If you have an intact Pekingese girl, it would be useful to know as much as possible about heat cycles, since your pet will be going through the heat periods all of her life. The heat cycle is rather a specific period for every dog during which our canine friend requires special care and attention.
Pekingese in heat needs more of your attention, do spend extra time with your dog. Although in heat, Pekingese must go out, walk your dog regularly, just keep her on the leash always and keep her away from any intact male dog. Provide a calm and safe zone for your Pekingese to take nap whenever she wants, as she might be tired more than usual. Pekingese in heat may experience a lack of appetite, offer her tastier cuts of meat, more treats than usual, put some tasty toppings on her regular food. Don’t scold her if she makes a mess or she wants to fight with other dogs. Increased moodiness is a normal thing for Pekingese in heat.
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How Do I Comfort (Care) My Pekingese While in Heat?
The heat period is rather a special one for your Pekingese as she will feel significantly different due to hormonal level changes.
Give Your Pekingese Extra Attention
During her heat cycle, your Pekingese girl may become more attached to you, needy, quite snuggly but also nervous sometimes. Take a little more time than usual to pet, cuddle and play with her. She really needs that.
Distract her by providing some new toys
During her second phase called Estrus, she will have only one thought on her mind- to mate! In order to distract her and make focus on something else, a new, interesting toy or some safe chew toys or balls with treats would be just perfect.
Provide Safe and Calm Area for Pekingese girl to rest
Pekingese dogs in heat may be tired and sleepy. Provide a safe, calm, and children-free zone, where she can rest as much as she wants.
Pekingese in heat might be more alert and sensitive to sounds. Keep the volume down on TV. You can also use a dog speaker that plays music specially created to decrease the level of stress in dogs.
Although not made exclusively for heat periods – Thunder shirts may help in this situation. Just bear in mind that your Pekingese shouldn’t be wearing this coat all the time during heat as it won’t work, but only when you notice that your dog is especially nervous and anxious.
Use Doggy Diapers
During the first stage of the heat cycle, called Proestrus, your Pekingese girl will have a vaginal bloody discharge.
Besides bloody discharge female dogs urinate more frequently so they can make additional mess unintentionally
To reduce the spread of the scent and bloody discharge all over your house you can use doggy diapers that are very practical in this period especially if your Pekingese stays alone at home for several hours.
Even though dogs are able to clean themselves, it can happen that your Pekingese leaves some mess on the floor.
In that case, don’t yell at her, don’t scold her, just comfort her gently while you clean the mess.
Visit A Vet
If you are first time owner or you are especially concerned, the best thing to do is visit a vet. Even though the heat cycle is normal for female dogs, a veterinarian is the best person to ask for advice.
How To Walk My Pekingese While In Heat?
Some people are under the misconception that dogs in heat shouldn’t be taken outside due to various reasons – lack of energy and encounters with male dogs … But on contrary, dogs in heat do require some physical activity. Maybe they have lower energy but still, they need to go out. Several shorter walks per day are the perfect distraction for a Pekingese in heat.
When you walk your Pekingese while in heat, you need to take precautions to avoid any unpleasant situations like unwanted breeding and potential pregnancy.
First, make sure that the ID tag and microchip information are up to date. Dogs in heat usually have a strong impulse to escape so they can find a mate so this way you will find your Pekingese easier if she runs away.
Another thing, you can invest in a GPS tracker for even better results.
Another thing- never leave your Pekingese unsupervised while outside, no matter how secured the yard you have. You won’t believe what males are capable of when they feel the female in heat.
Avoid long walks, make several shorter ones instead. Playtime outdoors is also recommended since it will distract your dog’s thoughts, keep her calm and help expand some of the aggressive energy.
It’s recommended to walk your Pekingese earlier in the morning and late in the evening to reduce the chance of running into other dogs. In that time of day, noise and distractions are minimal so the walk would be less stressful for you both.
Keep away from dog parks, dog shows, or public events where you think other dogs will show up. It’s better to go to a less crowded place/park/path for a walk where you won’t be meeting other dogs.
It’s a good idea to mask the scent of your female in heat. When you bathe her use odor control shampoo for dogs. Some dog owners apply a tiny amount of Vicks VapoRub cream on the tip of her tail that should keep the males away from her.
Dogs hate menthol scent but you should be careful and do not let her lick the area you applied the cream as this product contains menthol and camphor among others and these are toxic to dogs.
