haven just driven nearly 4 hours to mate a bitch, had a coffee then driven what should of been the same back-it was the m1! it made me wonder, how many of you mate the bitch just the once ,how many are succssesful ? do most go for twice at least, remembering the males not around the corner ,the bitch was 13 days in and we had a good tie---SHOULD I GO BACK ON FRIDAY!!!!!!

Good morning, from what I hear you could mate your bitch everyday for a week and still have a miss or for 30 seconds when someone leaves the door open and have a large litter. If a litter is realy important to you I would have a second mating, unless your bitch has gone past being interested. All the best. JH

HI I agree with Jackie, chances are, all things being equal, she has "caught" but if you can go back for a second go, so much the better. I know its another long journey but, if you dont and she "hasnt caught", the first journey will have been wasted, and you may get a bigger litter because of it!! Good luck, I know what a nail biting time this is!!

hi i agree,with my bitch i did two mating with two 10 min tie,and two hours driving both ways,the result 10 puppies,and any bitches that come to my dog for mateing always two matings,only one didnot take and she was mated to him 3 times,but she was late in her sesason by 3 months,so the next season she went on anitbyboites for 10 day at the start of her season and was only mated twice the ressult was8 puppies,is all a gamble ,good luck hope it takes

It is all a game of timing, some bitches stand early and won't have ripe eggs available, some ovulate over a longer period, and ripe eggs are around over a slightly longer period. I would always want at least two matings, unless there was a real problem getting a second, and you didn't mind too much if she missed.

Mind you with my Tula her second litter had 7 pups after a single mating (but I had used her previous fertile mating as a guide), on her third litter recently, I took her up quite early, she was mated 4 days min a row, but wasn't really keen on firts day, but obliged him, and I ended up with 4 pups, and I lost one!

If the bitch can stay at the Stud dogs for as long as she is prepared to stand, then you are sure you have got the timing right, still can miss though. They still take more often than us Humans, about 85% of the time I read somewhere.

Hi
We only had one mating with our bitch and the Stud dog came to our house! The result was four beautiful puppies. So it all depends on the bitch.

Longdog

hi i traveld the same distance as you the last time i mated my bitch she was on her twelth day the owner a very well known breeder & judge told me the mating had been succesful & no other mating required i was dubious like you & wanted to take her back in two days she said no need for that she will be in pup now she was right Jessie had 10 puppies i'm glad i took her advise me nor Jess could have coped with more just one aspect to bear in mind try & think positivly good luck Pawla

In the 2 litters I've had I have only had the one mating and had litters of 8 and 5. The last litter I told my bitch that I wanted 5 pups 3 boys and 2 girls. I got exactly that in that order!!

the bitch ive mated has had one previous litter, i swabbed her at home until she looked right then whizzes her to the vet for a bloodtest, the swab was spot on and she was taken straight down -to the same dog!, the swabs showed the same this time so off i went, the problem tommorow is that no-one is around to help mate them in the day so it would have to be around 7ish in the evening, id have to drive there and back in the dark,ive also got back problems and im still trying to relax from the last tie,i suupose i'll have to see what i feel like tommorow, its good to know a lot of you got litters from just one mating.and thanks for everyones good lucks!

Hi just to add, that when I had my first home-bred westie mated, we could only go once, as the stud dog was unavailable for 3 days afterwards, mated her in the blink of an eye, no tie. I sadly handed over the humungous stud fee and faught back tears all the long way home - I had waited for this day for nearly 3 years!! I could not believe she would have caught - she had 5 puppies, a good size for my breed!! I have had a litter of 8 from one mating and a litter of 2 after 3matings.

right ! im sticking with the one go, i'll let you know if we get any,

Feel free to laugh at me if this sounds daft, maybe I'm reading the postings wrongly :rolleyes: but if you mate a bitch more than once can that increase the size of the litter? I've never heard of anyone mating a bitch more than once during the same season before so I'm a bit curious.

