My girl is due to go to stud in approx 12 days,she started her season yesterday a few weeks earlier than predicted and day 10 til 12 just happens to land on a family weekend away( paid and planned for long time so cannot get out of it) and to make matters worse the stud is several hundred miles away so its not like i can just ask a friend to take her.My only hope is to take her on day 13 but its a lot of money to spend travelling,hotel etc for me to be too late.Ive never blood tested prior to mating and have never had to but its looking like i will have to this time.Her seasons although very regular vary with the fertile period.whats the best and most accurate method and what days did you all test..what results did you get and were you successful following the tests? thanks in advance x

Only ever blood tested once ( in house kit, less accurate, but good enough for natural service).

With my girls mating before day 14 is unusual, so tested day 12, and 13 with imminent result, day 14 showed ovulation.

All other bitches have been taken to stay with stud for a week or so from day 12.

First mstings have varied from day 12 to day 18, and always mated over about 5 days while receptive.

Quantitive progesterone testing (like idexx do) is by far the most accurate.
I have used it twice and and both have been successful matings.
I test from around day 8

With my litter before this, I done day 13 & 15, I believe she took to the first mating, I had 10 puppies born. My recent litter was 1 mating on day 13 with 5 puppies born. I have never tested. What I done with both litters is give Dorwest Wheatgerm Oil tablets at the recommended dose of a week prior to & 3 weeks after mating.

I'd board her  with the stud before your trip and pick her up later,  probably  work out cheaper than testing and perhaps still having to take her before.

Nothing beats a proven stud for determining timing  combined with multiple mating opportunities.

When, early on with our breeding programme, we decided to take our foundation bitch to a dog we'd seen up at our Specialty Show in Canada, we had to travel from Toronto to just outside Philadelphia.   Quite a trip, and the first time, it was January, with snow on the ground.   As in thoe days and out there, testing wasn't so common (we never did this) we set out on day 10 of her season, booked into a Motel down there and stuck it out!    As it happened, despite tailing and presenting herself on the plate, little hussy, he really wasn't that interested (to the point she visibly sighed and turned away from him).   Who said 'over here and over sexed'!!    We took both of them to their vet the next morning and yes, he thought she was right on so did a collection and did an A.I.   We tried again later that same day but again no (and his sperm was okay).    So we came home the next day thinking at least we had an A.I so something 'should' be there.   She whelped 2 puppies, one DOA.    As we had a repeat option, we went back on her next season and this was more successful - 5 puppies.

I'd plan a 'holiday' if you can, and get her to the stud dog when you think she's right - tailing.   And stay until you /he get the job done.    I have left one of mine with the owner but much prefer to be with my bitches if I'm truthful.

Good luck

I dont think i could leave her,she would miss me too much and i would definately miss her but even if i wanted to i am too far away to leave her,my only option is to travel down and an over night stay but that would be day 13 and 14 x

> she would miss me too much

If yours is a confident sociable bitch (my breed are) then the last thing she will be thinking of is you when at the mercy of her hormones.

I have a bitch who can be a bit missish and thought she might be difficult so went and stayed with her the first litter, and she could have cared less if I was there and was an utter tart.

She has been mated twice since (missed to first male took to second) and was a complete hussy, and had no time to bemoan my absence.

In fact I have had the stud stay with me as often as the bitch stay away and they could give a damn about me at that time.

My dog is 6 weeks pregnant & I only have this one experience to refer to. We waited until day 9 of heat and got bloods taken by the vet, dropped them with IDEXX the same day (luckily we live close enough). Received a call from IDEXX several hours later to say our girl was at the very end of ovulation and to mate her immediately. She ovulated very early, around day 6. She normally only bleeds for around 2 weeks and it quite light. IDEXX sent out the ovulation pack free of charge & we received it the next day. Our vet charged £5 to draw the blood and you would need to post so special delivery to IDEXX to get a guaranteed next day result. IDEXX charged £35ish for the service. I think if you are going to the expense of stud fees, travel & accommodation, then it may be worth spending on getting a blood test to make sure you are not totally wasting your time. If I had have taken the advice on having bloods done on day 10 we'd have missed her. But all dogs are different! Id test around day 8 if you can & IDEXX will give you a hormone level and advise how many days to wait to mate. Or if like our experience, mate immediately! Good luck

> Id test around day 8 if you can & IDEXX will give you a hormone level and advise how many days to wait to mate. Or if like our experience, mate immediately! Good luck

They do advise if you don't have anything to go on to start testing day 8, to hopefully, as in you case catch an early ovulatory.

For most bitches this will mean several blood draws (average three) before getting a result showing ovulation has occurred.  The one bitch who had three draws absolutely hated it, drawing blood is pretty invasive.

Testing once and going by the figures you get and extrapolating what the average bitch does re hormone levels can lead you wildly astray, as some bitches stay at a pre-ovulatory level for ages some rise quickly, so the only reliable method is to test until ovulation has occurred.

You were very lucky to be charged so little fro the blood draw, the most recent time I had one tested while bitch was at stud, as we had reached day 17 with no interest from the stud it cost £57 for the one single idexx and blood draw and that was in 2008.  Turned out she was only approaching ovulation and was mated day 18 - 22.

I have to pay the consultation fee, blood draw fee and the test price, it equates to about £100 per test!

They refuse to allow the nurse to do it to cut down on cost.

As I said better to take the bitch to stay at stud before your trip and pick her up once the deed is done on several occasions

I had 2 tests done £40+ each which gave me an idea and then was lucky enough to be able to stay with my sister for several days who lives near the stud dog but is about 4 hours away.
Waiting now as 3 weeks in. Never tested before but she missed last time. Last test said mate 3- 6 days and I waited 3 days before going up.
First was a slip, then 2 matings. 15, 17 and 19 days. Have never mated any of my bitches before 15 days.

Our IDEXX tests were £75 each.  One of these tests was very stressful for the bitch and I am determined not to do them next time as I do not want a bitch afraid of vets forevermore.

I did ring around a few local vets to see how the prices compared. The vets were willing to carry out an IDEXX service for around £75. However it worked out cheaper for me to obtain the free pack from IDEXX & pay them direct myself. The vets charge more for a consultation with a blood withdrawal but we didn't need the vets to give our girl the once over. We must be lucky because she didn't bat an eyelid when they took the blood. But being a short haired dog she didn't have to be shaved beforehand. I wouldn't have went to the expense of having 3 lots taken, just first time round & like you say, we have nothing to go off, we wanted to make sure we hadn't missed as she's a very light bleeder.

Mine was not bothered by the blood drawing either but then she has always been relaxed at vets fortunately. I have a breed with hairy legs! so my vet never shaves for anything anyway.
I also did the test that I did as above to try and make sure we did not miss altogether this time. Not sure I would have gone to £75 so happy with my vets service.

For me one of the benefits of testing is I know when to expect the birth. I know exactly when to mate bit more so I know when the pups should be born. I know for sure when they hit 63 days from ovulation and if they were to go over ( never have) I know to tell the vet I'm not waiting for days more as know the pups are cooked. If I didn't have a glue when the bitch had ovulated, some girls allow mating over long period of time, the window of giving birth could be over a long period of time. My girls don't really stress about the bloods being taken, mine are done by my vet in newmarket and taken to a horse lab and I get results few hours later £50 per test.  My breed can be a bit of a challenge to mate ( giant breed) so knowing the right time to mate is definitely of benefit and it is not really a done thing to leave your bitch with the male owner either in my breed.

I tested for our last breeding and my bitch was still 5 days earlier than due date for going into labour.

Not a lot you can do about them being early, but if you have the ovulation date then you can act accordingly if she goes over.