I have started a new topic as I didn't want to Hijack the previous one .
I have not used a premate test before as I has a male here to advise me ! .
Now I onlt have girls and I am travelling accross the country for her stud I think the premate test is the right way foreward .
I plan to visit the stud twice 48 hours apart .
My bitch came into season very suddenly , 1 day nothing and the next showing strong red blood .
Would I be correct to take her for her 1st test on day 10  , then every day after ? The vet who does this is a little vague (apart fom looking about 15 !! ) I get more advise on this forum that I trust , especially from BRAINLESS (thanks Barbara for the no nonsence comments ! )
This will be my 1st litter in the UK and I am hoping to keep a couple of puppies to begin my own lines , so I want to use all of the technology available .
Thanks Sally

You need to start testing before day 10, what if she's an early ovulator?  One of my girls was mated day 7 & 9 and had a litter of 7 pups

On average it is day 10, but like SharonM said, some bitches do ovulate earlier so perhaps start at day 5 to be sure.

Your vet should advise you once they have the results on how often she will need to be tested again, but I would make sure your vet can get the results within 5 hours, this has been a difficult task for myself, one vet surgery I use can't give me results for 24 hours, and if you are travelling a distance this can be very annoying as the timing maybe missed!

Some advice also, once she has had the test say in the morning, if you have not heard anything from your vets by about 4pm then keep ringing them to ask for the results before the labs close! the first pre mate test I did I left it for the vets to phone me like they said they would but heard nothing when I called them the next morning I was told that the results had been received last evening but no one had phoned me!! :( :(

Good luck !! xx

It was so much easier when I has my male around !
I will contact the vet and start earlier. How many premate tests have you generally done ? 

Actually , after your advise I have just found another vet clinic , its a bit further away but the lady I spoke to was wonderfull . She is a breeder herself and always uses these tests .
She has set things up for me and will guide me along the way .As you have said she cannot advise me of my 2nd visit until the results of the 1st are seen . She has given me a short lesson on how the test work and now I feel confident .
Thanks
Sally

It is a bit of a lottery I'm afraid.  I recently took my bitch on the early side as it's her 1st litter and was amazed when result was to mate within next 72 hours.  She was still showing quite a bit of colour and stud dogs owner thought she was a bit early too - we had a good mating and went back 48 hours later.  She is 5 weeks today - using middle day as guide and is showing already!

Thanks all
I will keep you informed of how I get on .I have a show on Sunday and another on wednesday , bets are I will be missing one of them ! .

Sorry I was late on this one, but as the others have said you need to start testing before it is likely for the bitch to have ovulated.  Sounds like your new vet knows the drill and how to explain the procedure and results.

Me I was away getting four dogs hip scored (four different owners all going together), sedation and an expereinced orthopaedic Vet who showed us each of the plates explaining what was there and giving an idea of what to expect.  Never had that done with a local vet, and be interesting to see if the results are better.

My last two were done by largely inexperienced Vets for HD x-rays and were a few points higher than I would have expected from their breeding and compared to litter-mates.

Finding a great vet makes such a difference , having more in the way of tests than the average pets I think it's important to find one that embraces the whole concept of showing and of improving the individual breed .
Good luck with your hip scores barbara .

Hope the results are back by the end of May as I wanted to use the young male.

I have a Cavalier who only had 1 pup after a mating and so the next time I used her I had the premate tests done. It turns out she is a late ovulater (if thats a word!). She ovulated on day 16 and we mated her that day. She only had 2 pups this time and so is obviously the sort of girl that won't have huge litters but I now know what signs to look for when she is ovulating (she got quite frisky with me!) and I know that she is likely to ovulate late. I would recommend the premate test because it takes the guesswork out of it, although it is £40-£50 for each test daily.