Ta

nope the only think that increases litter size is mating her on exactly the right day and nothing else.

well its too late now- ive taken the chance and went only the once,fingers crossed,claire, i think you where the first person i ever wrote to when i joined -about your male not liking the ring, i worried incase it was bred in him, did he improve ,is he showing ok now,

Fingers crossed for you too Dizzy, I know now't about breeding!

So far I've not had problems with him that couldn't be accounted for e.g. A couple of times he's fiddled about a little but that has been either when I've been really nervous and I show it or with a female judge who, now how can I put this politely, is a little on the large side, crowds over him and is usually wearing long flary skirts which waft around his legs **Claire's now praying she's not offended anyone** When I say fiddled it's nothing major and it's only every now and then, most times he's okay so hopefully we're gonna be alright. Will find out tomorrow when I have 2 classes, 1 male and 1 female judge.

Thanks for asking :-)

Bit of topic Claire which show are you at tomorrow?Gillian

Yes, but with respect Bec, each dog and bitch are individuals and some bitches shed eggs over a time, it may be 12 hours or several days, the longlivety of sperm can vary with each dog. A bitch may stand happily for a dog before she ovulates, but may not "take" but may be fertile 24 or 48 hours later. Although the sperm/eggs may well last that long, it is likely that if mated again there will be more eggs fertilised. Thats my understanding of it - forgive me if I am wrong!!

Westie I hope your're not wrong otherwise I feel like a fool asking the question ;-)

I'm with you on this Westie Lover.

Joan
Take the rough with the smooth

well im now worried to death, you can also see why i picked my board name now!

Same here. My understanding is that the best guarantee of getting the timing right is to mate a bitch every other day for as long as she will stand. this is of course if one can accomodate a bitch at the Stud owners for a week, which is not always possible. The amount of puppies depends on the number of fertilizable eggs, ready when there is sperm around, that succeed in implanting in the bitches uterus, and surviving to term. I have had as few as 4 puppies when the bitch has been mated twice daily for 4 days, and 9 puppies from a single mating, when we didn't get a mating two days earlier!

well if sperm are anything like their host MEN!!!! theyre never around when you need them most!

Know what you meen Dizzi. Have always understood that the female eggs lived longer than the sperm, so if you mate early the chances are that when the sperm arrive their are no eggs 'at home' were as if you mate a day or two late the chances are that eggs may still be viable. I cant rember the exact time the male and female seeds remain viable but think that the egg is about 48 hours and the sperm 24hours. sure if you really want to know a trudge around the web will bear fruit on the subject. Oh and think the eggs become viable over a few days, their arrival starting with one or two, the numbers increasing, and then tailing off again. So it would appear that mating more than once could increase the number in the litter, but as I said before it depends how importent the number or even the fact of the litter is to you. Will keep my fingers crossed for you. Jackie H

P.S. Just thought that if a bitch is mated to two different dogs she can have puppies that are by the two dogs, suppose this proves that two matings can increase the litter, most of us would wish for the two matings to be by the same sire though. Mind you, with the abitity of DNA testing for the parenthood perhaps using more that one stud will become popular with those that wish to 'hedge their bets' on the choice of stud. Heaven forbid.

One of my GSD stud dogs mated the bitch one day then broke through a wooden door, a fiberglass 8ft wide garage door and another wooden door to mater her again 2 days later! Took a lot of stud fees to pay for the damage I can tell u lol.

The bitch went on to have 5 puppies on a friday was vet checked as she was a maiden and so where her owners lol. She then produced another 4 puppies 3 days later much to everyones astonishment including the vet!

My last litter now 6 wks were concieved with an in house stud so matings were numerous from when the bitch would stand (day 5 onwards). She produced 4 puppies on her due date to 2nd mating then the 5th a few hrs later (be damned if I could feel another puppy in there lol). The size's of the puppies were very different 3 were 6 ozs and 2 were a lot smaller at 4 oz (smallest she's ever produced). They have grown as if they were 2 different litters with the smallest 2 remaining that way and looking smaller compared to the others as time has gone on.

