How do you seperate...
 

At Petsmart last night ran into a nice lady buying diapers and belly bands. In conversation she mentioned she had a dash. who was coming in and was too young to breed. I asked her how she seperated her male when her females were in heat. (She works during the day). She said she locks the male in the bedroom while away and rotates, so the next day the female is put in the bedroom. While supervised she uses diapers/belly bands. She said she also has a 6 ft x 3 ft cage that she outfitted with rabbit wire since the slats on the cage were farther apart than she was comfortable with that she puts the females in so they can enjoy the family but not have to be watched every minute.
Got me to thinking. How do you that breed, handle the heat issues?? How do you seperate the two and do you trust the diaper/belly bands? Reason I ask is that I have 2 young females and a 2 yr old male. I may want to breed, haven't made a final decission yet, but do not want to have an accident. Within the next few months one of my girls will probably come into her first heat and I would like to have options available that are as kind to the dogs as possible. These are my babies. (I am not intirely ignorant..raised Golden Ret. in FFA in Jr/High school and college.. difference is I was lucky and had an outside kennel. It was a simple matter to seperate with large outside/inside dogs). I would appreciate any suggestions that work for you. And am thanking you in advance for your wisdom!

Crate is what we do and rotate out the male with female in heat.

Well, for me it's easy cause our stud lives at my parents house. :p But they do have a female that they may breed one day, she too young now and smaller than their male still. They keep them separated at ALL times. Either in different rooms of the house or rotate them in and out of crates. They drive them NUTS barking and whining trying to get with each other DAY AND NIGHT. I know it MUST be tempting to want to let them out for 'just a minute' for some peace, but we all know where that would end up...an "accident."

The way we see it, it they never are close enough to have the opportunity, it won't happen. Dog's can get diapers off and mate through fences and will chew through steel to get together. But if they ain't never around each other, it ain't gonna happen! :thumbup:

Boo!..

Popping in to say I let my males have free run of the house and my females in season are gated off in the kitchen.

I do the same as Kimberley, rotate boys and girls in and out of confinement, so everybody gets some free time.
warning note...it IS utter and complete chaos when there's girls in heat. The boys lose their tiny minds and make everyone else nuts with the noise and the constant dancing. They also forget about food, so you have to make sure you keep them eating. This is not for those who like peace in the home.



oops forgot...never ever trust belly bands and diapers. They can get those off faster than you can blink.

problem
 

I had two different play rooms for males and females..same with the outdoor playyards. AKC frowns on males and females running freely together...but unless you get a surprise visit for record inspection etc, there is not need to be concerned.