
A friend just used her dog for the first time. We advised the bitch came to stay early before she was ready so that they could get to know each other and for the dog to get his act together before it was too late.
The bitch was a mature maiden of some 3 1/2 years of age. Her dam had not been ready until day 18, and in my breed most bitches seem to be ready from day 14 to 16, rather than earlier.
She was supposed to be on day 10, but within 10 minutes of being introduced they had her mated as she was very keen. They had a mating on the next two days and then she was showing signs that she was going over, so she was crated if the dog pestered her, and things settled down, to the boy begging and the bitch saying no, and stud owner tearing hair out with the squeaking :D
She was due to go home yesterday 3 days after the last mating. Just before her owners arrival she decided to be a tart and stand again 8-), this was day 16.
Readiness to mate and the fertile days don't always coincide accurately :D It is very unlikely if that last mating had been the only one that it would have been successful. I am pretty sure that if she takes she will whelp to the first matings, and not the parting shot six days after the first.
My mentor who always had stud dogs in the past, always liked to have a bitch come to stay from about day 8 (before they were likely to be any where near ready). They were then introduced to the stud each day, and usually stayed for long enough to be mated for three days or until the bitch was no longer standing. this meant that her studs learnt how to assess a bitch, and mate when they were ready rather than because they were presented with a bitch, as they had to wait. She very rarely had bitches miss to her dogs.