Hi guys

I think Jazz is finally starting her season, I have noticed small watery light brownish drips after she has jumped up at me :) :) :) :)

Oh boy i hope this is it :)

Emma

it is here, have phoned the stud owner and they confirmed it for me :)

will let me know later what day to take her down.

Wish us luck :)

Emma

Good luck. All you need to do now is keep her away from any 'strange' dogs ;)

thanx :D

I have to take her to the stud next Sunday and again on the tuesday, so i will have everything crossed from now on!

Emma

how did you get on ?

well !!
she started dripping watery brown last friday (16th), then stopped for two days, started dripping the same colour on Monday, but yesterday it turned Blood red, and i am now having to follow her around with a mop cos she is really messy!!, and she is not allowed on the sofa anymore (its cream! ) which is making her sulk!! so i just went to town and bought her a pork roll from the pet shop :D she is smiling now!!.
I will watch the 'bits' and keep a check on the colour and ring the stud when i think she is ready, it may be the weekend maybe not, i will keep you all informed :)

The only thing i am not sure about now, is whether Friday is still classed as day one or Monday??????

any opinions would be greatly appreciated :)

Emma

I too have a girl is drips all over :( I would count the first day as the day you first saw anything blood looking , is she tail swinging yet ?

nope i stroke her near it and she looks at it but no obvious tail swing! this is my first time so i hope it will be obvious!! LOL, i know the blood has to change to a strawy colour but thats about all i know apart from the tail swing thing !!!

is she the only bitch or dog you have ? if it has become straw coloured thats a good sign :) are you travelling far to stud ? if not see if the stud dog owner will allow you to visit and if she is ready you will see what tail swinging is all about LOL

it is not straw colour yet, but i did stroke her near it about half hour ago and her tail did go to the side.
We don't have any other dogs, but a friend up the road has a entire male GSD that she said i could 'use' to see if she is ready, not sure if thats a good idea or not, we both said possible if they are both on lead and we don't let them actually do anything!!!

The stud is 91 miles away so it is a long way to travel!
Emma

I have in the past taken my bitch to look at (literally!) a friend's dog when I was trying to discover the right day. You need to be very careful - both of them on leads of course! They should only need to see each other, not get close at all (opposite ends of the garden will be close enough). If she is giving off the right scent the dog will instantly realise and look thrilled to bits, and the bitch's tail will switch right round. You then immediately take the bitch right away, and give your long-suffering friend a box of chocs because the dog will likely get in a right state ...

that should be easy enough, they have a driveway and a big wooden gate, so they would not even be able to reach each other, thanx for that Jeangenie!! :)

If Friday was the first day then we are now on day 6

Em

I wouldn't try till day 11, personally.
:)

thats ok, i wasn't going to! unless she shows me otherwise ;)

Emma

The blood may not change colour - it doesn't always.

sorry to sound a bit daft but i've never heard of 'tail-swinging' what is this?
maybe cos' i've got 2 boxers, lol

When a bitch is ready and willing to stand for the dog she will switch her tail right over out of the way and lift her vulva - unmistakeable!

sorry LOL its just that is how it was described to me when i was looking out !!! not much use to you LOL LOL

lol, so i don't need to look out for any 'tail-swinging' then?
thx anyway

mumford, keep an eye out!!!   lol

Hi Mumford,
Haven't you got someone who could swab your bitch for you.
When my bitch came into season, it was no use waiting for the blood to go straw coloured, as I would of missed it. It's normally dark right through her season. I had her swabbed from day 6, we missed the odd day, but got her swabbed most days. Then one day, I think it was day 14, I was told she was ready, and took her to the stud dog the next day. We only got a slip mating, we went back 48 hours later and got another slip mating. She was scanned at 5 weeks to confirm her pregnancy, she's due 2 weeks today.

Michelle.

Swab ???? not sure what you mean Michelle.

The stud owner has said to take her on Sunday, but i will take her to 'see' our friends entire male just to see how she reacts to him before we go.

Emma

You can get a pre-mate test done by most vets. This should determine her "ovulation"

You swab to check when they are ovulating.
It's obviously done by someone who knows what they are looking for.
The lady that did Ruby, used a cotton bud, I supose a bit like a smear test. Then look at it under a microscope. She new exactly when she was ovulating. She said she's had                                             dogs that are ready to stand on day 5, right up to dogs that stand on day 21. So you just never know, as they are all different.
I was just lucky that I new someone local who could swab, as my stud dog was at a distance, well too far to keep going every day until she was ready to stand.

