Heat twice a year!


  • Hello,
    This is the third time my female basenji is in season. First time when she was about 7 months last year in July, again back in May this year and now again in October. I have read that bjs are in season once a year (one of the reasons I like this particular breed), so is my female normal? Is that she is still young and her body is still regulating itself? Could it be the fact that a new neighbor moved by my house and he has a female that also became in season last May and precisely started again this past week? This is causing that my basenji male is going crazy too many times a year poor thing!

    thank you


  • There are Basenjis nowadays that have twice a year seasons so yours may be one. However it does happen that it all settles down later and she might then have only once a year.

    One of mine has two seasons every now and again for no reasons that I can tell. Mostly it is just the once. So sorry, I can't predict but you might look into her antecedents and find out if her mother/grandmother etc were twice a year in season. It can run in families.


  • not all basenjis read "the" book. My Zest! came in season twice a year for years. I told her not to! I spayed her before her spring season when she was 5 as I decided I really wanted more of a performance dog and she'd finished her Ch.


  • Is there a reason you don't just spay her?


  • There have been a few lines (bloodlines) in Basenjis that have had 2 seasons a year. Kathy Britton's Khanis Basenjis comes to mind… I think that they have reverted back to once a year, but for a while, hers were having 2 seasons a year... As said, some don't "read" the book


  • Thank you all for your answers. Let's see what happens with my female…
    The reason why I have not spayed her is because I am still showing her, unfortunately at a slow pace and not as often as I would desire, but trying our best...
    By the way, I am lost when you are mentioning about 'reading the book'. What is that?


  • The book that says they only come in season once a year. ;-)
    just sort of a saying.


  • Hahaha! I thought it was kind of a lineage/ breeding book :D


  • At least now I know that my bj is not the only case, but I do hope she can become "normally" in season only once a year


  • I have to be honest, I was GLAD Sayblee finished her championship fast, not just for the expense but the heats. SHE was fine, but my male rottie HOWLED all night long. Okay not ALL night… every 30 or 40 mins he would seemingly get exhausted, pass out, nap a bit then start again.


  • Usually if they start off with two seasons a year, they stay that way.


  • I am thankful that my girls are consistant with the once a year cycles. I honestly do not know how breeders of other breeds that cycle twice a year handle it. I think I would go mad!

Suggested Topics

  • Heat cycles

    Basenji Health Issues & Questions
    14
    0 Votes
    14 Posts
    1k Views
    ZandeZ
    She's very young. It does take some bitches a couple of years (cycles) before they settle into a routine - which is another reason not to neuter them until everything has really settled down !) I wouldn't worry too much, just keep a close eye on her. She was born 'out of season' - but will probably revert to one proper season a year in time.
  • Heat cycle

    Basenji Health Issues & Questions
    18
    0 Votes
    18 Posts
    5k Views
    DebraDownSouthD
    I learned about bulldogs from my friends Norma and Frank Hugo of Hugo Bulls. They have over 150 specialty wins since 1967. I have seen the trauma of heart disease, cleft palates, and idiots who don't know they require c-sections until their bitch starts to whelp and crush the rib cages of their puppies.. or die because they can't deliver them. Breeding basenjis is a breeze compared to bulldogs. You say you have read for years, but I would bet I learned more from hanging with Norma over 30 yrs ago than you have. For the record, it is "bred" not "bread". <to self.. don't feed the trolls>
  • Two heats in a year

    Basenji Health Issues & Questions
    4
    0 Votes
    4 Posts
    3k Views
    G
    My first Basenji had 2 heats a year, and then she'd always have a false pregnancy after each heat. And she was bitchy for the month she was in heat… and bitchy for the 2 months she was "pregnant". So that meant, with 2 heats a year, she was bitchy for 6 months out of the year. Talk about a good reason to spay a dog! And Pat is right, there is no good reason to keep a bitch whole if she doesn't need to be. Never mind just the convenience of it,,,,, Pyometra IS a threat. I had 2 bitches get Pyometra. I lost one, the other was saved with an emergency spay. -Joanne
  • Its that time of year again!

    Basenji Health Issues & Questions
    1
    0 Votes
    1 Posts
    1k Views
    No one has replied
  • First Heat Cycle

    Basenji Health Issues & Questions
    10
    0 Votes
    10 Posts
    8k Views
    tanzaT
    @Buddys: all those male dogs at your front door! I mentioned to my brother who is a first time girl puppy owner, and he laughed when I told him to look out for the male dogs. The other day, a blind dog who never goes outside ended up sniffing at his front door from down the street!!!! talk about a sex drive! Exactly, most people do not believe you when you tell them that male dogs will do most anything to get at a bitch in season. Years ago when I had 3 bitches in season at one time, there was a very old in-tact Lab that lived 4 blocks away… He had to be at least 14. But as soon as the girls were "ripe" and ready, there he would be walking back and forth in front of the house.... never saw that dog any other time
  • Coming into heat

    Basenji Health Issues & Questions
    6
    0 Votes
    6 Posts
    3k Views
    renaultf1R
    My pup's first heat was when she was a little over 10 months old. She had been around many girls that were in heat a month and a half before she went in and I had hoped that she would be in and over her heat before she returned to me from her show road trip LOL - no such luck. :D:D.