Purdy is due to come into her first season soon, and we're planning to get her spayed after (Mainly due to money issues at the moment. Bills are a bit high this month, thus preventing us to get her done before her first season). Kaiser is also unneutered. We have a high dog gate to keep them separated during her season, and doors will be in place to keep them in separate parts of the house, so I was feeling pretty okay with everything.

Until my friend told me that if they did happen to get to each other, Kaiser's puppies would kill Purdy, due to Kaiser being a large Akita and Purdy being a Collie cross (She currently stands at 18-19 inches at the withers at 5 months, so I am unsure of if this is small for a Collie cross, as I've never owned breeds as hers).

So of course, now I'm getting paranoid and worried, scared to even think of leaving them in the house together when we go off to work when she's in heat, just in case...

Any thoughts to ease my concern? We don't want puppies (God no! No where to put them and there's too many dogs in rescues as it is!), and I certainly don't want to endanger Purdy, but I'm worried that the gate and doors won't be enough...

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Do you have to leave them unsupervised? If so how long for? May help with the answers

Also, do you have access to a good crate you can put either one of them in?

The best thing would be if you have a friend who is happy to look after your Kaiser for you until Purdy's through the main part of her season.

You need to be looking out for signs, it's *usually* once they reach the end of the time when they're bleeding that they become receptive, but that is by no means set in stone, they can and do differ greatly. It's not unfeasible to keep an entire dog and bitch together, I do look after several dogs on and off (I've only got three extra today thank goodness) for friends, a mix of entire dogs and bitches, and it's about being regimented.

There's conflicting advice about the size of pups, some believe that the bitch won't produce pups that would place her at risk through whelping, personally, looking at some of the breeds out there that don't whelp easily (thinking bulldogs here) I wouldn't want to risk it. So I think you're right to worry, and right to plan, but please don't drive yourself mad, there are ways of working round it

Personally, I don't think stairgates/crates etc are enough. There are cases where dogs have mate through the bars of such things! Also closed doors are fine (I would suggest two closed doors between them as a minimum) but... do you live on your own? Can you absolutely rely on others to keep these closed all the time? Do you have children as you cannot expect them to be as reliable as you? Do you know if your dog can open doors? (some dogs are able to and it can be at times like this that they will learn!)

I think the best thing would be if you have a friend/dog sitter or even kennel that could take your boy while your girl is in season. Not only will she then be safe, but he may find having an inseason bitch around that he can't get to quite frustrating. Not all dogs react like this, but some do get very distressed.

The trouble we have is that Kai cannot leave the house. He is dog aggressive and will not listen to anyone other than us or the landlord. His size also scares people off of looking after him, so he will have to stay.

We have been looking into getting a crate, but as I said, money is an issue at this point in time, so we're trying to make the best of what we have.

The only thing I can think of is having the in-laws take Purdy, but I'm wondering if that's wise as her first season is bound to be weird for her and being away from us won't help, will it?

Both my partner and I work. My partner is away from 7 til 5 and I am away from 9 til 5.

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I think the inlaws may be the best bet then, do they have an enclosed garden? As it's only for her first season, I wouldn't let it bother you, do what's best for her, she doesn't have the capability of making that decision

I would also suggest you stress to your inlaws that she's pretty much housebound, play with her in their garden under supervision, and that's it, no walks, nothing - keep it simple and minimise all the risks. Her first season will be over before you know it, and in the past. Then get saving up for that spay operation, vets are bloomin expensive aren't they!

Do you have someone coming in to let them out during the day then?

As they are rescues, I'm surprised the rescue allowed you to have an entire female and male together - however, can they not help? either by having one of them go to a foster home for a while or lend you a crate or similar.
Stairgates are useless so I would forget that - do you have locks on your doors that can be locked. And, assuming you have someone come in to them, are they reliable enough (and aware of the dangers) to keep them apart when they are let out?

Is there a reason Kaiser isn't neutered?

I don't think it would be fair to crate one of the dogs from 9 - 5.

I was going to suggest you had your boy "done" straight away and perhaps let your girl have 2 seasons before spaying. That would give you extra time to get the money together again. But then I see you have problems with DA. mmm. Not sure now how feasable it would be or if nuetering him would help with the DA.

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I would be looking at ways to get him neutered ASAP
Is there no way you could borrow the money or even ask the PDSA if they would consider helping you out, even if you pay them back weekly or something ?? It just isnt worth the risk IMO and its going to cost a whole lot more if he does manage to get to her.

Even if you do get your male neutered, they can remain fertile up to a month after the operation so you would still need to keep them separated during her season.