Ask The Doc: Breeding

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I have a 2 year old white male lab and a breeder wants him to breed with her bitch when she came in season. We have done all the necessary tests, eyes, hips, blood test . he rated well on all. My question: It is going to be his first time mating, will he know what to do? At what point do we say "He is not getting the Idea" if he does not mount her bitch. Her bitch is on the 9th day of her cycle and we put them together and they just played together and sniffed .. Is it to early to expect anything . Or should he be trying to mount her ,and her refusing ,or will he know when it is time... We Plan on puting them together every day til he mounts and then every other after until she refuses ... Please let me know if we are Going in the right direction..

Dr. DeMichael: Your question does not have a simple answer because some dogs inherently know what to do and others don't catch on as quickly. The slow learners may get themselves extremely worked up and frustrated and this compounds the problem because they literally tire themselves out from trying and failing to get the task accomplished. Hopefully your male will fall into the "easy learner" category.

Some males will "flirt" for days until they sense the time is right. Time of ovulation, that is. It's amazing how accurate some males can be. If you have read my article on reproduction on our website, you will know that I blood test all of the females that we breed to determine the time of ovulation. I have found that some males will not assertively breed the female until ovulation is pending. She never ceases to amaze me, this Mother Nature gal.

On the other hand some males will be relentless in their attempts to mount a female in heat regardless of the stage of their estrus (heat) cycle. Many females will allow a mating very early in the cycle. This can cause a decrease in the sperm count of the male by the time ovulation occurs

Regarding your question of the 9th day of the bitch's cycle, I can give no answer because to me, the day of the cycle is a generalization and each bitch will differ. I have some that don't ovulate until day 17. Others will ovulate near day 11.

The object of any scheduled mating is simple, and that is to produce a litter of pups. To optimize the chance of accomplishing this there must be viable spermatozoa present in the female's reproductive tract at or shortly after the time of ovulation. It has been shown that if you were only performing one mating, or artificial insemination, the best time would be to inseminate 24-48 hours post-ovulation.

I hope this has provided some insight into the breeding process.