When a female dog goes into heat it triggers a male dog into his baser instincts. If you don’t handle a female’s heat properly it can end in an unwanted pregnancy. In this article, we will explain a few different options when considering how to stop a male dog from whining when a female is in heat.
4 Tips on How to Stop a Male Dog From Whining When Female is in Heat
The easiest way to stop a male dog from whining about a female in heat is by keeping them separated, which we will give more information about in this article. We will also give you a variety of tips, tricks, and facts that can help you navigate heat cycles with unfixed dogs.
1. Separate Your Dogs
Separating your unfixed male and female dogs during her heat is essential to avoid any unwanted pregnancies. The best way to do this is by not letting them interact at all! Keep them in separate areas every day and all night until the heat is over.
Male dogs can be stubborn and difficult to calm when they are focused on a female in heat, so keeping them separated is really the best way to attempt to keep your male calm.
If you don’t have rooms to keep them separated, you could invest in kennels! If you don’t want to purchase two separate kennels, a great alternative option is to switch them out every hour so they have fair turns with time outside to play, potty, or just rest.
Gates are another way of utilizing the space you have available in your home. You can gate off a room, hallway, or any safe area and contain your pets there, of course letting them have separate potty breaks.
Monitoring your pets is extremely important, especially if you have them separated with something easily avoidable for some breeds. We recommend keeping them separated for a minimum of 18 days, which is the average time a female will be in estrus.
Ensure that you keep track of your dogs heat, as they can happen every 6 months to 1 year, and you don’t want any accidental or unwanted pregnancies.
2. Exercise
If your male is constantly whining because your female is in heat, it can get very annoying, very fast. It may be worth a shot to exhaust your male with play and exercise throughout the day, so he is more tired and less interested in the female.
Playing with various toys, running, walking, and swimming are all easy exercise methods to try out. Don’t have a pool but your dog loves water? Try investing in a kiddy pool for them!
Turn on a hose and let them play with that water, or even stick a sprinkler attached to a hose in the middle of your yard and let your pooch have fun.
A simple game of fetch or tug-o-war may be sufficient enough to tire your dog out, but ensure that you have multiple play sessions a day and always have accessible water for your pets.
If your dog doesn’t enjoy physical exercise, there are multiple ways to stimulate and exercise their brain, too! If you find that your pet is particularly food motivated, try hiding their favorite treats underneath blankets and scattered in random spots throughout their space.
There are also lick mats widely available at pet stores online and in-store that you can use with peanut butter or spray cheese, which will definitely distract your pet.
3. Monitor Your Male Dog
Did you know that a male dog can smell a female in heat up to 3 miles away? Some males are so affected by a female’s heat cycles that they will start to exhibit some concerning symptoms.
If your male starts marking inside and around your home more or stops eating, this may indicate that they are becoming too obsessed with the female in heat.
If your dog begins to exhibit these signs, we highly recommend separating the male and female completely. Reach out to your veterinary clinic to see if they offer boarding services, and if they don’t, they typically will have helpful recommendations.
Last resort, you can always call a friend or family member to see if they could house one of your dogs for the time being.
Keep in mind that a dog that isn’t eating can develop some serious health issues, so it is important to monitor their behavior, and if they exhibit concerning signs it is best to bring them to their primary veterinarian to verify a healthy and happy pooch.
Some breeds are more prone to anxious behaviors than others are, so it is important to know how your dog reacts to stressful events and what actions can either help them or make the anxiety worse.
4. Spay and Neuter
If you aren’t planning on breeding your dogs, veterinarians and pet professionals worldwide highly recommend considering spaying and neutering your pets.
Spay and neuter are the procedures that sterilize a wide variety of female and male animals, meaning they are no longer able to sexually reproduce.
These procedures are completely safe and have been practiced by professional licensed veterinarians since the 1930s, and can be beneficial to some dogs’ behavior and overall temperament, while also eliminating the possibility of any unwanted pregnancies.
Spaying a female actually eliminates the risk of infection of the uterus, and can potentially decrease any aggressive tendencies a male dog may be exhibiting. If you are interested in learning more about these procedures, talk to your primary veterinarian!
Conclusion
In this article, we talked about different options for keeping your male and female separated, distracted, and safe during a heat cycle. If you feel you need more information on this subject, professional dog trainers upload training videos for a variety of behaviors that are free to view across the internet.
We recommend visiting a licensed veterinarian if your pet begins exhibiting any worrying signs or symptoms, urge you to keep in mind that a female in heat is susceptible to unwanted pregnancies and remember that getting your animals fixed can stop a female’s heat and their ability to get pregnant.