Quote:
Just because I don't know what to look for, what is there about her appearance that tells you this? I've never had female dogs that weren't spayed, so I have no experience with that at all.
ETA........For the few people who have asked, we say Rosie is a Boxer/Lab. We don't want to take any chances. Also, deb1 below me points out something I hadn't noticed. Hmmmm.....
If you look at the first photo, her swollen vulva is visible under her tail. You wouldn't see it on a fuzzier dog, but pit bulls, boxers, Dalmatians, Dobermans, etc. are quite public about the visual advertising.
Visual signs that a grump is in season are a swollen vulva and discharge. The discharge is red during proestrus (before she is fertile) and changes to a clear-ish straw color, or even disappears, during estrus (her fertile and receptive time.) The vulva is most swollen, and very soft, during estrus.
Many half-informed people have found an oops litter in the closet after letting a grump out when the red discharges stops, thinking she is out of heat then. They thought they had it right ...
There is a well-known phenomenon known as the "pound boxer." A "boxer mix" at an animal shelter is the shelter staff's way of avoiding the pit bull label. Especially in those backwards places where policy or law dictates that any "pit bull" is killed rather than being assessed for adoption.
It's too bad. I'll take a good pit over a boxer any day. But more important, people who adopt from shelters need to know, within the realm of the possible, what package of instincts they are bringing home.
Just because I don't know what to look for, what is there about her appearance that tells you this? I've never had female dogs that weren't spayed, so I have no experience with that at all.
ETA........For the few people who have asked, we say Rosie is a Boxer/Lab. We don't want to take any chances. Also, deb1 below me points out something I hadn't noticed. Hmmmm.....
If you look at the first photo, her swollen vulva is visible under her tail. You wouldn't see it on a fuzzier dog, but pit bulls, boxers, Dalmatians, Dobermans, etc. are quite public about the visual advertising.
Visual signs that a grump is in season are a swollen vulva and discharge. The discharge is red during proestrus (before she is fertile) and changes to a clear-ish straw color, or even disappears, during estrus (her fertile and receptive time.) The vulva is most swollen, and very soft, during estrus.
Many half-informed people have found an oops litter in the closet after letting a grump out when the red discharges stops, thinking she is out of heat then. They thought they had it right ...
There is a well-known phenomenon known as the "pound boxer." A "boxer mix" at an animal shelter is the shelter staff's way of avoiding the pit bull label. Especially in those backwards places where policy or law dictates that any "pit bull" is killed rather than being assessed for adoption.
It's too bad. I'll take a good pit over a boxer any day. But more important, people who adopt from shelters need to know, within the realm of the possible, what package of instincts they are bringing home.
