Alright – now lets assume that you do want to breed from your bitch; just make sure that your reasons for doing so are sound?

If you think it will make you lots of money, I would advise that you are likely to be in for a whole lot of disappointments! It’s hard work, there are real gut wrenching issues including deaths of bitches and pups; as well as quite considerable veterinary bills to grapple with! So – if you ARE going at it for the $$$ please reconsider?

But assuming that you have thought this through fully; we would advise that your bitch be on at least her 2nd season – because her uterus is not fully ready for pregnancy and puppies prior to that. Sure she can get pregnant – but your chance of trouble increases dramatically!

So – she’s 2nd season (or later), and you’ve noticed all of the things we mentioned here, now you’ll be wanting to observe her vaginal discharge closely. Here are a couple of myths:

Wait until bleeding stops. NO – TOO LATE – you have usually missed the action at this stage!

You CAN count on the following:

Bitch’s vulva (yes you’ll have to touch it) will go from firm (prior to ovulation), then very loose & stretchy (ovulation)!

Bright red discharge PRIOR to bitch readiness for mating

OK – now if after all of that you’re still unsure – you can take your bitch to the Vet for some blood tests to determine if she’s ready. They can be a little expensive, but if that’s no issue it will take the uncertainty of it away for you. However the above methods are tried n true – they can and do work for us and breeders worldwide.

Finally – once you know that your bitch is ready you can take her to your chosen stud and mate her every 2nd day for 2 or 3 matings.

Some AI (Artificial Insemination) is done for various reasons, often due to aggressive bitches or stud dogs that have no clue, even some canine diseases – but that’s probably more detail than is needed here.

If natural breeding – the dogs need to join (tie) and should be carefully held in place so that no damage is done to bitch or dog – by pulling away in panic or just too early. Even though dogs have done this for thousands of years they can and do harm themselves seriously if left alone – so experienced breeders (even novices) should always remain with the two dogs through the process.

They need to join (tie) and should be carefully held in place so that no damage is done to bitch or dog – by pulling away in panic or just too early. Even though dogs have done this for thousands of years they can and do harm themselves seriously if left alone – so experienced breeders (even novices) should always remain with the two dogs through the process.

Steve

OK, so it may be that your bitch is coming into her first season (Click here to determine) – but she’s too young and you don’t wish to mate her yet; or you just haven’t got around to getting her desexed – or any other number of reasons?

If you’re not a registered breeder, you will really want to be careful in this matter – there’s a lot of time committment required and it can be expensive; not to mention that finding homes for unwanted puppies is hard work.

It’s important then that you’re on your toes – preventing this will be a bit of a challenge, depending on your pattern of work, the security of your property (from unwanted mates), and even if the bitch spends most of her time alone?

As a general guide – in the first 7 days of her season she’s not really interested in mating (though males will still be interested in her) – but the next 14 days or so ( add about 3 days extra to be certain) are the real risk period!

Do NOT underestimate the desire of neighbouring dogs to sniff her out (literally) – or her desire to go get mated! You MUST be vigilant – we’ve heard stories of people with 6 foot fences coming home to four males in the yard – or out walking with their hounds and them getting into trouble, one case of a person stopped at the traffic lights suddenly looking down to find a male has tied with their bitch!

One point – since it would be cruel to not walk your bitch for 3 weeks – we would highly recommend that, you consider making or buying a pair of Chastity Britches (see here). If you don’t do that you may have to house her in an appropriate kennel (with a run) – or even send her to a Boarding Kennel for that period.

My wife spends all of her time with our dogs – so its only rarely that they are left unattended. If it is required she will crate them briefly – which protects all of them from escape or theft – and any bitch in season.

Crated Bitch in season - to prevent unwanted matings

But lets assume that after all of your efforts though – you failed, it happened to us once – our bitch had only just finished with her previous litter and we did not want another so soon afterwards!

There IS a medical way out – and without any major side effects! The bitch can be given 2 x injections of Aglepristone 24 hours apart, 0-21 days after mating. As I understand it, this acts on the sperm to make the environment unfavourable – or if it has already bound with the egg, causes it to come away from the placenta – ending the pregnancy.

This should be a last line of defence though, prevention is better than cure – keep your bitch safe, or better still if no breeding is required or wanted; get her desexed ASAP.

Steve