WAITING PART 1: Waiting for the heat to start
We all wait for something but I must admit that for me the hardest part is all waiting I have in my role as the breeder.
It all starts with the decision for a specific litter.
Usually the decision for the litter has been taken several months prior to the probable start of the heat which for me means that I will count days and weeks until that probable start of heat is finally here. During this time I am trying to fill my days with something else to think of why it is good to have a lot of work to do, such as to throw myself into renovation of the old kitchen of ours, just to survive.
Now when we are hopefully ONLY three weeks away from the heat, at least if Oonah keeps the schedule from the previous year and a half, I am desperately looking for the first signs that can announce the arrival of her heat.
During our walks I suddenly find myself counting the number of times she does her pees with just one thought in my mind: “Is she trying to leave her scent for possible father-candidates on so many places as possible?” This counting is off course not reasonable at all as I don’t count how many times Oonah do her pees when she is not in heat so I don’t have any numbers to compare with. Never the less I still keep counting. And yes she is probably peeing more often now compared to what she did just a couple of weeks ago. So check on that one.
I am also trying to check if Oonah is eating more than usual. This is probably the easiest thing to notice as she is very picky with her food. Check on this one too, Oonah is finally not leaving any food left behind.
So the calendar and the fulfilled checks are going to make these three weeks go veeeeery slowly for me. And how is Oonah taking it? Well, she is not aware of my worries at all and takes it easy, very easy.