Episode #33: IF YOU CANT STAND THE HEAT...

Bonnie

Clyde

Bonnie is in heat. Without going through the details, this has been a major focus this week. The first week wasn’t too bad. My thoughts were, “If this is all it is, it’s not bad.” All the dogs sniffed Bonnie regularly, but it was very controllable.

Week two came (this week). Bonnie must have been emitting more potent aromas because she continually lured Clyde with her siren song. The entire week, Clyde was off his routine. They would go out in the morning, and he would be so distracted by Bonnie that he wouldn’t go potty. He wouldn’t eat or let Bonnie eat in peace. He tried all day to get to Bonnie. The only break she ever got was when she was wearing the doggie diaper, limiting Clyde’s access.

Even limited, he remained diligent. He still hadn’t figured out all the specific details, but he instinctively knew the basics. Constantly, he humped her face, we chastised him and consoled Bonnie. Then he moved to her side. “Not quite, buddy.” Then, the air behind her… I could see that he was getting closer, and he was figuring it out, little by little.

Every now and then, when they were outside, and her diaper was removed, I would hear a yipe, a sharp bark and growl, then she would run away. He figured it out and she wasn’t having it. That just meant that we had to be MORE focused to keep them from mating.

I watched “doggie butt” for days; I fussed, I separated, I corralled, and I trained. I became very aware of Clyde’s signs and caught him early most every time. But as soon as I was out of his vision, he would run back to Bonnie. It was a never-ending battle.

I tried many times to send them out alone so that they would take care of their business, but they just hovered, watching each other through the door.

Many times, I was tempted to be angry with Clyde, but I knew he was acting out of pure instinct. I always knew he wasn’t trying to be bad; he was being a guy!!! Then I notice Bonnie purposefully hovering around Clyde. She wanted his attention, and she was luring him in. She looked innocent but she was getting him to respond just like she wanted! What a typical girl!!!

Clyde showed his mischievous and curious side again as the evidence was all over the bathroom floor AGAIN!

Well, all I have to say is that Clyde finally figured out how to mate. No matter how much we persisted or tried to hold him back, he found a way to meet his instinctual needs.

He was doing his thing when Bradley fussed at him. He jumped off Bonnie, but they stayed locked together. They were stuck butt to butt, attached by Clyde’s boy parts. This was totally new to us. We were in shock, and we knew it was serious. Just the thought of how they were attached, and the twisted state Clyde was in, made it severe (but also funny thinking of the human embarrassment such a result would cause). We laughed, we worried, we pulled, tried to untangle... we didn’t know how to fix it and nothing was working.

We couldn’t get them separated. Bradley tried to put Clyde back on Bonnie, then pull them but that didn’t work either. We moved Clyde to different angles and pulled. We could see that Clyde was getting red, but both dogs were unexpectedly calm, letting us solve the problem that was obviously new to them also.

After some calls, and some googling (as the pups remained stuck together), we learned that it was a normal reaction from the female, enabling her to hold the male semen. Tori told us to cuddle Bonnie and get her to calm down and she would eventually release him. Bradley tried it. It was several minutes and Bonnie kept holding on. She was persistant!

All of a sudden, some people walked across the back field, getting Bonnie’s attention. At first, we were scared for poor Clyde being dragged across the yard; but she jumped up, letting go of her grip on Clyde so that she could bark at the passersby. Thank goodness that was over.

Would Clyde be traumatized forever? Would he ever try to mount Bonnie again? Was he permanently injured from the twisting and pulling? No, that big lug was at it again two minutes later!

UPDATE: This new phenomenon (to us) is called locking. Even though it took us totally by surprise, it is pretty common. Both the female and the male dog play their own role in this latching process to solidify the mating process.

Even in separate crates, they find a way to spend time together. Whenever they do this, I lure them outside to get them to separate on their own.

Bonnie's bed

Clyde's bed

Clyde's bed

Clyde, being totally distracted by Bonnie and her heat cycle outside, came into the house and peed on the floor. Come on, Clyde; pull yourself together. Why Clyde…just why?