How long are dogs attached when mating

You may also find that she is passing small quantities of urine more frequently. The urine contains both pheromones and hormones which signal any interested males that she will be receptive soon. When an animal is in season, there is an increased blood supply to both the uterus and the ovaries. Dogs can be desexed whilst they are in season, but generally we try to do the surgery 8 weeks after the start of their last oestrous cycle. This can be difficult. Most ovulate and are receptive around the eleventh day of oestrus.

The discharge will then be less bloody and the female will be actively looking for a male. However, ovulation may occur either early or late during the "heat" cycle. A male dog is mature for mating possibly from 4 months onwards but generally, it is considered at about 6 months. Both tests can be performed at the veterinary practice. The serum progesterone test gives a very good indication of when mating is most likely to be successful and is useful for females that have a history of unsuccessful mating or for breeding dogs that have to travel a considerable distance to the male dog.

Surprisingly, male dogs appear to be more stress sensitive than females during mating. Successful matings are more common when the male dog is in its own environment. For this reason, females are usually taken to the male dog's home for breeding. The time of mating is extremely critical and it is highly recommended that you have tested your female to determine the optimal days for breeding. For most females, the best time for breeding is between the tenth and fourteenth day of oestrus.

However, some females ovulate as early as the third or fourth day or as late as the eighteenth day. Blood tests will assist in determining the best period for your dog.

It is normal to arrange for two matings for your dog, often twenty-four or forty-eight hours apart. Check these details with the owner of the stud when making initial enquiries. Do NOT attempt to separate. You do not want the female to panic and start squirming. If she is larger than the male she can really hurt the male. He is helpless and will usually stand perfectly still, waiting. The male usually stands calmly; make sure the female does the same. Some females cry in what looks like pain, some desperately want to get free, some just seem to calmly wait.

After a tie, it is good to not let the dam pee for 15 minutes, but MOST important is to check your male, and make sure that his penis has gone back inside of him and is not strangled in hair or stuck out. Most dogs stand for a tie and it is important that you do not let the dam roll around or get too frisky and hurt the male, but this particular dam insists on lying on her back.

I only do supervised ties Accidents can happen. After the tie they are separated, with their great disapproval, for at least 24 hours to allow his sperm to build back up.

With a younger male under four years 20 hours is enough, but with an older male, you may want to increase this time to hours. It is wise to check with your vet. He can draw a sample from the male and check how fertile he is or if he is sterile. Can a dam that has mated with more than one stud during a single heat have pups from both fathers? Unfortunately, as yet, we have no reliable laboratory test.

Trans-abdominal palpation feeling the abdomen for enlarged uterus by a veterinarian at about three to four weeks after mating may be performed, but the results are variable. It has to be said that results depend more upon the relaxation of the female than the experience of the doctor!

Abdominal ultrasound is currently the method of choice. Depending on the equipment, positive diagnosis can be made as early as three weeks. Most scans from one month of pregnancy and onwards are reliable.

Any estimate of the number of puppies should be treated with caution. It can be difficult to accurately count the number of foetuses on an ultrasound. An abdominal radiograph x-ray during the last two weeks of pregnancy, generally around week seven, is the most accurate method for counting foetuses and should be performed on all pregnant dogs. Otherwise, you will not know when your female is finished having puppies and this could lead to puppies remaining trapped inside the mother. As pregnancy progresses, intra-abdominal pressure increases and so does the mother's food requirements.

The number of meals usually needs to be increased rather than the quantity per meal. Let your pet decide how much physical activity she needs. This depends on the number of puppies and the amount of intra-abdominal pressure she is experiencing. Do not over exercise a pregnant female.