german shepherd puppy never came into first heat??

Question

i have 2 german shepherds, they had a litter of one puppy. a friend of mine now owns her, she is 17 months old and has never had a heat cycle. we are concerned there is a medical reason for this. has anyone had this problem before. she is NOT spayed. could it be normal for her not to have a heat cycle before 2 yrs old? thanks

well, i am a very experienced dog owner. and very experienced with the german shepherd. this dog does go to the vet and is very healthy. she has planned on doing SchH. with her and was going to breed her after she was titled and hip cert. but of course if she finds out it is a health reason and not just silent heats then she will not breed her. but she wants her intact for the SchH trials. she may just have silent heats. i just wanted some opinions from people who have seen or had dogs with this problem before going to her vet. thank you to those who posted helpful replies.

thank you for all the info so far. her mother had another litter (same sire) before this female and had 7 healthy puppies they are all grown and doing fine, there was only one female from the first litter and she had no problems with heat cycles. her mother is 6 yrs old and of course spayed now. the 17 month old has a very nice pedigree with no genetic health problems. so we are thinking it is just silent heats, she is not around any male dogs, she is the only dog. the reason for keeping her intact while doing training is so she can have a litter after she gets her title and hip cert. after no more than two litters she would be spayed anyway. but if she turns out having health problems then she will not be bred, and will be spayed. but will still get her title and be hip cert. she is a very high drive dog. like her sire.

Answer 1

Some dogs are very very clean when they are in heat. It is possible to have missed her first one.

I would however have her checked by the vet, I would hate to say something that is incorrect.

I did find this information:

The average heat cycle for a dog is approximately 3 weeks and since this an an average, some heats are shorter (as little as 7-10 days), others are longer (4 weeks or more).

Average times between heat periods is seven months but some dogs can cycle as early as every 4 months, some once a year.

Lengths of heat cycles and intervals between cycles are different for each dog but most dogs hit somewhere close to the averages.

The first part of heat you will notice bleeding from the vulva, swelling of the vulva, possible increase in urination and the most noticeable, male dogs hanging around the house. During this period (proestrus), females will not allow the males to breed with them although the males will be very persistent.

The second part or estrus is the time in which the female will allow the male to breed her and this can last anywhere from 4-21 days. A female, most of the time, will allow most any male to breed during this time. As the female starts to go out of heat or enter diestrus, she will be less willing to breed.

Again this stage can last 4-14 days but averages approximately 7 days. The next cycle usually begins about 7 months from the start of the last heat cycle, not the end of that cycle but again this varies from dog to dog. The interval stays the same even if she becomes pregnant.

If you do not intend to breed her, you really should consider spaying her. There are many health benefits associated with spaying such as decreased chance of mammary tumors and you will not have to worry about pyometra, metritis or unwanted litters (overpopulation is a big problem - just take a trip to a humane shelter).

Answer 2

My doberman seemes to skip every second heat and when she does come into heat, male dogs dont seem to notice. Mind you, she has some pretty severe health issues and is sterile anyway. Are you absolutely sure there are no health problems such as, thyroid disease or immune system problems. My dobe has hypoparathyroidism which has rendered her sterile naturally. It was pretty hard to diagnose, i knew something was wrong and had her tested for just about everything but found that there are many thing that a female dog should be tested during certain times of their fertility cycle to make diagnosis certain. My vet didnt know this so i spent a lot of money for unnecessary testing at the wrong time. You can test a dog to see if they are producing viable eggs. But it is expensive, but it may be worth it in this case. Also if she was the only pup out of a litter, that in itself suggests something maybe is wrong with her or her mother.

Answer 3

You can tell her that the dog does NOT need to be intact for Schutzhund. I've done Schutzhund for nearly a year with my neutered male Malinois (and got the AD title...working on the BH). If she's doing Schutzhund, spaying at around 18 to 24 months old is just fine. In fact, it can be really handy because then you don't have to be always the last on the field to train during the heat cycle and no weirdness from her around the heat cycles (some females loose all interest in protection and working in general...some go nuts).

Answer 4

Either she has a reproductive problem or she has silent heats. Silent heats are heat cycles with no outward symptoms.

In either case this dog is a very bad candidate for breeding and needs to be spayed asap.

It'll be much healthier for her as well.

Answer 5

My dog has done the same thing She dint have a heat cyle till she was three. I
Sometimes the dogs are really clean and its hard to tell when they go into heat. Maybe call your doctor and ask him.

Answer 6

you picked a home for your pup that dose not take there pet to the vet get your dogs fixed first, then get that puppy to the vet

my god people

Answer 7

take your dog to a vet. get her checked out and then get her SPAYED. be responsible. end of story.