If my dog ovulated today (Fri, Day 8), and we breed Tues morning (Day 12), are we ok?? I think we should be, just?? (Eggs take 48hrs to mature, then live for 48-72 hours???)

Asking this because we just got a positive result on the ovulation pads (I think)...

PS Sorry, just to add:

Is it possible the ovulation pads are right (ovulation Day 8), when we had a result of just 1.1nmol from bloods taken on Tuesday (Day 5)????  Even if levels jumped rapidly, that sounds crazy?

Final thought before I cease midnight googling, panic-stricken....

There seem to be different interpretations of the ovulation pads.  The UK site implies that the pads are indicating ovulation: http://www.ovulationpads.info  "The pads change colour from Pink to Purple/Burgundy on the days your bitch is ovulating, this is normally just 2 - 3 days per season. "

But this site: http://www.lapdog.co.nz/DBPMTS.php  indicates that the pads are measuring the LH surge.  And after 2-3 days of LH surge, when the pads return to normal pink - THAT is ovulation.  "The pads change colour from Pink to Purple/Burgundy during the Luteinizing Hormone (LH) surge produced by the anterior pituitary gland; this LH surge is normally just 2 - 3 days per season......Note that in dogs, the LH surge is prior to ovulation."  So max fertility is 48 hrs after that...  

Which is much later than implied by the UK site....

Honestly, feeling very peed off now about how these folks can't even decide what their product is measuring (and don't reply to any questions about that)...



If we travel early on the basis of these foofoo pads, then we won't be able to get bloods done Monday morning and we'll be going into the coming week totally blind as to where we are with things.  Retrospectively, probably we should have tested today (Fri) - even though Idexx thought that was too early - but now we are where we are, do we continue as planned???

HELP.  Could someone just take me by the shoulders and shake me a few times??

Stressfully and rabidly yours...

I feel for you, I really do.  Because I obsess about things too!  Especially breeding things.  I've got a birth coming up in a few days, Nimue's first ever, and already those what-if thoughts are becoming ever more present in my mind.

Here's the shake you asked for: Just go for it now.  Stick to your plans, trust the male, trust yourself, it will very probably work just fine.  If it shouldn't, the timing was likely not the reason.  I can tell you, I don't know very much about all these tests you are doing, but they would drive me completely crazy.  I did one progesterone test once (not wanting to inconvenience the stud-owner unnecessarily), and it sent me running to the male on day 8.  The male yawned and went to sleep in a corner.  He mated her on day 14.  She had 3 pups.  With my (small) dogs, day 14 has always been the "magic day", meaning the first day the the mating worked (as opposed to the days before, when, despite all efforts, they didn't tie or the male wasn't really all that interested or whatever).  My experience has been that matings between days 11 and 17 usually produce the desired results.  And don't forget that everything about breeding always turns out in some way different than what we had expected, imagined, assumed, feared, read about, etc.  Everything!  Is this your first litter?  I wish I knew what breed you have, but I know we are not allowed to say.  I have absolutely no idea if your are breeding chihuahuas or mastiffs.

I think mating on day 12 is a good bet, and if the male shouldn't yet be interested, you just stay a little longer and go for days 13 to 15.  I'll be thinking of you, and asking you to "hold your thumbs" for Nimue and me next week!  I've got to go put up the "Wurfkiste" (the big box especially for newborns and their mother - made in England!) and have everything all spick and span before the big day arrives (gulp).

Ok, thanks, it sounds like the concensus from everyone I've bored about this(family and friends!!) is that we should still go as planned for a mating Day 12/Tues morning...

What was the progesterone result that sent you running on Day 8, Nimue?!  Was that a quantitative result or a colour change in house test, as I think the latter can be unreliable?

It's a large gundog breed!

What was the progesterone result that sent you running on Day 8, Nimue?!  Was that a quantitative result or a colour change in house test, as I think the latter can be unreliable?


I haven't the faintest idea.  It was done in a lab, with a blood test.  More I can't tell you.

I hear about this happening sometimes and can only think a bitch hangs at a level and doesn't ovulate when predicted to. Unless you get an "ovulation happened" result, everything else is an educated guessing game.

I'm totally crapping myself.... By the time we get to the stud, I will probably vom, poop myself and pass out.

Please try to keep calm as your girl will pick up on your anxiety and won't be happy. This is a big thing for her, travelling on the ferry, driving to a strange house and meeting a strange dog to be mated (I can't remember if this is her first mating) but if it is then staying calm is so important.I don't want to appear harsh but your worrying will be obvious to her.

Thanks, yes, I do keep telling myself that!

I just hate all this waiting around, I can totally see why so many people get to the stud too early!

We had another positive result in the ovulation pads/LH surge pads today. According to the NZ site, that means ovulation tomorrow (Sun) and mate 2 days after - Tuesday.  So we may be bang on. Or we may be totally out. Haha.