Having a Great Pyrenees can be a huge responsibility, but if your Great Pyrenees is unspayed, the Great Pyrenees heat cycle should be of importance to you.
As a dog owner, one question you will inevitably ask is when Great Pyrenees go into heat.
The answer is tricky, of course, as there are a lot of factors at play. If your dog is a puppy, you will have to wait until she reaches maturity, so it is something that you can look for.
If you are adopting an older female, you may not have an easy of a time monitoring when it begins.
We have broken down everything that you need to know about the Great Pyrenees heat cycle and what you should do as a responsible dog owner to ensure the safety and health of your dog. This is what you want to know.
When Do Great Pyrenees Go Into Their First Heat?
There are a lot of averages around a dog’s heat cycle, but it is key to remember that there is a huge range that happens from dog to dog.
In general, however, a Great Pyrenees pup will go in heat at about 6 months old.
Some dogs can take up to a year to hit their first heat cycle, but once it happens, it should appear every 6 months for the rest of her life, unless you have your dog spayed.
You should have a good idea when the Great Pyrenees heat cycle really begins, but it might be hard to know what phase is happening at what time.
You also won’t be able to have an easy time identifying when the next heat cycle will begin, but you know that you have several months before you have to deal with it again.
How Do You Know When Your Great Pyrenees Is In Heat?
If your Great Pyrenees female has not been spayed, your dog going into heat is a real possibility.
While it would be great to have your pup tell you her own symptoms, things are just not that easy. Instead, you will need to be able to identify the signs that your dog has gone into heat.
The first heat cycle can appear anywhere between 6 months and one year of age, depending on your specific dog.
Remember that it is not good for a dog to get pregnant when she is still a puppy. It is much better to wait until she has finished growing first.
There are 4 heat cycle stages: the proestrus, the estrus, the diestrus, and the anestrus.
Proestrus
The proestrus stage is the first of the heat cycle. It will be noticeable, because the dog’s vulva will swell, followed by the appearance of vaginal bleeding.
You might also see that your dog is urinating more frequently as some females like to mark their territory during this time.
If you missed the visible signs that the cycle might be starting, you might know that something is going on when all of the male dogs in your neighbourhood suddenly find your house to be the most interesting one around.
Thankfully, your dog is not likely to allow a male to mate with her during the proestrus stage. It lasts about 9 days on average.
Estrus
The second stage of the heat cycle is the estrus stage. It is during this stage that a female dog will be open to having male company.
This cycle can last anywhere from 4 to 21 days, depending on your individual dogs. Dogs of the same breed can have quite different heat cycles, much like humans do.
Your dog may begin to advertise her availability during this time as well. The process of doing this is called flagging.
You might see your dog rubbing her rump along fences or other surfaces, placing her scent where it can be found the easiest.
She might also lift up her tail as well, showing male dogs that she is ready to mate.
This process might happen for a week, depending on your Great Pyrenees. The flagging is a good sign that ovulation is happening as well.
In most dogs, the vaginal discharge will have lightened quite a bit by this point. Some females will try to escape during this phase and might become more touchy or aggressive, while other dogs have lower energy levels during this period. It just depends on the dog.
Diestrus
The third stage of the heat cycle is known as the diestrus or metestrus stage. This is when the uterus begins to prepare for pregnancy, but it does not mean that a male could impregnate a dog at this time.
That time has passed. This is instead the time that an egg that has been fertilized attaches itself to the uterine wall.
This stage will last about 7 days on average, but the range is between 4 and 14 days. It is not a good time to try to test for pregnancy, because it is really easy to get a false positive at this time.
Anestrus
If no egg is fertilized during the diestrus stage, the heat cycle will end with the anestrus stage. This is the resting period that happens between active heat cycles.
It can vary from dog to dog, but in general, it will last between 5 and 6 months. If an egg was fertilized, this stage will not happen as the dog progresses in her pregnancy.
How Often Do Great Pyrenees Go Into Heat?
Since dealing with the Great Pyrenees heat cycle may not be the easiest thing in the world, once it is over, it is a common question as to when the dog will go into heat again. Thankfully, it does not happen very often at all.
To begin with, if your dog is pregnant, you will have to wait until the pregnancy is over before the dog is at risk again.
You will not be able to confirm whether your dog is pregnant until after the heat cycle is over, because it is easy to get false positives during the Great Pyrenees heat cycle.
A fertilized egg may not have attached itself, but a test may still show a dog as pregnant.
Typically, if your dog avoided pregnancy during her heat cycle, you can expect to not see another heat cycle for at least 6 months, but larger breeds have a tendency to go even longer between cycles, so it may not happen for another 12 to 18 months.
