Hello all,

This is just me being incredibly nosy :)

A couple of weeks ago I went to the KC breeders seminar (again, me being nosy!) and there was a really interesting man who was talking about using Progesterone tesing in bitches to find out the best time to visit the stud dog. Is this something that is a new thing? or do lots of people do this already?

I'm not a breeder (not enough breed experience yet), but haven't completely ruled it out in the future, and I was quite surprised to hear that this test can provide up to about 85-90% pregnancy rates, with larger litter numbers as well.

Does anyone know if there are any studies that have been done about this method, or any further reading that I could do. (Plain English preferred!)

Many thanks

Ali :)

Hi Ali,

Did you get a copy of the powerpoint presentation he did?

The progesterone testing is the blood testing that can be done.  I have not found it that reliable, and prefer the cytology option.  A combination of the two is the best option where a complex bitch is concerned.

The reason for the larger litter numbers is that you are more likely to mate the bitch at her optimum time.

I don't know of any studies, but try googling it :-)

Hi - I was at the Scottish KC/BVA breeders symposium and the fertility speaker was really good. Im going back a bit in my brain now but I remember having my WSS done for the progesterone during the late 90's and I actually hand delivered it to a lab in Perth (Agricultural one). She turned out to be infertile actually but..I would assume that labs like Idexx etc would run the test..

Thats what a friend of mine does for a living. [for all animals] . she can tell you when your bitch has ovulated and what her levels are so you can work out what day is best to mate. she has always been spot on. Its great if you have to travel a long way to a stud dog.

I agree. The one time I used it I was sent to the dog when my experience, the bitches reactions, and the reactions of my own males said it was too early. It was and by the time she was really ready she'd been driven up and down the M6 in very hot weather so often that she refused to be mated at all.

Lots of studies on the subject. The success rate achieved by RIA method is quite close to natural breeding. Naturally the vet & laboratory have to be thoroughly familiar with the method.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Link&db=PubMed&dbFrom=PubMed&from_uid=7820766

i use idexx testing on my swd and she had 5 pup,and a couple of friend in the my breed frc and out have use idexx and all had puppys