woof wednesday

Once upon a time, a Newfie girl in a faraway land began her estrous cycle…

Guys, this is about to get personal cause Aunt Flo is in town.

Oh yes folks, it’s that time of the year again. And if you’re thinking that it seems like just a couple months ago that I was in heat — I’d have to say you were right! Usually Newfies go into heat about every six months…and the first time will be anytime between the ages of 6-12 months. I went into heat the first time when I was about 9 months old (right over Christmas) and then about 6 months later in the middle of the summer. I’ve never really been a very “regular” dog but I was fairly close — until this year. What a crazy year it’s been!

The estrous cycles of dogs often synchronize with the weather, so maybe that’s what has been happening with me. To be honest, our fall felt like it started a few months ago which was real unusual so my system is a bit out of whack. But I sure do appreciate the cooler weather already!

newfies estrous

Now you might be thinking that a big dog getting her period means a whole lot of mess. But actually Newfies and other long haired dogs often clean up most of the mess long before it’s able to drop to the floor. So unless your dog just has an unusually heavy flow, it’s really all good. In fact, you might not ever notice a drop of blood anywhere.

But what you likely will notice is some crazy behavior. For starters, I stop eating when I’m in heat. I might pick at my food a bit and will probably pretend I’m hungry. But no matter what you put in my bowl, I’m not going to eat it. But don’t be concerned — losing a few pounds isn’t going to hurt me. And I’ll be back to trying to eat you out of house and home in no time.

Another fun fact about Newfies in heat is that we howl the most wonderful, toe curling, sad, lonely howl we can possibly produce. It’s like a nice long drawn out “”Oooooooooooooooo” that Mackenzie has now learned to imitate perfectly. She’s so smart. It’s sort of our love siren to let the other dogs in town know our plight. And I used to get the sweetest male suitors dropping by the front gate, but I guess they’ve all gotten older or their humans have invested in better fences, because they don’t brave the traffic anymore.

Another thing I do during this time when I’m not quite myself is walk around the house with a toy I’ve deligated as my baby and try to hide it around the house. Mackenzie actually has some excellent hiding places for toys, but she insists that her toy boxes are not acceptable for my babies. Guess I missed that memo. This causes me to whimper and whine about my ill fate of having no place at all to keep my baby safe…so I do my best to fit myself into the space under mom’s desk (which is really not Newfie friendly) which is the closest I can get to her without sitting in her lap. And if she moves, I’m up on my feet again following her around. I don’t know why that woman can’t just sit at her desk all day and not move. I mean really — the cats have that down pat. Where’s the problem?

And in case you haven’t gathered by my comments above, I’m also very needy and really appreciate more love and affection than ever for a week or so when things are really at their peak.  I know that I get kinda annoying with my craziness, but it really is helpful for you to just humor me and show me a little extra love during this difficult time. All of this (the howling, neediness, toy loving, etc) really only goes on for about a week. Then I return to my usual awesome self.

newfies estrous

Just as a side note, I know that a lot of people may be wondering why my humans don’t just have me spayed. So let me throw in quickly that Newfies don’t mature until about 12 months old…and actually don’t stop really growing until they are about 2 years old. Which is why it’s really best to wait as long as you can to have your big dogs “fixed”. Some believe that spaying and neutering are linked to increased or decreased cancer risks, but there really isn’t any real medical testing to prove that. But there are often more cases of incontinence later on if a dog is spayed or neutered too early and it can cause real growth and development issues.

Also, if you think that your dog must have a litter of puppies to be fulfilled in life or to prevent breast cancer, think again. There’s no proof of that either — and even after a litter, we’re still going to be crazy. Raising a little of puppies is way more work than you think, especially with a giant breed, and you’re not going to want to give all those puppies up. Trust me. We are freakin’ adorable!

Ayla is that food

Thanks for the extra cuddles this week, humans!