Giving your dog Chlorophyll tablets may also reduce the odor but you should consult the vet about the exact dosage. Never give any medicine to your dog before consulting the vet.
You should also prevent male dogs to track her scent all the way from the park or some other spot to your home.
Males can detect the scent of a female in heat up to 3 miles. So they know that there is some female in heat even if they don’t see her. Plus, males are attracted to females while they are even in the first phase of the heat cycle( then females are still not receptive to males, can be rather aggressive towards males)
They can track her smell all the way to your home and then hang around trying to get to her. This is a possibly dangerous situation that should be prevented.
If you take a car ride from your home to the place where you will walk with your dog and then ride back home, males will have no chance to track your girl.
Don’t forget though that you should keep your Pekingese always on the leash when you are outside. No matter how trained she is, how obedient she is, her natural instincts would win in this situation, so keep her tight and never let any intact male close to her.
How To Keep My Pekingese Clean While In Heat?
As you know, the dog shouldn’t be bathed too often. Frequent baths are not good for their skin and fur. The general rule of thumb for Pekingese is one bath per 1-6 weeks depending on your dog’s lifestyle.
Like we said in the beginning, the heat period is a bit different than anything else so different rules apply when it comes to hygiene as well.
Even though Pekingese dogs like other breeds keep their back area very clean, lick themselves intensively, they might need your help in order to keep a good level of cleanliness.
During the first phase ( around 7 days ) of the heat cycle, you might be able to see the bloody discharge. The amount of discharge varies from dog to dog but still, it can make a mess.
So some extra baths ( always use odor control shampoo) will make no trouble to your Pekingese’s skin and fur. If you don’t feel the need to bathe your dog you can only wipe her intimate area on daily basis. This will keep her clean and will reduce the scent.
Many Pekingese owners use either disposable or washable diapers for dogs in heat. Doggy diapers usage may prevent a mess but never consider these items as contraception for dogs ( as some owners do) as males will easily find the way even if a female wears diapers or heat pants.
You can also place disposable absorbent pads on the place where your pet sleeps. You can also use washable pee pads.
What To Do If My Pekingese In Heat Won’t Eat?
Lack of appetite during the heat cycle is quite common for all dog breeds, and Pekingese are not an exception. You Pekingese won’t be so interested in food especially during the second phase ( Estrus). Your dog has only one job to do and that is to find the mate and breed. Nothing else matters, not even the food.
Luckily the appetite loss during heat doesn’t last long enough to harm your dog but still, you have to do your best so your Pekingese gets all the nutritive elements she needs.
No matter how well she usually eats, during those days she may become a fussy eater. That means that she likes one food today but totally dislikes it tomorrow. As a good dog parent, you have to cope with it.
- Offer her favorite food more often than you usually do.
- Bribe her with some tasty treats. Calming treats would be great addition. These are especially made to reduce smaller nervousness and anxiety. They won’t make a magic but along with other things, they can help.
- Give her tastier cuts of meat ( ground meat, beef or pork parts like top loin, top sirloin, pork tenderloin…)
- Put some delicious topping over her regular food. That can be a healthy and tasty fish or coconut oil or even peanut butter. You can always purchase ready- to use toppers or cook a delicious unsalted chicken broth and soak her kibbles in it. It will give her a different texture and improve its dry food taste.
- Treat her with some tasty fruits like blueberries, strawberries, or bananas.
Always make sure your Pekingese drinks enough water to keep her hydrated.
If she refuses to eat, try hand-feeding, in some cases, it helps since she needs more of your attention and affection.
Your Pekingese won’t be so interested in food during the first and especially during the second phase of her heat cycle ( around 2 weeks ). If her appetite doesn’t recover and gets back on track after the heat cycle symptoms are over, you should consult the vet.
Conclusion
Your Pekingese will go into heat every 6-8 months or so, she will stay in heat for approximately 2- 4 weeks, and during that period she will require special care and attention.
The most important thing you need to do is to give her more cuddles and more of your time if she asks for them.
Another equally important thing is to keep her away from an intact male. This means that you should seal up your house, don’t let any intact male come in, always supervise your girl while outside, walk her on a leash and never let her go near males.
I really do hope that you find this article helpful and that you will find some tips on how to handle and take care properly of your Pekingese female in heat.
