All females will have a heat cycle at 6-8months old and then again every 6 months later. With some of the smaller breeds, you may not even notice any staining. You can usually tell if you notice that she is cleaning herself a lot. Plus if you look at her tushy when not in heat it is pretty small, but when they go into heat it does enlarge. So it is possible this constant shedding is because she is going through a hormone change and may very well be in heat, even if you don't see the staining. When I first brought Gigi in to be spayed, I had thought for the past couple of days that she was cleaning herself a little more then usual, but she didn't look swollen nor did I see any staining. The Vet did a swab test, that is stuck a Q-tip just lightly in there and sure enough she was in heat. A couple of days later, I could see that she was swollen and then the staining started. So I had to wait another month for her spay.
If your Gigi is a good weight and she now that she is old enough, she shouldn't have any problem with the spay. A good Vet will want to do a pre-spay blood work up, just to make sure that all her vitals can handle the anesthesia, and if so, then she will be just fine. Can't blame you for being nervous about surgery, we all are, but please keep a check on her constantly for a heat cycle, because even if you don't think she is in heat, another dog can smell it a block away and you wouldn't want that to happen to her. She really is a a cutie, and I love her markings and eyes. Such a sweetie! Peggy & The Girls -------Original Message------- From: Emberly Ford Date: 3/4/2012 12:18:31 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [Chihuahuas] Re: Gigi is shedding a lot---The proper way to de-shed a dog Gigi hasn't been spayed and she has never had a heat cycle to my knowledge. She will be 1 year old in May. Of course I have no intention on breeding her I just haven't taken her to be spayed. It's weird, but I'm nervous about any surgical procedures. I know I have to take her. She is the first female dog I have ever had. All my other dogs were males. I like that she has less of a coat and I don't expect it to get super long. It's wispy, but super thick down her back and she has a whole mane thing going, lol. Her tail hair is about 2 inches long. She definitely had thick full britches, but they trimmed them up at the groomer. I hope her length stays as it is. I love her coat. Emberly --- On Sat, 3/3/12, Peggy & The Girls <[email protected]> wrote: From: Peggy & The Girls <[email protected]> Subject: Re: [Chihuahuas] Re: Gigi is shedding a lot---The proper way to de-shed a dog To: [email protected] Date: Saturday, March 3, 2012, 11:08 PM Thanks! I was looking at the wrong album! Yes I can see the chi in her and her fur is short now, so the boars brush and the fine-tooth comb would work just fine. I don't think you mentioned her age now and if she is spayed or was recently spayed. If she is about a year old now or recently been spayed, she may just be Blowing her coat. Blowing means that they go through a full shed and for a while you may even think that she is going to be bald from so much hair loss. It can even happen right after each heat cycle. Gigi blew her coat after her heat cycle and then again after I had her spayed. Same thing happened to Princess. It took Gigi almost a full year before she really looked like she is a long coat. It doesn't happen to all breeds or all chis. My maltese's never blew their coats like Gigi and Princess did. So it is more like a hormonal balance that each individual dog goes through. Still all the more reason to give the Liperderm and try to experiment with different dog foods that suit her. I know how expensive that can be, but each dog is different and it may take 2-3 months before you start to see a change in the thickness and length of her fur. LHs seem to come in three categories, the short length, the medium length, which is my Gigi, and the long length. My Gigi really looked like a SH when I first rescued her. Believe it or not she was on Wells Turkey blend for months at that time, but I couldn't stand the fishy smell of her breath and poop so I switched her, and that is when her fur started to really grow in. She is on a special diet now of a very low fat and protein content because of her liver issues, but I am lucky because so far she hasn't lost a lot of fur again, and now looks like a medium length LH. -------Original Message------- From: Emberly Ford Date: 3/3/2012 11:48:40 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [Chihuahuas] Re: Gigi is shedding a lot---The proper way to de-shed a dog http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Chihuahuas/photos/album/371989817/pic/list Here's the link to my album. --- On Sat, 3/3/12, Peggy & The Girls <[email protected]> wrote: From: Peggy & The Girls <[email protected]> Subject: Re: [Chihuahuas] Re: Gigi is shedding a lot---The proper way to de-shed a dog To: [email protected] Date: Saturday, March 3, 2012, 9:32 PM I think that I was looking at the wrong album marked Gigi. Could you send me the link? Lol, I had my Gigi for months before I heard her bark too, and it is such a cute little bark, not annoying at all. She hardly barks too. Lucky me, because Princess has enough bark for six dogs! I have seen a lot of pictures of pom-chis and each one is as cute as the next. Last summer when I was at a local park, a lady had a tiny dog, that I knew had chi in it and I suspected Pap to because the ears were ridiculously huge, and I mean huge! She said that years before the dog wandered to her porch and didn't want to leave so she kept him. She had been told by several people including her Vet that it was a Papachi. One of those designer dogs I guess. -------Original Message------- From: EmberlyF Date: 3/3/2012 9:35:10 PM To: [email protected] Subject: [Chihuahuas] Re: Gigi is shedding a lot---The proper way to de-shed a dog I only have her. So all those pictures are of her as a puppy up to now. You can see as a puppy she had a more fluffy type coat. I was researching and had found a very nice breeder that I wanted to go meet. Than I saw a guy in my apartment complex walking what appeared to be two long coat chihuahuas. I stopped to talk to him. I asked him about their temperament and what it was like to live with them. I just wanted to see what they were like in real life. Then he said do you want a puppy because we have some. I was shocked. The father was definitely a red and white long coat chi and the mother was black and tan. I was told that she was half Pomeranian and half long coat chihuahua. Gigi's sister and brother was also black and tan. They gave her to me at 6 weeks old and she was already mostly potty trained. I was scared because I had never had such a small baby. Her sister was even smaller. I felt bad about taking her so early. I met both the parents and I was able to see where they kept the puppies. I really got lucky. It was an impulsive purchase. I had been looking and talking to breeders for months and just like that I bought a puppy. I knew I shouldn't have looked at them, but she is a healthy perfect little girl. Her mother was a super barker. I heard her before I ever reached the apartment, but Gigi is nearly a year old now and I have only heard her bark 2 times. Emberly
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