Knowing exactly when to mate your female dog - bitch

One woman once visited the clinic and asked me to help her get a male to mate her female dog because she wanted to have puppies from the dog. I thought the female was already on heat and began to source for a male. I found one eventually but needed to know how long the bitch has been on heat. On the calling the woman to ask, I found out that the woman does not know the meaning of the “heat” at all. I tried to ask her if the dog was dripping blood from the vulva yet and she said she hasn’t seen any. I had to give her lectures on detecting heat and mating a bitch.

Some persons, especially in Nigeria here think you just take a female dog to the male and mating just happens like that and the next will be puppies coming some time later. This misconception is what I want to address with this article.

When is the bitch due to conceive?

Bitches become sexually mature when they exhibit their first heat period and this happens at the age of 6 – 16 months depending on the breed and size of the dog. Most bitches tend to come on heat twice a year while some others happens once a year. During this period a bitch could mate with a male during estrus (what I call “standing heat”) and with successful fertilization could become pregnant and litter puppies or give birth to puppies.

What is heat period?

To understand this we will need to dissect the various stages, this is to enable you understand why you need to be patient with your female dog.

The stages are collectively called the estrus cycle which consists of the Proestrus, Estrus, Diestrus and Anestrus.

Proestrus is when the bitch comes on heat but will resist the male from mounting. At this period which lasts for about 6-11 days, the bitch usually experience bloody discharge from her vulva (outer part of the reproductive tract).  The female will resist the male and might even fight if the male persists but will allow the male at the next stage called estrus.

Estrus is when the bitch is receptible to the male dog for mating. At this point the female will run to the male and possibly show her back side to him to “do the thing (mount)”. You can easily detect this also by touching the back side of the bitch, usually close to the tail and the dog will raise the tail to one side exposing her vulva. Another way to detect is that the discharge will change to light pink from reddish color previously seen and the vulva will appear swollen and sometimes pinkish in color. Estrus lasts from 2 – 21 days but on the average, it lasts for about 9 days.

Diestrus is when the bitch becomes unattractive to the male dog. At this period which lasts for about 2 months, the female has high level of progesterone hormone in her blood stream. This hormone is secreted by something called the corpa lutea which helps to maintain pregnancy. This hormone is still present even without pregnancy, the corpa lutea will still produce it for 2 months to conclude the diestrus stage.

Anestrus is when the bitch has no activity in the reproductive tract for a period of about 3 – 5 months during which the bitch shows no sign of heat or sexual interest. This period is terminated by proestrus again.

When exactly to mate the female dog

I have seen so many practices in this where some people force their bitches to mate by restraining them and allowing the male to mount and tie. Most will give you their reasons which will mostly make sense but in some cases makes no sense. Most just do it because they see others doing it but now you know the reason why a bitch will resist mating due to the stage of heat (proestrus).

My own procedure is to prevent the male dog until the female is on standing heat (estrus) when the bitch will allow him easy “access”. You will see that they might both tie up to 3 times a day.

For those that source for a male outside to breed their bitches, allow the bitch to reach the 8 day of heat and introduce to the male on the 9^th day. Allow them to mate naturally for 4-5 days then take the bitch back. Note that it is best to take the bitch to the male’s environment and not the other way round for a better result.

Intermittent mating: There is a process of spacing practiced especially where breeding is highly controlled. The male is allowed to rest the 2^nd day after mating the first day and subsequently a day apart up to 3 times.

In conclusion

It is best to keep close watch at your bitch to enable you to count from the start of heat (proestrus) to standing heat (estrus) and to introduce the bitch at the right time to achieve successful mating. Note that mating multiple times may not be necessary but it helps to eliminate errors during mating. Try to use a male that has history of success and has not been overused to achieve good breeding. Remember that successful mating does not mean pregnancy. Pregnancy only happens when there is fertilization. I have to stop here and I will take questions at the comment section thank you.