Dog Breeding Is A Complicated Business

By Teri Champigny

Dog breeding is not as simple as some might think. Let us just take one part of the process- finding out when your female dog (bitch) comes into heat and mating her- and you will realize that even the simplest task requires sufficient knowledge and hard work. One of the most crucial aspects about dog breeding is mating your bitch at the right time so as to avoid missed breeding.

The old school method says that the best time to breed your bitch is when she is in the middle of her heat period. Most professional dog breeders know that this is simply not true. Poor timing results into missed breeding and this happens too many times not to miss. According to Dr Frances Smith, D.V.M, PhD, “even when both the dog and bitch are healthy and you breed at the right time, 15 percent of the time mating still won’t result in a litter.”

The Right Time To Breed

Now, you must be asking yourself what is the right time to breed. There is no magic day. Most of the bitches have a three week heat cycle; however, it varies from one dog to another. Even though bitches remain in heat for three weeks, they are fertilized only when they are ovulating. Ovulation lasts for only 3 or 4 days. A bitch can ovulate on day 8 or on day 32.

So how does a responsible breeder find out when is the right time to breed the bitch? Some amount of medical knowledge and body chemistry is necessary. Progesterone testing is the most important tool employed by breeders to find out the right time for their female dogs to mate. Progesterone is a reproductive hormone in the body. It begins to increase in the bloodstream just before ovulation. Progesterone reading of 2.0 nanograms (one billionth of a gram) in most bitches indicates a surge in the luteinizing hormone (LH) from the pituitary gland. This triggers the release of eggs from the follicles. A progesterone level of 5.0 to 10.0 nanograms indicates that the bitch is ovulating. After ovulation, the eggs will go through the maturation process, which takes around two to three days. Eggs can be fertilized only after maturation. Therefore, the best time to breed is 48 to 72 hours after ovulation.

Sometimes, it might take more time, so breeders have to combine the laboratory test with behavioral changes to find out exactly when to breed. Only a responsible and professional breeder will be able to live up to this task.

A bitch will deliver a litter 62-64 days after breeding. Now that is a whole new story which we will not get into right now. Finding out the right time to mate your bitch is a round-the-clock work. You would have to be totally in tune into the process to be successful.