I think I have to agree with my vet's conclusions that the eggs fertilised on different matings and the larger pups were poss a result of the first mating (day 5) making them a couple days late and the smaller a result of her 3rd (day 9) mating making them a couple of days early.

One of my paps was mated last year by my own stud dog and was mated a few times like you for as long as she would stand. She had 5 puppies all born 5 days early to the first mating. 4 were a good size and strong but the last one was very little (3 1/2 ozs) and didnt seem to be quite so well developed as the others. I struggled to keep her alive but by a week she suddenly (almost overnight) seemed to "grow up" and was able to suckle from her mother. She is now a year old and still small compared to her siblings. I talked a lot about it to my vet and he also said she was probably from the last mating as she was so underdeveloped at birth. Lucky that she lived really. I work in a Childrens ITU and we joked at work that she should go into their incubator to keep her warm! I did nurse her on a heat pad for a couple of weeks.

That's kinda funny as I know people (irresponsible though they were) where the pups the dam had were from two different breeds of father - so if mating from several different dogs can result (and yes there are studies and no I can't quote them) can increase litter size (ie more pups from the second mating) - then why can't two matings with the same dog?

Wendy

I dont think that there is much doubt that if a bitch is producing good eggs over a long period, that she can conceieve more puppies, from subsequent matings but Bec is right that a bitch mated at the absolutley perfect time may well have as many puppies from one mating as another bitch having several matings. Personally I would not mate a bitch more than 48 hours apart in the hope that all puppies born would be viable and not some 3 or 4 days older than others. I am amazed at the story above with a bitch whelping a "second batch" days later, what a surprise!!

well its 2 weeks tmmorow since we had our one mating---we've gone all gooey, just sits there staring at me and wagging her tail, comes for cuddles a lot and sleeps much more. who knows!

its 28 days to the day i had my bitch mated only the once and wrote to ask how everyone else went about it all, well i was fairly sure she had taken as shes really gooey and sits just wagging her tail at me, shes also left bits of food which is something that never happens with her, so ive been for a scan today and im delighted to tell you all weve got puppys. theyre due on jan 16th,its a repeat of a breeding i did a year ago and the ones in the ring are doing great ,so now im in for the --is it true that you shouldnt repeat a breeding,ive had this said several times with all sorts of reasons given, my reason is shes a very shortbacked bitch that could do with a touch more leg and kneck length, the dog i used has these qualities and managed to improve in these areas so to me its the best thing to do, although as always everyone see's things different, so i'll have to wait and see on that bit,

Hi Dizzy,
Just out of curiosity, and in no way am I trying to get an advert out of you, what breed is your girl? You don't list any specific breed interest on your profile. And no, I'm not looking for a pup. Hope all goes well for you and your bitch! :)
Quinn

excuse my ignorance, im on another planet at the minute ,but why would i think you'd be trying to get an advert out of me? ,who are you really and whats your job? it must be a photographer for some pet add column or something, anyhow the breed ive got are sharpei, my website addie is in my profile and you can see them for yourself, the one thats pregnant is poppy-shes the mother of casey and pheobe, get back to me im all intrigued

Leigh Note: URL Snipped and edited

leigh i dont think my url is on my profile , i cant see it there,

Diz, use the 'options' link at the top of the forum page and you can add your URL in the Homepage field. Then click 'Change' :-)

Whoa! The only reason I put the reference to the ad thing is because I know admin doesn't like people to post/advertise litter info. You had already posted the due date and I didn't want anyone to misinterpet my question. As for the info on your profile, I had a quick glance and for whatever reason didn't see your website. Sorry! It's the recessive blonde gene! ;) And as for my job, it's one of the most important, demanding, stressful ones in the world. I'm a mom!
Quinn

Well if its wrong to do a repeat mating then i'll join you in being in the wrong. last year i had a successful mating with my own two dogs resulting in a beautiful bitch puppy who did very well in the showring only being beaten for top puppy in breed by a longstanding breeder and one point.I have repeated the mating and are waiting for puppies as she is due around the 16th (several matings) I personaly feel that if the mating was right in the first place and you have had no problems with the litter then why not repeat your success. as I am fortunate to know who you are I am sure you will have thought the mating through before you did it in the first place. Good luck with your litter
Karin

thanks for your compliments, ive seen your affix and akitas and keeshond spring to mind and possibly german spitz, am i in the right lot or not

Yes you are right i thought you might recognise the affix from the akitas although i dont show them anymore, we just show the Keeshonds

i thought id seen that you where doing really well with a keeshond, well done, i'll be out with pups the same time as you next year then, as theyre due the same day, providing we get something worth showing!!

