can a male dog smell a bitch in season from day one or not untill shes ready to mate we have a dog and a bitch living together she came into season yesterday but my male doesnt even seem to have noticed is this normal ?

my male can sense my bitch will come into season about 3-4 weeks before hand. When she is in season he tends not to pay too much attention (but he doesn't eat very well), until about 10 and then he is really interested  - by day 12 so is she!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My dog can tell immediately when my bitch comes into season, when he does a funny chattery teeth thing that's hard to describe but very distinctive.  He doesn't worry too much until about day 10 when he goes away on his holidays.  In the past we've had him back by about day 16 but this time he returned temporarily for us to discover she was still 'up for it', day 18 and he still isn't back which is different to how it has been in the past.

I don't leave them together from day one.

Please don't become complacent and think it's OK to leave them together.  You might not get much warning that he's suddenly cottoned on to the situation!!!!!

My male knows well before my bitches come into season but he is not generally "interested" until they are ready for mating even if the bitches try and flirt with him.  It took him a couple of seasons to realise as he came back here as an adult but he seems reliable as an indicator.

Status from "not ready" to "ready" can change without a moments notice so I would keep your two separate even if you are planning to mate them.

As previous posts have said I would keep them apart from day one. You cannot say that day 12 is the day or day 13 etc. I know of a situation where a mating took place on day 21 producing 10 healthy pups!!! So you really have to be careful.

You will also be surprised at how persistent you bitch will be when she is ready - their drive to mate is just as strong as the dog.

During my dogs innocent days he was introduced to his first bitch.  She stayed with us for three days and he didn't seem to take any notice of her.  They seemed quite happy together but he just didn't know what to do, she was very very flirty.  Funnily enough, 9 weeks later she had 9 lovely pups!

Many a time we've been out walking when he has taken interest in a bitch.  If I ask the owner if she is due in season the reply is often "no ... not until ... well hang on (four, five, six .....) well perhaps"??!!!!  He's never wrong.

There's no stopping him now!