My girl was mated only once on day 12 of her cycle and I am beginning now to lose hope that she is pregnant although there were promising signs at first, behavioural changes, sleepiness etc.  She is on day 28 now and symptoms seem to have gone quiet and there is no increase in girth, etc.

She was only mated on day 12 because we had to travel a long way to the stud dog.  She is a maiden bitch, but the mating went well and there was a tie lasting about 40 minutes.  The stud dog owner (into showing and breeding cockers in a big way) did not suggest a second mating and I didn't request it because of the distance.  Now I am kicking myself and wish we had gone back again.  Would most breeders have more than one mating?  Have others had success with one mating?  If there are no puppies the stud dog owner said we could have a free mating at the next season, would it be in order for me to ask for two matings, even though she didn't suggest it this time?  Would I have to pay more for more than one mating per season?  I would appreciate others' advice and experiences.  Thanks.

My first bitch had a litter of 10 after a single mating, so don't despair! And most breeders in my experience will not charge a second fee if you have two or even three matings.

I have had mated 2 bitches - one of them once - on Day 13 = 14 puppies.   The other I have mated has only had one mating on Day 13 and had two litter to the same dog, 14 in each litter!   She kept me guessing on  litter no.2 as to whether she was in-whelp or not!!!!

My girl was mated the once on day 13 and had 8 puppies which is a good size litter for cocker spaniels.  So it just goes to show that you don't always need two matings.

Hi,
I wouldnt worry too much just yet.. you can get her scanned to put your own mind at ease though. With a maiden bitch sometimes its hard to tell till around the five/six week mark anyway. The first thing I look at is behaviour.. my girls tend to get very 'clingy' then I usually notice the change in nipple shape and by four weeks there can usually be seen a small ring of bare skin appearing around each nipple. It is preffered to have two mating sif the first one wasnt a very 'good' one.. ie no tie. You had a good tie which indicates a good mating. The bitch I have just matedon her day 15 and 17 we had no tie on either of the matings... so slip matings each time. I was quite worried but not anymore.. will let nature take its course though she is showing me some signs now. It is up to the bitches owner to say if they are not happy with the mating. But no stud dog onwer would charge you more for a second mating.

Unles a blood test is taken that pinpoints ovulation the best chances of sucess are to mate the bitch every other day for as long as she will stand (usually over a periond of about 6 days so no more than 3 matings).  the reason for this is to hopefully cover all yiour bases to hopefuylly have semen ready for when there are fertile eggs.

Some bitches ovulate early in their season and some can be very late even after the normally accepted 21 days,a dn most failure to conceive is down to incorrect timing.

A dogs sperm should remain viable for at least four days, though some will still be viable even after a week).  A bitches eggs are immature and take around 48 hours to mature after ovulation, so the ideal day to mate is two days after ovulation so that fresh sperm is available when the eggs are mature.  You should theoretically get a fertile mating by mating from around two days prior to ovulation and 4 days post ovulation (as the eggs remain viable for only another 48 hours after maturity).

Of course the closer you mate to the days when the bitches eggs are ripe (ands bitches ovulate over a day or so) then the better the chances of a larger litter, so here mating more than once will increase your chances.

I ahve in fact had my largest litters all from single matings, and had my smallest to a maiden dog who was allowed to mate over a five day period with an older bitch, her it was probably the bitches age, and starting mating quite early that affected this.

My Champion bitch who isn't keen on the act of procreation was mated 4 days after ovulation (so just at the stage when eggs would have been dying off) and produced a smallish littter of four (she herself was one of a litter of 9 from her mothers first litter conceived on one3 mating, when two days earliuer she wasn't quite ready, even though she stood).