Hi guys,

Im looking for some advice or to hear other peoples experiences in this situation.

Ive just got back from my bitch being scanned, she should be on days 32-34 from mating and she has missed for the second time. First time we had a slip tie then 48hrs later a 25min tie and she missed (last december). This time i progesterone tested with idexx from day 8. She ovulated on day 15 which was a tuesday. Idexx said that the best day for mating was going to be thursday. We got 2 good matings on the thursday and the saturday. Ive used the same stud on both occasions. The stud dog is 100% proven, fit, healthy and a stunning dog. He's not my dog and is a 2hr driveway. Ive also had her on Wheatgerm capsules.

My bitch has had no issues other than a yellowish discharge on days 10 and 11 from first mating. She didn't have a temperature or anything else and seemed perfectly healthy. She has also shown all the classic symptoms of pregnancy.

My questions are

1, Could it be my bitches fertility, if so how can I get this tested?
2, Should I call it a day with trying to breed with her?

Any help or advice would be great and thanks in advance.

I'd try another dog next time and have the herpes vaccination, in case that is the reason for not carrying pups.

personally then I'd give up (Just did that with my youngest champion bitch (she'd had two litters).

Reasons that are not to do with the dog or timing are infection, hormone imbalance etc, most of which may not be permanent and hard to determine.

Forgot to mention we also had the Herpes vac

Has the stud dog missed other bitches ... Easy and not too expensive to get the males firtility checked. This would be my first thought.

If he is firtile and you know your bitch ovulated ( by progesterones ) and you had the herpes jab would definitely consider use a different make as perhaps something just is t quite right and thus embryos not viable and lost

The bitch may have fertility issues - did scan suggest non viable embryos being reabsorbed ? If so she may not be producing enough progesterone to maintain pregnancy
This is called luteal failure. You can monitor progesterones post mating and if levels fall below 5ng ( when scan has verified pregnacy ) a repro vet can supplement to maintain pregnacy BUT My view is that artificially supporting a natural infertility is a ticking time bomb as female progeny may have similar issues down the line.

Did you do a progesterone test AFTER ovulation, and get confirmation it had happened, or was the last test done before ovulation, saying 'ovulation imminent'? 

Because sometimes ovulation doesn't happen, for some reason, even after you get an ovulation imminent result - which is why you're advised to check afterwards with a final test to be sure it did actually happen... (although most people skip that because what's done is done by then, so they just wait and see).

Before I gave up on a bitch like this I'd have her stay with a different stud dog, one who is experienced and get several matings.
I progesterone tested a bitch during 2 seasons and each time failed to get a pregnancy.
She stayed with the stud on the 3rd and conceived 2 puppies.

Worth trying although it flies in the face of science but nothing to lose.

Tiz all giving me the heebie jeebies for our planned litter next year though.

Hi, yes ovulation had been confirmed.

I am definitely no expert, but from the books I am reading at the moment, I'd think klb has it right... Can you see a repro vet, a specialist, for further tests?

Hi, There has never been a pregnancy diagnosed on either of her seasons. All the signs of pregnancy are there but nothing is showing on the scans. Ive spoken with my vet who has suggested taking her in for the day and they would sedate her and take swabs of her vagina for testing and blood test etc. Firstly I'm not prepared to put her through that and also I'm not prepared to pay out anymore. Its cost a small fortune so far and we re still at square 1. Im going to take everyones advice and try a different stud dog and see where we go from there. Either way at least I know I have tried every avenue. thanks for your help and advice.

My girl missed twice before she took on te third attempt. I did Idexx the first two times and the last time I took advice from a local repro vet. Highly unlikely bitches fertility. I gave ab's as soon as she came into season, gave herpes vacs around the same time. Also had we on wheatgerm oil a month before her season started and then went to once every other day from mating to 3 weeks post mating.
Around 2 weeks post mating she got a light yellow discharge, back to vets and more ab's as she had vaginitis.
1 week prior to due date herpes vacs again,
Now this time I didn't use Idexx I went to the repro vet in the morning and at lunchtime he called and said mate ASAP. Now had this been Idexx I wouldn't have had the results until the next day and I swear my girl has a very small window and thus probably would have missed.

Before she came into season she had a deep vaginal and also urine swab which confirmed she had an infection, this was also dealt with.

Make sure around day 17 when they implant that she's kept calm and nothing upsets her.

I tried stud A the first time with one mating and nothing, Stud B the second time and one mating and nothing. Due to circs i wasn't able to go back for more matings. Went back to Stud B and she was mated 3 times as left her with stud owner. Scan showed that she took from the first mating.

Don't give up, I nearly did and so glad I didn't

Oh and I forgot I also did a progesterone test 2 weeks post mating as well to check her levels to make sure they hadn't dropped too quickly, there are ways of keeping levels up if they start to drop which means if she is pregnant they would maintain it - very very rare though

Hi Suejaw, what a relief to hear that your experience worked out in the end and congratulations on your litter. In the times that your girl missed did you ever get confirmation that she was pregnant? Did she display signs of pregnancy if so how along do you think she was getting? When she became pregnant and you gave the AB's at 2wks did she have a normal pregnancy after that? Did she have a normal sized litter? Sorry for all the questions and thank you for sharing your experience with me.

The second time I thought she was around 4 weeks, had the scan at 5 weeks and nothing, no signs of reabsorption.
Yes normal pregnancy post ab's at 2 weeks. She had kesium which is the same as synulox, couldn't leave the infection as this could have consequences on the litter if there was one.
She gave birth to 12, however sadly not all survived. Her maternal line is known for large litters though.