doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com OT hunt with your female dog when in heat?

Hello gentlemen:

I never take care with my female bird dogs if she is in heat or not. I simply go out and hunt.
A person told me recently that it is not correct to hunt while the dog is in her fertile period.
Could you tell me how do you do?
Any harm to the dog? other problems related?

Thank you for your opinions.

Best,

Fine by me if there are no un-neutered males in the party and none likely to be encountered. If there are intact male dogs expected, then I would not do it.

I used to take my male and female "on the road" in a Suburban for 2 to 2 1/2 months in the fall, starting in Canada and ending in New Mexico or similar. It was always a concern that the female would go into heat, so a vet prescribed to me a drug to retard the female going into heat. It worked well. I think in was called Shurs, or similar.

A friend with a trio of goldens would put his female on birth control pills of some sort. Did the trick.

Yes, I hunt my female when she is in heat. Although I hunt public land it's not hard to sidestep other hunters. Of course, if I hunted with a partner with a male dog, neutered or not, I wouldn't do it. Even if the dog can't do the deed, it will still be interested in the female and disrupt the hunt. I'm more worried about her hooking up with a coyote than another hunter's dog.

If you have a big trip planned the other posters' suggestions of suppressing or delaying the cycle is probably the way to go but most of us with intact dogs kind of know when the next cycle is due and for local hunting it's no big deal.

Bruce

I believe in spaying. I don't intend to breed my dogs and I don't want an accident. I also believe the vet when he says it is healthier for the dog...Geo

Kept the girl dogs home when they went into heat, reliably around opening day of grouse season. Didn�t need a bad outcome.
I�ve decided I�m not a dog breeder, and I let the females come into one heat cycle, and they are then spayed. Haven�t owned a male in a few dogs ages, but, I�d likely neuter one at about 1 year.

Best,
Ted

Jose to answer the question you asked. Keep hunting them you are not going to harm them.
When I had females that were not and spayed and came into heat I hunted them because that�s the only trained dogs I had.
I never had anything negative happen. I didn�t hunt around other dogs that�s an obvious precaution. Never had to shoot a coyote off the top of my dog 😜. Not saying given the right circumstance one wouldn�t try.
A friend of mine who has a dozen English pointers he guides with. Will avoid hunting his females in heat because his males get aggressive with each other.
He also feels they don�t listen as well and make more mistakes.

I've hunted several bitches that weren't spayed. Never worried unless hunting with a partner who had a male.

Jose, You might be violating a number of gender sensitive rights by denying a female a day in the field because of biological driven conditions.....