Last Updated on July 26, 2019 by Simon James
Natural Breeding
Once you have screened your bitch to make sure she is fit and healthy to be bred you can consider next steps.
A young bitch should not be breed in her first season (under 12 months) as it will be detrimental to the dam to put her through the trauma of pregnancy and feeding a litter at such a young age. A pregnancy is quite an ordeal for a dam so she should not be bred in consecutive years as she will need time to recuperate if she is to be breed again.
Most bitches are ready to mate between the eleventh & fourteenth day of her season. However this does vary. If you are mating with a stud dog who lives far away then you may want to have the bitch examined by vet will carry you an ovulation test to pinpoint the cycle with accuracy.
Where should the mating take place
In most cases, the bitch will reside with the stud as they are more accepting of new environment and you don’t want the stud to get sulky. An experienced bitch is a good mate for a young stud dog.
When the actual mating commences the male will mount the female until ejaculation takes place. They will rest together for a period of ten–thirty minutes, this is called “tie time” and you stud dog can manifest bulbus glandis after they separate which is a pleasant way of saying swollen penis.
Respect the time that the animals are joined and they may move around together and appear stuck – do not try and separate them as it could cause injury; just wait for separation to happen naturally.
In certain situations artificial insemination is used but this is rare with cross breeds as it is a complex and expensive procedure. Also, because cross breeds do not have DNA certification vets would be unlikely consent.