My own view is that if the breed is a numerically small one then repeat matings are somewhat of a waste of time as regards varying the available gene pool, the other reason is that if you got a great litter first time you may be disappointed the second time around. It is entirely up to the breeder, after all two exceptional litters that are the same way bred are probably better than two medicre ones from different breeding.

I have just mated the bitch who produced my first Champion, but tempting as it was I have not mated her to the same dog, but have used his sire, bit of a cop out, but the theory is that it is still 3/4 of the same mix! for her last litter in another 2 years I am going to try a complete outcross, hopefully this will tell me what the bitches contribution has been to the litters, so that I can plan in which direction to take the breeding of the daughter.

Good Luck with the babies, I hope I get some too, as the male is almost 10 years old. I mated her from day 11 until day 16, after which they both agreed they were done :D

i know what you're saying and agree with some of it but ive got sharpei and for me theres only about 3-4 dogs that i think are producing quality offspring,the last time i did this breeding i let the best 2 go to freinds of mine and theyve done really well for them ,espescially as one is more or less a begginer in the world of showing, the reason i let them both go was because i had a leading sharpei bitch that did major winning, bob at crufts etc, she had 2 litters all males apart from one black bitch, i kept her back to give her a chance , as she was only a few months older than the litter that ive repeated i didnt think id do 2 so close of age justice so kept the black one for myself, black is a much harder colour to win with, the reds from the other litter i let go, however the black one stunning as she was and is, did not make size, although took a rcc. and was unbeaten in junior.her mother had to be pts with cancer and could be freaky in the ring, as where several of her sons, so i took a step back and decided in all fairness the lines didnt carry the temperament i felt a show dog needed ,so sadly ive pet homed my little black one and she's to be speyed, whereas the red one whos got the repeat breeding is bombproof as are her pups from her first litter, so ive decided to repeat it as id like to keep one for myself this time around,also myself and a freind of mine have been looking long and hard and have a male champion sharpei arriving this weekend. therefore ive got my plans all made as to where my next move will likley be. so thats one of the reasons ive taken the gamble ,as for me its no good being a fabulous looking dog if the head and brain dont work!also remembering that the remainder of the litter will be going to pet homes i have to consider temperament.there, sorry to go on but i couldnt explain my veiws in a short sentence,

That is exactly what I meant about each breeder having to make their own decision for the best of their line and breed :D I hope you gewt what you hope for, good Luck, fingers crossed.

Congratulations on the pregnancy - I hope everything goes well and you get the results your looking for.

I don't know anything about repeat matings with dogs but my kids have all go the same dad and they turned out alright.:D

Good luck,

fiona

LOL :D

im pleased to hear your human family turned out what you wanted!!!!!i think i had more luck with my dogs , [only joking kids!]

Oh I can relate to that, a 14 year old girl and 10 year old boy trying to kill each other mst of the time:D

oh please, im of decrepid years, im on round two ,grandchildren,!!!my kids are 25! and 22!and no i didnt have them when i was 16, so if you see me in my zimmer frame anywhere please stop to say hello

to quinn 2. i understand now what you meant, ive not got the blond excuse, wonder if rampant grey counts, anyhow the address is on there now!

Hi i breed staffies i am new to this forum i will at least like my stud to mate twice, I ask the owner if the bitch can stay here a few days if that is o.k. I have a bitch my self which doesn't mate till the 16th day which is quite late. All dogs are different.

Welcome to the forum Carrie :-) Leigh

Cheers leigh, i hope to have many a new chat's on here are you a dog owner or do you breed?