Chlorophyll to mask dog’s heat?

[Weezer]

My 19 month old female Aussie was spayed by hysterectomy so she still has her ovaries and has heat cycles. She had her first heat cycle at about 13 months and we were surprised that our neutered 9 year old beagle was all over her the whole time - we didn’t expect him to be so frantic about it. She seemed perfectly capable of dealing with him but his constant mounting her aggravated an old knee injury of his so we had to keep them apart for a couple of weeks.

I read one breeder blog that suggested feeding the female chlorophyll throughout her heat cycle to mask the odour. Nobody at my vet clinic had heard of this but my vet looked into chlorophyll and said it shouldn’t cause any harm. Has anyone tried this, or had success with other ways of masking heat?

[Simkie]

No, it’s not effective enough for what you want here. It may take a very small edge off the scent, but it definitely doesn’t eliminate it.

[S1969]

Well, I think results vary, and each dog’s interest is also unique. A lot of people use them at dog shows and swear by them - especially those handlers that have both bitches and dogs.

It’s hard to know whether it would be enough for your dog or not, but it is fairly harmless to try it.

It might help enough to make them manageable together, or maybe just enough to make him less frantic.

There are some other things that you can put on a dog’s nose to mask the scent but I wouldn’t do that for days on end - they are more for things like when you go to a show. Lots of dogs who are not exposed to bitches in heat (ever, or except for breeding) may be overwhelmed at a dog show - someone is always in heat, and in the spring it can be a lot of bitches all together. So scent masking products are useful in that environment, but I can’t imagine it would be nice to do to a dog for long periods of time.

[hoopoe]

why did they not take the ovaries as well; the standard procedure.?

Chlorophyll tablets are really old school and will turn the urine green. Since you are not dealing with uterine discharge it might be worth a try.

[S1969]

@hoopoe

why did they not take the ovaries as well; the standard procedure.?

This is a newer procedure that leaves the hormones to continue to help the body grow/mature but prevents accidental breeding.

It does not eliminate heat cycles, though. And is a new issue in some performance sports - difficult to know when a bitch is in season, but is very distracting to males. So, if they are run together (e.g. a brace in a field event) it is a problem. I know of someone that had a dog stop in the middle of an event and breed the bitch. The judges and the bitch owner learned a lot that day about ovary sparing spay.

[Mango20]

Sounds awful. I’d rather just save my money if I have to deal with heat cycles anyway. I just went through 2 1/2 months of hormones with my 9 month old - first a month of being in heat, then we were blessed with a false pregnancy. I’m just now starting to see her puppy personality reappear. I decided to let her go through one heat for the hormones and growth advantages, but it was a pain in the ass.

[S1969]

@Mango20

I decided to let her go through one heat for the hormones and growth advantages, but it was a pain in the ass.

Well, bitches are a pain in the ass. But they still should not be spayed until they are full grown. Ovary sparing spays are not necessarily the best solution, though. If you didn’t have any other dogs in the house, maybe it would be fine. But if so, or if you have neighbors, use a doggy daycare, etc., you still need to be careful.

[Weezer]

Yes, I agree it’s not the best solution for everyone. We spent months researching all the pros and cons to all the options from leaving intact to full spay and decided this was the best option for our circumstances. If we find we can’t manage the heat cycles, we can have her ovaries removed. Although, the fewer surgeries the better for her so I’m sure this will work out once we figure out how to manage the male. The breeder, who was very anti-spay, said her bitches had such silent heats that her males rarely noticed. I was skeptical about that statement (how would they breed?) but was not expecting our beagle to be quite so reactive! I will try the chlorophyll for her next heat and report back.

[S1969]

A “silent heat” is typically the phrase for bitches who don’t bleed much so owners don’t know if they are in heat. But dogs do…so they are the ones that end up accidentally bred.

I’ve never heard it used to mean dogs don’t notice.

That said, some types of dogs have low libidos to the extent that breeders may choose AI for that reason. Sporting breeds tend not to be that way; not sure about hounds. What breed is your female?

[Weezer]

Interesting, thanks! This breeder was definitely saying that her males don’t react much to females in heat. She is an Australian Shepherd.

[Sandysmom]

For chlorophyll to work, it has to be given very early in the heat cycle or even a few days before the cycle starts. If she is regular in her cycles, you could start the chlorophyll when she is due to come in
Only side effect is poop and pee is green and won’t smell.

[Jackie_Cochran]

My parents got it for their unspayed Doberman bitch. I really appreciated it because this was decades before leash laws and there were several intact males roaming around our suburb.

I never had to fight off a male dog trying to breed her.

I know, only one dog, but it seemed to help.

[Weezer]

This is helpful, thanks! I did read you’re supposed to give it by their first day of heat. Unfortunately since she’s so young, she doesn’t have an established cycle yet but I’ll keep an eye on her for signs and try to chart out her cycle over time. Thanks for the help!

[Ghazzu]

The USDA Beagle Brigade can detect smuggled vegetable matter in your luggage.
I doubt feeding chlorophyll will mask the pheromones of an estrous bitch.

[Weezer]

good point! Beagle noses are pretty powerful!

[Sandysmom]

@Weezer

Interesting, thanks! This breeder was definitely saying that her males don’t react much to females in heat. She is an Australian Shepherd.

Experienced males who have been around females in heat will often ignore them until they are receptive and ready to breed. They dont want to waste time and energy.