Natural Breeding
Once you have screened your Cockapoo 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 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.
On average the length of the bitches reproductive cycle is two-four weeks. The estrus period when bitches are ready to mate varies greatly between breeds and dogs within the same breed. If you are mating with a stud dog who lives far away then you may want to have the bitch examined by a vet who can carry out 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 a new environment it is more likely the stud dog could get disinterested if placed a new environment. An experienced bitch is a good partner 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 your stud dog can manifest bulbus glandis after they separate which is a polite way of saying “swollen penis”.
As a dog breeder, you should respect the time that the animals are joined and they may move around together and appear stuck – do not try and separate them however 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 detailed and expensive procedure. Also, because F2 cross breeds do not have DNA certification, most veterinary practices would be unlikely to allow this process.
