# question about multiple intact dogs in same house



## atravis (Sep 24, 2008)

Right now I have it in the works to take in a sweet little female GSD who's in a pretty bad way... extreme generalized demodex, HW positive, and unspayed. 

I want to help this little girl heal, as I have the ability and money to help her right now, but I'm worried about her being intact and possibly going into heat. Due to her poor health status, I wont be able to spay her until her HW and the demodex are taken care of. 

I have no problem keeping intact dogs... one of mine is currently intact and the other neutered. I'm not concerned about keeping my intact male away from this girl, as I have several separated rooms in my home right now that I'm not even using, and some very heavy duty crates. But my concern is how my boys will be with _each other_ IF, heaven forbid, she should go into heat before I can get her spay done.

Has anyone been in this situation before? Multi-male household with an intact female going into heat? 

Like I said, I really want to help this dog, but I'm becoming concerned due to the delay in having her spayed that there might be big issues if she comes into heat.


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## middleofnowhere (Dec 20, 2000)

Can't help you much but maybe my post will help move this up.

What I've heard is that the intact guys go kinda nuts when a female comes into heat. Expect a lot of noise on his part. Don't know about the neutered guy.


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## wolfy dog (Aug 1, 2012)

I took in a fosterdog who came into heat almost immediately. At that time I had two intact males (non-GSD) and they got into a fight and one had to be sutured for a puncture wound in the neck. They had never fought before as their temperaments were at both ends of the spectrum... until that time.


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## Sabis mom (Mar 20, 2014)

With your two guys you probably won't have an issue but I would watch them carefully and be prepared to separate them if need be.
Personally I always found the girls were the ones fighting when one came in heat.
I feel like my whole life has been crate and rotate, so if it were me I wouldn't even blink about it.
And pics would be nice, lucky girl to have found you.


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## atravis (Sep 24, 2008)

I've recently discovered something called Megestrol that's been used to stop/control heat cycles, going to be looking into that too and see if maybe that's a viable short-term solution until she can be spayed. 

I've considered baby gating off the part of the house she'll be staying in... still won't completely eliminate the smell if she does come into heat, but it will prevent them from being in the thick of it, maybe stop any issues.

Sabis, I'll post pics once I have her secured!


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## wolfy dog (Aug 1, 2012)

atravis said:


> I've recently discovered something called Megestrol that's been used to stop/control heat cycles, going to be looking into that too and see if maybe that's a viable short-term solution until she can be spayed.
> 
> I've considered baby gating off the part of the house she'll be staying in... still won't completely eliminate the smell if she does come into heat, but it will prevent them from being in the thick of it, maybe stop any issues.
> 
> Sabis, I'll post pics once I have her secured!


Do not rely on the baby gates. I have known a
dog that jumped through a window to get to a fertile female.


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## Colie CVT (Nov 10, 2013)

Baby gates won't stop much. 

We've been playing the dogs in heat and male intact dog game for two years now. I second what others say, we have more trouble with the females than we do the males. However, we are certain the female is crated if the boys are out and if she is out, the boys are crated. It also keeps the mess contained. The boys whine and try to slip close to her crate, but we haven't had any trouble with fights between the boys. But we don't hesitate to crate everyone and play the crate and rotate game if we have to.

And with her being HW positive, you are going to want to be careful with her as far as the ability to exercise goes. Unless they know what kind of worm load she has, too much vigorous movement when they're killing the adult worms off could cause too many to dislodge and cause an instant embolism and death. Not sure what way you will be handling it, but just a bit of caution. Crate is definitely your friend in many ways.


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## atravis (Sep 24, 2008)

As already stated, this dog will be confined to a crated and in a room completely separated from my dogs. My concern is not with my intact male getting to her. I _know_ I can prevent that.

I just don't want anyone getting a wiff of her (IF she should go into heat) and all **** breaking loose between my boys. My concern here is with MY dogs, not this female, who I know will be safe and out of reach. 

I've been through HW treatment with dogs, this is nothing new. Unspayed female in a house of males _is_, and that's the issue I'm concerned with.


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## my boy diesel (Mar 9, 2013)

a whiff of her is gonna be hard to stop since male dogs can smell a female in heat for up to 3 miles or something like that

that said my boys were all neutered and some were randier than others and wanted to breed the female we had in heat 
none got to her but we did have to make extra effort for a while to keep them separated
even neutered i did not want to deal with a full blown tie which can happen even with a neutered male btw

i understand getting the heartworm under control but be aware that stress can make demodex worse and heats cause stress for dogs so her demodex may flare during and after that heat

good luck


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## Mikelia (Aug 29, 2012)

I have two intact males and when a bitch goes into heat the main frustrating thing is getting the boys to eat and go to the bathroom. All they can think about is the girl. I will put a boy out back and sneak the girl out the front, if they see her leave then she is all they can think about.
My boys live together in the house but can be 'iffy' with each other from time to time. This is managed very well and they understand their place in the pack and I've had no issues for years with them. However, when a girl is in heat they are separate unless they are on leash. I have no problem when I walk them together, and they are not aggressive with each other, but I don't want to tempt fate.


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## atravis (Sep 24, 2008)

Well, the issue of worrying about heats may have been solved for me. 

I'm almost positive this dog is pregnant. 

Either way, I've got her now. Vet appointment to confirm pregnancy, and I guess we'll just go from there.


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## N Smith (Aug 25, 2011)

I currently have three intact males and three intact females, and one neutered male. No problems with anything here.