The frequency is just based on averages, however, since dogs, even of the same breed, will have different heat cycle frequencies.
You can start to look for those physical signs again to get an idea as to whether a heat cycle is coming back again since there is no specific way to know before that.
When Is A Female Great Pyrenees Most Fertile?
While the idea of a dog being in heat is that she is most likely to get pregnant at this time, in truth, it is not that simple. A female dog is not likely to be in heat during her entire heat cycle.
Since the typical heat cycle lasts about 21 days, you will have some wiggle room as far as fertility goes. It is usually the second and third weeks of the heat cycle that your dog will be able to conceive.
So, if you are hoping for puppies, it would be at this stage to breed the dog.
How Do Male Dogs React To A Female’s Heat?
Your female dog may be uncomfortable or more likely to escape during the heat cycle, but it is more likely the male dogs that you will need to steer clear of.
Your female dog will need to be confined during the entire heat cycle to avoid persistent males from impregnating your dog.
When a male dog senses a female in heat, he will do anything he can to get to her.
This means digging, climbing, and even breaking into places in order to gain access to a female in heat. If there is even the slightest point of weakness in your fence, the male dog will find it.
How Long Does A Great Pyrenees Stay In Heat?
A Great Pyrenees heat cycle can be individual to the dog and even then, it can vary from cycle to cycle. When a dog starts the first stage of the heat cycle, you can start counting down the time until it’s over.
On the shorter side of things, the heat cycle will can last 2 weeks. That is less usual and definitely on the lower end of the spectrum.
On the high end, a Great Pyrenees heat cycle might last up to 4 weeks. That means the average is 21 days or 3 weeks.
You will know that the heat cycle has ended once the vulva returns to its normal size and there is no more bleeding or discharge.
Even though the cycle might last 21 days, the window of fertility is much shorter than that, generally lasting about 5 days and now starting until around 10 days into the heat cycle.
Can A Great Pyrenees Get Spayed While In Heat?
If you had no intention of breeding your Great Pyrenees, you might be a bit put out when she goes into heat before you spay her.
In reality, it is a good idea to wait until your dog has been in heat at least once before having your dog spayed.
This helps with her overall growth and development and can ensure she lives the long life she deserves.
That said, you need to wait until the heat cycle is over before you have your dog spayed. She should not be bleeding and it should be at least 21 days since the heat cycle started before having her spayed.
Taking Care Of A Female Great Pyrenees In Heat
When your Great Pyrenees goes into heat, she will need more care and supervision than she needs normally. Some of this is due to the discomfort and anxiety that can come along with the heat cycle.
You will also need to make sure that your dog can not get out of your yard, unless the idea of unplanned pregnancies works for you.
One thing that you can do to help keep your dog comfortable during her heat cycle is take her on walks more often.
Of course, this means that if there are any unrestrained males around, you might be fending off other dogs, so walk in a safe location.
You should also avoid dog parks during this period as well, keeping unwanted males away.
The other issue is that while you are fending off males, your female dog may also be on the move, looking for a male as well.
Do not put yourself in a position where you are trying to haul your Great Pyrenees away from a male who is in pursuit. It is a large breed and you are not likely to win in this situation.
Another concern for care is the blood and discharge that you will be faced with.
Other mammals have different ways of dealing with it and some dogs will help keep themselves clean, but there is a good chance that you will wind up with blood on your floors and carpets.
If you allow your dog on your furniture, you have that to look forward to as well.
To help with the mess, keep your dog in a limited space that is easy for you to keep clean. This means you should not have any upholstered furniture, rugs, or carpets to deal with.
That doesn’t mean that your dog should be without comfort. You can create a nest for your dog to lounge in. Use towels to do this. Towels can absorb the blood, prevent accidents, and they are easy to clean.
You will also need to make sure that your dog is confined to your house and yard. Unless you are completely positive that there are no weak spots in your fence, do not allow your dog out in the yard freely.
It is best to keep her as confined as possible. Any weak points in a fence will be found by either the Great Pyrenees in heat or a male who scents her and is interested.
Final Words
Being on the lookout for when a Great Pyrenees goes into heat and knowing how often that you can expect a Great Pyrenees go into heat will help you to be a more responsible dog owner.
You need to provide more special care when your dog is in heat, which can include comfort as well as physical care.
Make sure that you watch your dog while she is in heat, preventing unwanted interactions with hopeful males as well as unexpected pregnancies.
You can use this information to give your dog the love and protection that she deserves.
