What a season looks like, week by week
A female dog's season typically runs for about two to three weeks, and it unfolds in stages you will learn to recognise. Early on you will usually see a swollen vulva and a bloody discharge, and she may urinate more often, leaving scent marks on walks. She will attract male attention from the start, but in this early stage she generally will not stand for mating. The discharge then lightens in colour as she moves into her fertile window, which is the stage that catches owners out: she looks cleaner and calmer precisely when she is most likely to conceive and most motivated to roam or slip a lead to find a mate.
Her behaviour may shift throughout. Some females become clingy and unsettled, some go quiet and sleepy, some get restless at doors and windows. Appetite can waver.
Outside the house: lead on, no exceptions
For the whole season, walks are on a lead, every time, in every place. Skip dog parks, group walks, and off-lead fields entirely, because an intact male can catch her scent from a remarkable distance and will not be put off by your presence. Walk at quieter times and vary your route away from the busiest dog areas if local males start appearing at your gate. Keep walks shorter and closer to home if she seems stressed, making up the difference with indoor play.
Never leave her unattended in the garden during a season, even behind a fence you trust. Determined males climb, dig, and squeeze in ways that surprise owners every year, and a female in her fertile days will cooperate with the attempt. Garden time is supervised time until the season is fully over, which means until the swelling has gone and behaviour is back to normal, not merely until the discharge stops.
Making the house manageable
Protect the places she loves rather than banning her from them, which only adds stress. Washable throws over the sofa and her bed, old towels in her sleeping spots, and a mop kept handy will handle most of it. Many owners use washable dog pants designed for seasons; introduce them for short periods with praise and treats, and remove them for toilet breaks and daily airing, because skin kept covered and damp can get sore. Check and clean her gently if discharge mats her coat.
Keep her world calm and interesting at home. Puzzle feeders, gentle training games, and extra brushing suit a dog whose walks have shrunk. If you also own an intact male, separate them completely for the full season, including no shared garden time; if that is unworkable at home, ask family or a trusted sitter whether the male can holiday elsewhere, because three weeks of near misses behind a stair gate is miserable for both dogs.
Signs that mean a call to the vet
Contact your vet during a season if the discharge turns dark, thick, or foul-smelling, if she becomes lethargic, off her food, unusually thirsty, or develops a feverish, unwell air, especially in the weeks just after a season ends. Those changes are not part of a normal cycle and deserve same-day advice. Very heavy bleeding, straining, or a season that drags on far beyond the usual length also warrants a call rather than waiting it out.
A season is also the right prompt for a longer conversation with your vet about whether and when spaying suits your dog, weighing her breed, age, and health. That decision deserves its own appointment, not a rushed verdict mid-season.
Everyone handling her the same way
The riskiest moments are handovers: a family member who did not get the message and lets her into the garden alone, or offers an off-lead run out of kindness. With KinsLe, Care Teams let you set lead-only walks, supervised garden time, and gate checks as assigned duties for your dog during her season, with each task timestamped when done, so the whole household protects her in exactly the same way.