Would you take a girl back for a 2nd mating? She had a progesterone of 5.2(virbac speed reader) yesterday (31.7.22) and had a nice 20 minute tie today (1.8.22). Stud never tried to mount untill yesterday and he's normally pretty good at knowing when it's time.

I'd wait 48hrs and go again. Sperm lives for several days so the mating today will cover her at least until then. Then the 2nd mating in 2 days time will cover her another 2-3 days after that...

And yes I"d definitely go back. You can't tell from behaviour when they are fertile. Some bitches will stand almost right through or from the start of estrus at least - whereas she might not ovulate until the end of estrus...

Thank you. She's day 17 today so her season is due to end in 4 days so we'll have to see if she'll let him in 2 days time

That's great, I'd definitely go back - we know that dogs are most fertile just before they go over. So if you do get a mating, it will be great timing. And if you don't get a mating, you know the one you just did was great timing. Either way, if you go back, you'll set things up best!

Thank you. We've made arrangements for tomorrow

Let us know how it goes!

Just to add, if you are paying for 2 matings - go take the second!!  I have always done two, two days apart - no more as doing lots makes it very difficult to work out the due date!!!  Bearing in mind conception may not take place immediately.

>Just to add, if you are paying for 2 matings - go take the second!!

Is it normal nowadays to pay for the second mating? Second or even third matings have always been included in the same stud fee whenever I've bred a litter.

It's usually 2 matings for the stud fee for my breeds.

But you might have to travel back to the stud again and/or pay for accommodation nearby for 48hrs so there is an additional cost even if not to the stud owner.

>It's usually 2 matings for the stud fee for my breeds.

That's all I've ever come across as well. After all, if the stud fee is a puppy in lieu surely the stud owner isn't going to expect a puppy for each mating!

Successful visit. Thankfully the stud we use is owned  by a person I'm on friendly terms with and a 20 minute drive from where I live :)

> if you are paying for 2 matings - go take the second!!

Sigh - I guess I should have written ... AS you are paying for 2 matings  .... etc.   Yes, most breeders would offer 2 matings for one stud fee .  And actually in my main breed, these days stud fees are way less than the cost of one puppy, so I'm not sure how a 'take back' puppy (in lieu of the stud fee) works.

Great, so now she is covered for the next 3-ish days by the semen in that mating (can be up to 5 days but depends on lots of factors). If she is still in heat after 3 days have gone by, you might rightly begin to get worried you have done the matings too early... Time will tell!

> If she is still in heat after 3 days have gone by, you might rightly begin to get worried you have done the matings too early... Time will tell!

Although mine tended to just tail off re discharge after being mated, one went back to a full-on blood coloured discharge through the third week at which point, although she was otherwise 'fine', I thought she's not taken.  However after an uneventful pregnancy, she presented me with 9 of probably the best puppies we'd ever bred.  I kept a male and two females who came back with others, to the UK from Canada.  One of the bitches became a UK Ch., the other, always overshadowed by her sister, at least took her Perm.Crufts quali and the boy, whose bite went edge to edge during the time they were in quarantine (this was before Pet Passport), is back of some lines in the UK after I let a co-breeder use him (twice) with full knowledge of his bite situation. 

So being 'still in heat' is quite normal - even if bred, the heat still lasts for the full 3 weeks.  I know you'll know that but others may not. 

It's not being in heat, it's being in estrus. The heat cycle, from start of blood to end, is divided into 3 parts - pre-estrus, estrus and diestrus. The bitch is fertile during estrus, not the whole of it, only 5-7 days of it. The length of it varies from bitch to bitch and cycle to cycle.

Diestrus is the last part of the heat cycle. The bitch is still in heat and may or may not be bleeding, but she will not be fertile and usually will not stand or accept breeding.

Matings as close as possible to diestrus will be the most fertile.