My girl comes into season every 5 months. She was mated in May but didn't get pregnant.
I had her progesterone tested before mating but it showed she had already ovulated and it might not take but tried anyway.
She is about to come into season again which is all good but a few people I have spoken to have said there is no point in mating her as her season are every 5 months they implied she was infertile.
My other girls have always been bang on 6 months so this is a little different for me.
I know irregular seasons can point towards infertility but she is like clockwork every 5 months.
The stud dog is a good 4/5 hour drive for us plus time out from work and I don't want to put her through it all if it's true that her seasons mean she is infertile?

Every 5 months seems to be normal for her.
There is no reason in my mind this should make her infertile!
I know of bitches with 4 month cycle and they are definately as fertile as their 6 monthly sisters.
Actually the oldest bitch cycles every 4 months and any new girls they have have followed her lead!

Will be interested to see any experiences of this as I also have a young bitch that comes in every 5 months. Have a kennel of 7 other bitches that all cycle at 6 months.
I plan to breed from this young bitch next year to continue our line...health tests all completed,homes booked,stud chosen.

Hope you get your girl in pup diggydog, if she ovulated last time she must have had a normal season so that must be a good sign?

I hope so too Bucksmum.
It has taken me years to get this stage - spent 2 years looking for my girl then time spent to find the right stud for her plus all the health testing.
I would be disappointed if she doesn't have a litter but at the end of the day as long as she is healthy and happy thats the most important thing.

She had her first season at 5 months and has been every 5 months since then.

Every five months is still within normal and quite common in GSD's for example.

Chances are she ovulates early, so progesterone testing from day 5 or so might be prudent.

I had a bitch who always went just 5 months (well still have her but she is spayed now). She was mated day 5 and had pups.

> a few people I have spoken to have said there is no point in mating her as her season are every 5 months they implied she was infertile.

What a load of codswallop!  I had a bitch that also had 5 monthly seasons.  When I spoke to my vet, asking if she could be infertile as I hadn't been able to get her in pup, he said that I would be best to progesterone test from the first day that she was swollen.  She ovulated on day 4, so was not infertile!

Hi, we have one girl that is 3 now and she has 4 heats every year! one every 3 months. It's never affected her fertility. She has had 2 litters, her first being 11 puppies! and her second being 9 puppies. I think your girl should be fine :)

I used to have a bitch who had a season every 5 months.  She was mated on day 4 and produced puppies. :)

My GSD bitch has a season every 4 months.  I also had an Akita bitch that had a season every 4 months till she had a litter, then her seasons were every 6 months.  She was FAR from infertile.  She had 11 puppies!! 

One of my girls has a season every 4-5 months, with her first litter she was mated on day 26 and had 7 lovely pups.

'they implied she was infertile.'

absolute rubbish. I have a bitch that seasons every 4 months and has wonderful healthy sized litters
She may just be an early bird. Try Keith at Fit and Fertile we've never had a miss when using his services.

Very happy to hear u all agree.
My girl started bleeding this afternoon. Will get progesterone testing in the next few days.
Fingers crossed.

I too had a large breed that had seasons every 5 months we had 2 of them they wher litter sisters both had a litter ...all the best

One of my German shepherd girls comes into season every 4 months, she has had 3 litters and is now retired. She was usually mated between days 6 and 8 and never missed.

I have a bitch who comes into season every 4 1/2 - 5 1/2 months. She has had 2 lovely, healthy litters of 7 each time. Mated first time only once on day 11 and second time twice on day 12 and 14. Didn't progesterone test, used an experienced stud dog.

Hope that helps.

How interesting that the dogs that come into season frequently seem to be early ovulators?

Could luck Diggydog - I think if I were you I would be sending a sample to Idexx asap incase she is very early.

Some one mentioned Keith Shea - what services does he offer?

Ghost- I have her booked in today for a progesterone test.
She ovulated around day 10 last season but I am not taking any chances this time round!

Keith offers progesterone testing and will send collection tubes and all sorts if requested. He does a lot of other stuff as well. Not sure the exact web site but his company is Fit & Fertile.
I met him when my girl had her last season.

Web site is www.fitandfertile.com

Well progesterone results back and my bitch clearly doesn't ovulate early.
Back on Friday for a retest.
Started her on an antibiotic and vitamin E in prep for mating and doing some research on the herpes vaccine.
Just a waiting game now.

I am so glad this question came up as I have a bitch who comes into season every four months and  I was a bit concerned that she may not be fertile every season if at all. She experianced a phantom after second heat so I have been watching her very closely. In fact I Asked my vet to check her white blood count 5weeks and9weeks after her third season in July just to make sure there were no signs of any infection . Levels were totally normal so we are now waiting on her fourth season. Can anyone tell me how fit and fertile work and feedback from those who have used it. When would I start to test with this bitch?

The only service I have used from fit & fertile is progesterone testing. They do a whole lot more but so far I have not needed any other service.
There is a contact us section on the website. I filled it in and requested progesterone testing kits. I was sent pre addresses special envelopes as it's a biological substance that's to be posted along with collection tubes, a form to fill out and instructions on what to do. My vet drew blood and centrifuged it to extract the plasma to be sent and popped it off special delivery. U get the results the next day early afternoon. 
I tested my bitch on day 4 of her season then again on day 8.
They only asked that I test her on day 8 but given so many people on here have frequent cycling bitches that ovulate early I opted to test her earlier than normal.
It only cost me £24.50 plus postage per test so not a lot when the alternative could have been missing her altogether.
First test indicated progesterone low so retest in 4 days.
My second test showed the LH surge and we r mating from Sunday.
I have to travel some 600+ miles round trip to the stud so would not dream of doing it without testing.