HEAT AND FALSE HEAT

English bulldog females, like most females of other breeds, enter puberty after six months. Usually the onset of the first estrus occurs at 9/12 months. From a statistical point of view, there are no significant seasonal influences regarding the onset of estrus. Heat, during puberty, can be a manifestation similar to heat, or a false heat; in this last case the female has proestral blood loss for 2/5 days, after which the signs disappear and the real heat does not appear for a few weeks. Sometimes the heat can be induced earlier in a subject close to another female who in turn has entered into heat. This is a phenomenon not yet definitively clarified and which is attributed to the action of pheromones. It is for this reason that in farms the females tend to go into heat in the same period. Generally, females go into heat every six months, but heats a little more distant or close in time are not usually pathological. The phases of heat are divided into: proestrus, estrus, diestrus and anaestrus. The proestrus is the initial period in which the onset of vaginal bleeding and the enlargement of the vulva are reported, which becomes turgid. In this period, although the males are already attracted to them, the female shows aggression towards them. Estrus is the period in which the female agrees to mate with the male. In the estrous period, the vulva is smaller and softer than during the proestrus. Generally, vaginal discharge also occurs in the estrous period and may still contain blood or take on a straw color. Diestrus is the period following estrus in which the reproductive organs of the female are subjected to the primary influence of progesterone. Diestrus ends with a decrease in serum progesterone below 2 ng / ml. anestrus is the moment of reproductive quiescence. The onset of this phase occurs after childbirth or the signs of a false pregnancy. The anestro ends with the start of the next proestro. This is the cycle that lasts throughout the dog's life; females do not stop going into heat during old age, however, there may be an increase in the interval between one heat and the next. With increasing age there is also a significant decrease in the conception rate, accompanied by a significant increase in the mortality of puppies.