entire bitch, an entire male and a neutered male. When Bella's in season during the night she is with me and OH in our bedroom and during the day we keep an eye on them. Clyde is entire but even when Bella is in season he shows no interest in her at all. He sniffs her but then wanders off. They go into the garden seperately. I've also found hygine knickers are great around the house too. 

Did have an incident at Bella's last season where Clyde went to go up to Bella to sniff her and Max sat down right infront of Bella so Clyde couldnt get to her. Since that day Max has been Bellas protector.


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