How do you know if a dog has had a slip mating? My boy had a good try ,thrusting  foot stamping etc but the bitch yelped and he jumped sort of to the side and back. we held them but to butt for a minute or so ( he didnt attempt to walk off) but it was hard to see anything as they are a small long coated breed.
when the owner of the bitch tried to have a look he was out. the swelling went down quite quickly and he showed no more interest in her for the rest of the day.
Do you think we actually got a mating or was the yelp as soon as he entered her ? ( she had yelped when he mounted her a couple of other times but he still tried again , after this try he didnt)

sorry for the graphic details :P 
as a note both are fully health tested & excellent breed examples neither had mated before which I know isnt ideal but they where the best match for each other.

also he was only interested in her for a couple of days then wouldn't even look at her , though she was still standing , does this definitely mean she was no longer fertile ?

It's up to the stud dog's owner to feel and know what's going on! 

touching him put him off. Also he was more happy to mount when I was holding the bitch so I was at the wrong end & didnt have enough hands.

The bitch's owner is usually at the head end.  The stud dog owner handles the other end. 
You need to train him to have you help as and when it's necessary, usually when there is a size difference or in the early days, wheh he isn't very skilled.  :)   
If you were at least at the right end you could have felt what was going on when he was in.

A bitch owner won't want to travel 200 miles to find a dog that isn't good at his job.  :)

> You need to train him to have you help

How exactly is that done? in my breed  there is not a ready supply of bitches available for training purposes. A dog might only be used a 2 or 3 times in his lifetime. And it is all very well saying the stud owner should know what is going on but it is also not easy for an owner to get experience. One has to start somewhere. I would hazard a guess that the OP is also fairly inexperienced. Perhaps a bit of advice about whether or not it could have been a slip mating might be more useful rather than  just criticizing  the OP for not knowing it all.

Perhaps a bit of advice about whether or not it could have been a slip mating might be more useful rather than  just criticizing  the OP for not knowing it all.

I wouldn't know if it could have been a slip mating or not - nor could anybody else because they weren't there!  I would have to feel whether the dog had entered the bitch and ejaculated.

I also wouldn't attempt to teach how to handle a stud dog over the internet but I will say that it's the bitch that you handle not the dog to put him off.  A mentor is needed.  Just like producing puppies, it's not something to be practiced without the right knowledge - I have seen the results of damage caused because owners thought that their dogs would know what to do - some do and some don't.  :(

> xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> I would have to feel whether the dog had entered the bitch and ejaculated.<br />

forgive me but is that possible?? that's interesting....

With your hand in the right place - certainly.  :)

Had it all over my own hand with an inexperienced male.

The dog losing interest is most likely because it isn't the right time -but that could be either because it is too late or still too early. I have known two different dogs mate once early on, just being keen, then take several days until they were interested in the bitch again. Also having a small hairy toybreed myself, I have found it is very common for the bitches to be uncomfortable during the tie and indeed scream. (Never happens with my large breed.) The last litter I had, from an experienced bitch (had 2 litters before), I can only assume the dog was particularly well endowed (the stud owner did say she had noticed all bitches screaming more than usual when this particular dog mated them), it was quite a bothersome mating and it haunted me for ages. Experienced dog who knew when the bitch was ready, experienced bitch as well, yet when he tried to enter her she screamed and we got nowhere, in the end (after a couple of days of this) I held the bitch and we got a tie but she screamed the entire time. In the past it was a case of scream initially then go quiet and settle. Same experience on the next mating 48 hrs later. It did result in a litter of pups. I am very much against trying to force a mating but a) the bitch was ready and flirting and had been for some days, well into her season, b) the dog had not been interested at all for several days prior so knew the time was right, and c) many forced matings would not result in pups as the timing most likely was wrong, and I really do not believe this was the case here. But I hope I never have another experience like this and had I not known the bitch so well would not have gone through with it.

>Also having a small hairy toybreed myself, I have found it is very common for the bitches to be uncomfortable during the tie and indeed scream.

I once had people come to use one of my experienced males.  Toy breed.  He just knew she was ripe, and mated her within seconds.  I always lie down with bitches to comfort them and calm them.  My boy just stood quietly as usual.  This bitch screamed and screamed blue murder.  Not just at the start, but throughout the whole of the tie.  Had I not been holding her firmly, she would have turned somersaults.

These stupid people had brought two young children with them.  A girl and boy, probably aged around 7 and 9.  They were totally traumatised, and I was livid that the parents just stood there while the kids cried. 

3 beautiful puppies were born, so my lad had it spot on.  But I have never before or since, had a bitch scream all the while.

I had a chap bring his bitch for serving - all tests done and quite a good match on the pedigree. He turned with a little boy about 5 years old which I wasn't very happy about but my lad, whilst happy to flirt and play didn't want to mount her. This is most out of character !!
I laid her down and checked her vulva which was a bit swollen but not enormous. I told him she wasn't in season. Took him in to the other room and showed him the vulva of one of my bitches who was in season - and she always does it well - like a Belisha beacon that glows in the dark, visible at 300 yards lol
He said his bitch had been like that the week before but she was still bleeding and someone told him she wouldn't be ready to mate until that faded.
At least the child was spared the trauma

Had to smile at the 'bitch's owner at the head and the stud dog owner the other end'.   You should try mating (most) Bassets.   The owner of the bitch more often than not has to sit on the floor with upwards of 70 lbs of bitch across their knees, and then with the male onboard too.   For ????? long!!!   Small wonder never mind about my Bassets backs, it's mine that's knackered.

One of my males only ever slip tied - but he also only missed to one of the handful of bitches he mated with and she missed to my other male (tie) and again to another male - over 3 seasons btw.  Clearly not fertile.  My male had to be held in until he started to go down, and then we upended the bitch for a few minutes.    This worked!!

I know breeder prefer to see a tie, but it's not essential.

ps  I had one Basset male who helped himself, and got really annoyed if I tried to 'assist'.   I also had a bitch who yelled while being mated (to this dog) but then she vocalised with every puppy delivery too.   Just a complainer.

> The owner of the bitch more often than not has to sit on the floor with upwards of 70 lbs of bitch across their knees, and then with the male onboard too.

OUCH!  :-(

so any idea's then ?

If he did the ladder climbing, that would normally show that he had entered the bitch, and if he then turned then there would have been a brief tie, as you'd have known (surely) if he'd slipped out before you let them go during the time he was bum to bum with the bitch. 

So yes I'd say this was a slip mating.

When you let them go was he still ejaculating?