i have my own stud dog so taking her to a stud is not the problem,

she seems to have a season but she does not swell up as much as my other
bitches of the same breed do, you can see when they are swollen and my male stud
is normally right when they are ready to mate,

this bitch is now on day 13 of her season

and my male has not eaten for about 3 days which is normal, he is doing the
headless chicken act and generally going stupid but we live with that as that is part
of having an entire male in the house, we checked her today and it looks like the swelling
is going down she will stand and let him sniff etc at her and he has not tried mounting her
but it looks like the time has passed, this has happened for the last three seasons.

Has anyone else had a bitch like this never seems to swell?
has a bleed but does not want to or seem to want to stand ?
any ideas as now starting to think maybe spay her as to me the seasons
are not right but i am not sure, vet not got a clue anyone had a bitch like this
and then went on to produce pups

Have you tried testing her using either ovulation sticks or bloods at the vets? Could she be having a split season and you are missing the main part. My lads don't go OTT till the girls are ready, is your lad wound up from day 1 or have you got more than one in season at a time.

If he is so keen I am surprised he doesn't make some attempt to mount her in which case you steady her head. Is he experienced and she a maiden? Some swelling does go down or the male wouldn't get in.

>Has anyone else had a bitch like this never seems to swell?

I've had very similar with a bitch I had bought in that I thought would go well with my lines.  So I had every intention of having a litter from her.

She had very short seasons, where, if you didn't notice the swelling in time, it had gone in 3 days, and she never bled.  I had 2 wasted attempts, and talked it over with my vet.  He did mention that we could give her something to enhance fertility, but I won't mess with nature.  I want normal fertility and self whelpers.

So he said to progesterone test as soon as I saw the smallest swelling.  We did, and she ovulated on day 4.  One slip mating and no pups.  I had her spayed at 4 years old, as that is way past breeding age for my breed.  But she makes a smashing auntie!

he only gets wound up when they are ready to mate so i knew she was ready but the swelling is the size of your small finger tip and she is a good size dog, my other bitches the swelling can be seen from space .

i am starting to think it is not meant to be as well, she is everthing i wanted and next year will be the last time i try with her and then she will be spayed as she will also be to old to mate in my breed as well.

maybe she just want to mate with him?? some bitches do this you could take her to a different boy and that could be it and she will mate!!.

It is not that unusual for dogs that are kept together to be inhibited when it comes to mating, if you have a large number of dogs kept in kennels it should be fine but if they are house mates there may be problems and a outside stud may be better although at this late date it may not be too easy to find one that is compatible, with up to date tests unless you have already got one on stand by.

took her to a one today as i know he is health tested and we have known each other in the breed for years, let them out for a run and he just sniffed her licked her and walked away after she tried to rip his head off, i held her head gently he walked up to her and sniffed and licked and walked off we where both at a loss, we then let them play and they raced around she mounting him more than him mounting her and he is a seasoned stud dog, so in june we are going to get the pads that tell me when she is ovulating and see what will happen then , if we can't get pups no loss for us, she will be spayed and still have her mad life with us and be the dog we still love ........................

To me it sounds as if she is not ready yet, get a blood test done if you want to mate her this time and see what the result is.

>so in june we are going to get the pads that tell me when she is ovulating

They were a total waste of time and money for me personally.  I would never buy them again.

Agree re getting blood tests done. Very accurate and save the guess work. Keep us posted :)

My girl missed last time, she seems to have short silent seasons, had her progestrone levels checked, as soon as I noticed a change, she is checked everyday, she was mated on days four and six, puppies due in the next week and she is huge( toy breed) and has been since four weeks...
£65 for bloods, was money well spent in my view, I didnt have to travel as I used my own boy, but by day seven you wouldnt even think she had ever been in season.
Good Luck

The bitch of mine who had the largest litter of 9, to a single mating, not being a big girl herself hardly swelled at all, had no problems mating her on three occasions with resulting puppises and she once missed, (between first and second litters).

my girl was the same she is a toy breed and had her 1st mate on day 7 she will be scanned on the 3rd of jan to see :) x