The girls are fine together during their heats, but I usually separate them anyways just because I would rather not ever have a fight then try to fix something that happened. 

The boys are fine, no one is whiney or vocal. They are all crated together in the dining room. No one busts out or tries to get to each other. I seriously think I somehow have the best luck, or maybe strong crates??? LOL

IF your female goes into heat, I would judge your boys' behavior and go from there. If you notice them getting testy or on edge, just separate them in the house until the heat is done. Better to avoid a fight if at all possible.

Be careful with anything that you give to delay/postpone heats - I have a friend who tried this with her brood. She did delay the heat, however the dog had to be spayed VERY soon after the drops were started, for a uterine infection. Not long after that, the dog was diagnosed with cancer. The events could be completely unrelated, but with the timeline, it seemed the treatment used to stop her going into heat was more than likely the culprit.

Congrats on your new girl and how amazing of you to open your home to her


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## atravis (Sep 24, 2008)

She's pregnant.

Vet guesses about 45 days in. X-rays show what we suspect to be 4 puppies.

Oi.


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## Colie CVT (Nov 10, 2013)

Ick. Poor girl already has enough problems without adding puppies onto it!  They definitely gave you a challenging case to help out with.

I can definitely vouch for the neutered males can still tie bit. -.- My golden seriously didn't learn his lesson the first time, and she badgered her little friend enough that he finally tried. That little guy was neutered at 4 months lol. 

Here's hoping things go ok.


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## wolfy dog (Aug 1, 2012)

atravis said:


> She's pregnant.
> 
> Vet guesses about 45 days in. X-rays show what we suspect to be 4 puppies.
> 
> Oi.


Well at least not a huge litter. I once took in a foster dog and she got 10!
It is also a very enjoyable experience. I wouldn't have wanted to miss it for the world.


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## BowWowMeow (May 7, 2007)

Oh dear.  I assume they delay the HW treatment until she gives birth? Or they just do the monthly treatment? 

I hope everything goes ok! I have successfully treated demodex with immune boosting supplements -- I would highly recommend that for a dog who is pregnant and HW+.


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## atravis (Sep 24, 2008)

I've started her on a few things to try and build her up. I'll start adding raw once I feel she can handle it, but for now its kibble with raw goat milk added. I'll gradually introduce some Vit C and coconut oil (needs that bad, the yeast smell from her is strong). I've got some Nu Stock I'm rubbing on her worst areas, and some lemon grass/cedar spray to maybe help fight the mites more naturally for the time being. 

This poor dog... I have NO idea how they missed her being pregnant at the shelter, but its a bad situation. Her health alone is worrisome, but they'd already vaccinated, and started her on ivermectine, ketaconazole, and cephalexin due to her issues... WHILE pregnant, which of course is bad news. Guess the only good thing was she was getting consistent and decent nutrition throughout most of this (they had her on canned food due to being emaciated, almost assuredly Pro Plan as there were cases of it stacked outside her kennel the fist time I saw her... which, personal beefs aside, is so much better than what it _could_ have been). 

Here's some pics:


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## Sabis mom (Mar 20, 2014)

Poor girl. All this and babies to. Sounds like you have a plan, I'm glad you got her. At least she will be happy and safe. 
Love the pics, the one of her hiding her face is just precious.


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## atravis (Sep 24, 2008)

It was terribly sweet, I brought my boyfriend along so I could take pictures, and the first thing she did when we were all out was dive straight for his lap. She really took an immediate liking to him, I'm thinking maybe one of her primary care givers at he shelter was man.

But she's sweet as pie, and if absolutely nothing else... one of the x-rays they did to see the pups was her flat on her back, so I got to see her hips... looked great, haha. So there's _something_


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## LaRen616 (Mar 4, 2010)

Thank you very much for taking this poor girl in! Thank goodness a good person ended up with her! Her and her puppies are very lucky to have you!


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## holland (Jan 11, 2009)

so glad you adopted her-poor girl -hope you continue to post pics of her


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## Sabis mom (Mar 20, 2014)

atravis said:


> It was terribly sweet, I brought my boyfriend along so I could take pictures, and the first thing she did when we were all out was dive straight for his lap. She really took an immediate liking to him, I'm thinking maybe one of her primary care givers at he shelter was man.
> 
> But she's sweet as pie, and if absolutely nothing else... one of the x-rays they did to see the pups was her flat on her back, so I got to see her hips... looked great, haha. So there's _something_



Her eyes just do me in. She has such a soft, pleading expression. 
At least you don't need to worry about her hips, lol. How is she doing with everything else? And what is poor Mulder thinking now? lol.


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## N Smith (Aug 25, 2011)

Thank dog she is with you!!

Just think of where she could have end up...or worse...where she could have had to deliver those puppies.

Your plan sounds good - I would try adding either a bone broth or a liver broth to her diet..or both.. to get some added nutrition without overloading her. I would feed it right through whelping.


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## atravis (Sep 24, 2008)

Haha, Mulder will have to learn to share 

I added in some raw today for a couple of meals (she's eating 4 meals a day right now, trying to get a little weight on her and giver her body what she needs in these last few weeks), so far so good. I tried playing it safe, got the pre-made NV frozen as that seemed pretty inoffensive and safe. Also started adding the coconut oil.


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## misslesleedavis1 (Dec 5, 2013)

Poor girl, 
Thank you for caring for her. Good luck with the puppies. Any idea on what the course of HW treatment will be?


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