dogs in heat for the first time?!

Question

i have an 8 month old GSD, and my husband and i have been finding random spots of blood around our house. her nails are a little long and she’s been scratching her ears so we thought it may just be that, but she was drinking some water and started to walk away and i noticed she was dripping blood. so i checked it out and it’s definitely coming from her hoo ha but it’s not consistent. it’s more “light spotting” than anything. my parents have always owned male GSD’s and so i’ve never really payed any attention to female heat cycles. the one dog we did have she bled once and i never remembered she did again, but we had her spayed and now that i’m 10 years older i’m like OHH., that makes sense .
would a dog normally spot or do they spot for how long until they’d go into heat? we just started noticing the random blood drops here and there yesterday so i don’t really know how long it’s been going on. goes to show me i can let her little romance with the dog across the street go into play lol. they LOVE each other and he’s the same breed and age and not neutered. they even stare at each other out the windows it’s pretty cute. but i really need some help, tips, advice anything!! 
thanks 
edit: it’s recommended that you let them go through one heat before you spay, but we wanted to breed with my parents full bred GSD once or twice before we spayed her. so yes i know this is the fix to having her stop bleeding (should’ve mentioned that sorry!)
some pics of my girl 💕

Answer

My tip is to get her fixed. Being a German Shepherd she's prone to joint problem so don't get her fixed right now, wait another couple of months. But keep her separated away from male dogs.

Answer

My vet said that spotting could be her heat just depends on how old she is at the time and if it was her first or second heat. My gsd went into heat at 13months old. First week was spotting and second week was more of a flow but brown. But the vet said its nornally considering it was her first heat and that she was a late bloomer. Also that the second heat should be alot better more flow and red but if it doesnt to bring her back in because sometimes it takes 1 or 2 heats for there bodys to fully get into rhythm. We go to petsmart/banfield.

Answer

She’s probably going through her first heat cycle and that’s why it’s spotty and light. I highly recommend getting her spayed, benefits your dog in many ways! Plus saves you from having blood all over the house!

Answer

Dogs go into heat every six months, the cycle usually last about 20 days 10 days bleeding and 10 days of being swollen. It isn’t true that she has to have a heat cycle before you get her spayed. I worked at a vets office for 12 years and we spayed and neutered puppy and kittens as early as 8 weeks. It’s actually better to get them fixed before they even have a heat cycle. At least that’s what my vet recommended anyway. If you do plan on breeding her its best to wait at least until her next heat cycle as she is just a baby right now. She needs to finish growing before she makes babies.

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A female dog has a “cycle” every 3 months. If you’re looking at getting her spayed, look into that soon as she finishes this cycle because they like females to have at least one cycle before spaying them😊 btw she’s gorgeous! This is my Bella ❤️ (my pit bull Saban giving her kisses😘)

Answer

My Shiloh shepherd only went into heat 2 times per year. She would dribble blood around and I'd just follow her and clean it up. She'd try to keep herself as clean as she could and it lasted about a week every time. We didn't get her fixed for a couple years because something always came up financially when I went to make the appointment (our neighbors gave her to us because they didn't want her-we didn't plan to get another dog or she would have been fixed immediately.) She started having seizures after her first heat and after narrowing down what it could be from, we decided it was hormonal and got her fixed in November. She had one seizure the week after but I think it was left over hormones and she's been fine since. puppies are cute but no breeding for me!

Answer

Girl, make sure you invest in some doggy diapers, and maybe even some diaper covers (they look like panties with a tail hole)! You can get both of those at petsmart.
I can’t find any pictures but my redbone coonhound wears them! She has just a stupid heavy flow. She’ll stain anything she looks at. Lol.
Please keep in mind their most fertile time is after they finish bleeding- that’s the “standing heat” phase, where they’ll literally stand still and let the boys mount them.

Answer

I'm not super familiar with the actual cycle of things, but yes, spotting is normal. My BIL keeps his dog outside as much as she can handle while she's in heat because he'll be cleaning up after her every second if she's inside (she likes to run and play, even indoors). It's going to keep happening unless you get her fixed (I don't remember how long a cycle is). Definitely keep the neighbor dog out of reach unless you want puppies because he can sense it.