Lou Lou went into heat before we could get her fixed but our male dog is fixed. Even though we have a privacy fence, I still watched her everytime she was outside, to many naughty dog owners in our neighborhood and I didn't want anyone scaling the fence to get to her! She get spayed on September 18 now! Lou Lou was so messy when she was in heat, lots of baths and lots of carpet cleaner, she wouldn't keep anything on her bottom! Good luck to you!