Michelle.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

The ovulation blood test is quite often 48 hours too soon, but we've just had a visiting bitch come with a blood test on day 8, and as I do my own smears, I confirmed it, and she was duly mated!

Jo and the Casblaidd Flatcoats

Hi Mumford,
How did the trip to the stud dog go, was it successful.

Michelle.

Hi Michelle,

well she proved that her tempermant with other dogs is impeccable !! but she was not ready to stand :(
Not to worry the stud owner (and our breeder was there) both said that she should be ready on tuesday, looking at her and her blood loss, so we will try again.She did enjoy the chase mind you and she flirted like mad but just kept wipping her behind out of the way just in time! and then carried on playingand teasing him!!

I have to say though, i am so pleased we went because they have a puppy there from the stud dog and she was beautiful and our Jazz and her played for ages, the puppy was biting jazz all over and she did not flinch!! so i am feeling much better about keeping a pup from the litter and the chances of them living nicely together has improved 100% in my book :D so it was by no means a wasted journey!!.

Will keep you all updated.

Emma :)

hi Michelle

We are tail swinging today!!!! it is going to the side and if i stroke her by it, it is lifting too, so we are off to the stud again today and again on thursday, i see what u mean by the blood not changing she is still red, so it obviously doesn't change in all bitches, (i really should have studied her other seasons more carefully ;) )

I am going to keep everything crossed, we are keeping a pup so i am extra excited!!!

Emma :)

Good luck for today Emma, Let us know how you get on. :)
I no exactly how your feeling, (sorry to say :( ) the next few week are just as bad, wondering, is she, or isn't she. I was quite certain my bitch was pregnant from the first few days, she was just so different, and I remembered her being like that last time. But you still daren't count your chickens untill you've got proof from the scan. My bitch is 57 days today from her first mating. She had them on 65 days last time, but I suppose they are different every time.
What day of her season is she on.

Michelle.

hi
glad she is tail swinging LOL ... how are things going ?

How did it go yesterday Emma.

Michelle.

it didn't !!!
the tail swing was for our benefit and not enough to say she was ready! :(

The stud owner is saying that she is either not ready or she is not ready in herself or she is too spoilt!, All i can do is keep checking her, the blood is a lot less today but she is still not tail swinging properly!, i am going to take her to the GSD up the road each day to see how she reacts, its all i can do, i think she either maybe a late ovulator or we started counting the days too early, ist red blood wasn't til the tuesday although the watery brown drips started on the friday before, then she stopped everything for almost three days and then started red on the tuesday, if we count from red blood then she is only on day 10 today, if we count from watery brown and include the three days that she stopped then we are on day 14, so i really don't know, i could really do with someone in Wiltshire/Bath area that does swabbing to help me, the premate is too expensive at £40 for the first one and £20 everytime after that if she is a really late ovulator then i cannot afford to keep paying that out every couple of days :(

Emma 

hi Em
hang on in there !!!!

i dont know, i am starting to think she should be a nun or she might be batting for the other side !! :D

No seriously i am just about hanging on, but if anyone does know of anyone that swabs in Wiltshire/bath area then PLEASE let me know. I don't want to stress her out and its not fair on the stud either to keep having her go to him and just flirt and tease him the whole time! plus its a 180mile round trip each time, so its not practical to keep going until we are sure she is ready.

Emma

try the dog up the road...only to test of course :)  she must be getting close em

of course, could you even imagine a staffie x GSD its not worth thinking about !!!!!
but yes i will under strict control, keep testing her with him, luckily he is a very placid and patient dog :)

Emma

Hi Emma,
I know it must be hard working out the right day, what with her stopping and starting, but some dogs aren't ready to stand till as late as 21 days so don't worry, you've still got time. It's just a shame the stud dog is so distant, it makes it very time consuming. Is it not possible for them to board out your bitch for a few days, till they get a successful mating. Just an idea.
Well my disposable whelping box has just arrived, so I'll go and put it together. I was getting a bit worried incase it didn't arrive.
Keep us updated.

Michelle.