Light Heat?

So Didgie's last (first) heat was SUPER obvious. She got very swollen, bled a lot and there were lost of indicators when she went into standing and when she came out.

This heat is super subtle, I don't think if I didn't have boy dogs I would have noticed that much. She's a little swollen and about a weak ago she bled a tiny bit (I noticed when she got off her stool). I put a diaper on her and a bad and since then there has been little to no discharge at all. She's still just a little swollen and while Traveler and Fergus are interested it's not over the top.

Is that common for heats to be that different?

Mira's have all been the same. But then I am also working off a sample size of...one.

I don't know about heats varying, but I know Feist's first heat was super, super discreet like you're describing. I was keeping tabs on it and she was under house arrest, but I only really realized how far along she was (she was keeping herself very clean, and only swelled a tiny bit) when she started flirting/ bumping her butt up to Wesley/flagging (Wesley, bless his soul, was like 'whaaa?' PLAYBOW RUN AWAY!!!). So yeah, yay for barely there heats?

That's how Poison has been. First one was awful second one was light and ended sooner than expected.

Bitches be crazy.

I was told by Cajun's former owner that she hasn't gone into heat yet, but when my vet looked at her she kind of went ummmm she's quite a bit too "developed" to have never been in heat. So, best guess is that first heat just wasn't very exciting, and obviously I have nothing to compare it to BUT I'm willing to bet that won't be the case the second time around. Although I'd appreciate it very much if it were

IME, yes they can vary (pulling info from four different bitches). I always keep track of Cali's so I can go back and look at stuff. Do you keep a log of her cycle/S&S? I've been told that if it happens often or something seems off to get a check up (even more so if the bitch is going to be used for breeding).

Yep IME they can vary too, especially in young dogs. Pepper wasn't very consistent until she was about four... now they are pretty consistent I've found.

To semi hijack Linds thread. How has all of your girls been as far as moods while in heat? And does it change from heat to heat? Phoebes having her first one and OMG she was lovey before now shes insanely lovey and super smiley at everyone. Hopefully she doesn't freak the judges out next weekend with her smiling.

Kili's just finishing her first heat. She was obvious that she was coming in because she swelled huge (also very obvious because you know... no fur) but I didn't know when she was in estrus until I did a vaginal cytology because she never bled a drop. Shortly after I got the cytology I started to see her flagging if Summit sniffed at her butt.

It really seems like it can vary for each dog, and split and silent heats do happen with some regularity.

Ziva and Aeri both had nearly silent first heats. Snipe's was full blown and obvious on all counts. Ziva was spayed after her first heat, so I don't know how the second would have gone, but for Aeri it was a split heat and Snipe's was about the same. The third heat for Aeri ended up 'normal' and the third for Snipe was a bit lighter.

Don't know about heat to heat since we've only had one. Personality... totally normal the first and last week. The middle week she was very inactive. It's not that she was uninterested in training, but that she didn't want to move quickly. I think she had cramps. But she wasn't needy or more clingy, which was disappointing because she's not a cuddly dog and I was hoping for some cuddles.

Feist was very ditzy all through her heat. Easily distracted during training, and she mostly just wanted to snuggle and be fed cookies.

Mira doesn't really change other than being more snuggly during downtime before and after standing heat, and more flirty during downtime during standing heat. But if something is going on/there is "work" to be done, she is the same as always and you'd never know she was in heat. Except for the giant swelling pinkness that is visible from what seems like half a mile away haha.

Again, that has been consistent from heat to heat. It'll be interesting to see if anything changes in post-puppies heat cycles.

I'm wondering that as well. And I will be keeping track of her moods and stuff. We did have our first instance of big girl "bitchyness" yesterday. She took offence to the neighbor dog behind us (who coincidentally is also a female) leaving her yard and coming into our side yard.