What if she goes into heat?

Six months is an average.  I've had dogs that didn't come into season until they were 18 months old and others right at six months.  You know the signs of a dog in season, right?  Also you probably know that they will do most anything when they're ready to be bred including escape from most any yard.  It's not that hard to prevent her from being bred if she does come in before she can be spayed but it does require vigilance and some knowledge of a female dogs reproductive cycle. 

More info for you.

http://www.merckmanuals.com/pethealth/dog_basics/routine_care_and_breeding_of_dogs/breeding_and_reproduction_of_dogs.html

 

And they won't allow you to make the appt NOW for after July 1?  Frustrating!

I know of several bichons who came into heat at 4.5 months.   More likely if they are around in tact males, or so I've been told, no personal experience.

 

 

Freedom

I know of several bichons who came into heat at 4.5 months

I've heard from somewhat reputable sources that smaller breeds/dogs come in earlier sometimes.  I've known Labs that come in once a year instead of every six months. Those are usually the dogs that the owner wants to breed. lol  There is no hard and fast rule and it's best to be prepared for it if it happens. 

JackieG

I've heard from somewhat reputable sources that smaller breeds/dogs come in earlier sometimes. 

Jackie -- that's my experience. Smaller dogs can tend to come in heat earlier. I had Prissy (my very first dog) examined when I first took her off the street (she was dumped out of a moving car in front of my folks' house) -- pom/peke mix. She had already HAD a litter at 6 months (her milk hadn't even started to dry up ). Vet checked her over and over and between her teeth and every other way he could age her he just couldn't see her as older than 6 months. That would be hugely rare in a big dog. I mean heck -- 4 months is pretty danged unusual for a small dog!

JackieG

 You know the signs of a dog in season, right?  Also you probably know that they will do most anything when they're ready to be bred including escape from most any yard.  It's not that hard to prevent her from being bred if she does come in before she can be spayed but it does require vigilance and some knowledge of a female dogs reproductive cycle. 

Tattoo what Jackie said on your heart -- AND on the heart of every resident human!! But -- with regard to Sadie potentially coming into heat -- the heat cycle lasts 3 weeks. A vet will go by how swollen her tissues are -- and they won't spay her unless it's a dire emergency if she's already in heat (because the tissues are swollen and it's too easy for infection to take hold). Likewise, if she *does* go thru heat they'll want to wait til 3 weeks after it's done for the tissues to return to normal.

Trust me -- that humane society wishes **everyone** were as concerned as you are. The answer to your question "what do I do"?? You attach her leash to your belt and keep her there. You don't leave windows open, you don't let anyone crack a door until she's leashed and someone has a hold on it -- and you expect that you'll have every intact male for miles checking out your door. Not fun, but like Jackie says it's not impossible.

Yeah, I can't even call until July 1st, and even then there's a chance that the funding won't be there. If knew that, I'd just order the Friends For Animals certificate and be done with it. I do know the signs. She's about 25 lbs. at this point, so hopefully size is on our side. She may have some lab in her. I know there must be intact males around here, but I feel like everyone I know has their dog fixed. When we say 6 months, do we mean by weeks? Like I said, she is 22 weeks. By date though, she is 5 months today.

Oh, and she has her "pre op" visit tomorrow, so I'll have the veg check things out and make sure it doesn't look like anything is going on yet.

That would be the vet, not the "veg."

SadieLady

When we say 6 months, do we mean by weeks? Like I said, she is 22 weeks. By date though, she is 5 months today.

Um, go and read the link in my post and what we've been saying.  No one can tell you exactly when she will come in heat.  The six month average is just that, an average. 

Jackie, I did read it all. I was just asking a general question about how to count age. She was born January 11th. Does that make her 5 months today, or 2 weeks ago when she was about 20 weeks?

Sorry. I misunderstood why you were asking. My apologies.

 I generally count weeks but never really tried to be that exact. I don't know when any of my current dogs were born so I just guesstimated with help from my vet.