Hi Everyone,

I have a 3-year-old ESS stud and had a bitch visit us Weds, Thurs, Fri and Saturday. At first, he would be interested and show lots of signs he was interested and she was flagging and poking bits out etc at him but nothing much was happening. I also have 3 other studs here who pretty much showed the same kind of interest in her during this as him. Now the other odd thing he was doing was cocking his leg over her all the time??
Fast forward to Sunday when we got her Ovulation Cytology done and she was spot on. Couldn't have been riper and yet nothing doing with my boy.
So we took the decision to AI the bitch, Got a 3.5ml sample from my stud and it was full of good healthy moving sperm and the deed was done.

So my question is, Why do you think they acted as they did, Why the cocking of the leg and peeing over her.
He had tied with a maiden bitch the year before but I think it was a bit early for him and no pups were ever produced I don't think....

Sounds like he didn't think she was ready. Cocking his leg is a way of marking her, for other males to take note of... she's his, he was there....I'd say.

As for "ovulation cytology" - cytology can't determine ovulation. It can only tell you which part of the heat cycle you are in - proestrus, estrus or diestrus. The dog ovulates during estrus, the middle part. But you can't determine when, during estrus, ovulation happens using cytology. You can only tell using progesterone testing.

So my hunch is that you were too early, the dog knew you were too early... and I just hope you were successful with the AI, because it's likely it was put in there too early. You might be lucky if the semen lives long enough.

Well I am not sure I used the right term for shoving a cottonwool bud inside and then looking at the slide under the microscope to see where she was in her cycle but the chap that did it knows what he was on about even if I don't
It is all a learning curve and thanks for your thoughts.
Its been a bit of a weird one this as I have a fair idea of what to look for in a bitch and the tissue sample was very pale in colour as well....
Well, It will be interesting as she was about day 13 we think.

> the tissue sample was very pale in colour as well....

That, for me, is no indication whatsoever.  I've had bitches who bleed straight through till the end of the season, but still get successfully pregnant.  The colour of discharge means nothing.

As you day the other males agreed with him.

As for marking the bitch that makes sense due to the other males, especially if you had let them near her.

>Well I am not sure I used the right term for shoving a cottonwool bud inside and then looking at the slide under the microscope to see where she was in her cycle but the chap that did it knows what he was on about even if I don't

That is indeed cytology. Cytology, as I explained above, only shows you that the bitch is in estrus - the time of her cycle when she will ovulate. It doesn't tell you when she will ovulate. Estrus can often last quite a long time and is not indication of ovulation.

I did cytology on my last breeding. The cytology showed that the bitch was in estrus from day 5 but she didn't ovulate until day 11. We bred day 12 and 15. If I'd rushed off and bred on day 5 because she was in estrus, we would have been too early and missed.

I'm afraid that unless you use progesterone testing - from the vet, with blood draws - you can't determine ovulation at all.