When is the Perfect Time to Breed my Female Dog?

You’ve purchased an incredible pup- healthy genes, amazing lines, excellent example of her breed. You’ve been so excited to pass on her excellent qualities to the next generation, but how will you know when it is the perfect time to breed?

Let’s narrow things down so that you’ll know exactly when the peak fertile days will be in your female’s heat cycle!

The Preparation

Backing up a bit- before the heat cycle even begins, there is a lot of preparation that needs to be done! Here is a checklist of steps to prepare your female for breeding:

1. Register the dog with the appropriate kennel clubs. Breeding rights must be obtained in order to register her puppies.
2. OFA health testing and genetics testing- Genetics testing can be done at any age. Some health tests have age requirements- such as hips and elbows, which typically require the dog to be over 2 years old.
   • For a list of breed specific OFA health tests, check this link! You’ll print the necessary forms, take your dog to the vet (some tests require vets with specialty training) and have the necessary tests completed. Then the vet completes the forms and sends them in to OFA! You’ll get a copy of all certificates of health.
   • For a great user-friendly genetics test, check this link! Remember- color traits are cool and exciting to know about, but genetics health tests are more important for determining the best pair of dogs to produce the healthiest puppies. You’ll swab the dog’s cheek at home and send the sample in to the lab for testing. Results take a few weeks to complete.
3. Obtain any titles applicable to your breed and quality of pup.
4. If your dog is a working dog, she should be an excellent example of the skills needed for her job- farm work, police work, therapy work, etc. Train the dog to be the best at what she does!
5. Be sure her yearly shots are up to date BEFORE her heat cycle begins. You do not want to give vaccinations to a pregnant bitch.
6. Take professional pictures of your female. You’ll want those for advertising the litter.

What Age is the Perfect Time to Breed?

When selecting the perfect age to breed your pup, consider the following factors:

First of all, no female should be bred before age 2. She is still a puppy herself until at least 2 years old and needs to fully mature. If this advice is ignored, it could lead to poor mothering as the dog is simply not emotionally ready to take on the responsibility of raising a litter.

Second, the female should go through at least one full heat cycle WITHOUT being bred. A bitch’s first heat cycle marks an important biological milestone- she is physically mature AFTER that cycle. This is the perfect time for HER to become an adult, not the perfect time to breed. She needs space to complete her own body’s growth rather than taking on responsibility for other little bodies. She can be bred on her second heat cycle, assuming that she is over 2 years old.

Remember that certain health tests require the dog to be over 2 years old, such as testing hips. Be sure that the dog has completed these tests before breeding.

Long story long- the perfect time to breed your female is often around age 2 1/2 to 3 years old.

It is not recommended to skip many heat cycles. A skipped cycle could cause an infection of the uterus called Pyometra or mammary cancer. If you are planning to breed your female, waiting too long can be harmful. Older age can also cause more difficulties in breeding, delivering, and raising puppies. It is not recommended to breed a female after age 5-6.

What’s the Rub about Heat Cycles?

Here’s some general facts about a typical heat cycle (which is scientifically labeled Estrous Cycle):

1. Most females cycle every 6 months. Larger breeds may cycle less often. It is not abnormal for a female to fluctuate a bit (she could cycle slightly more or less often than the average). Some dogs only cycle once a year.
2. The first heat cycle can be at 6 months old or 2 years old.
3. A dog is typically “in heat” for 14 to 21 days, although a heat cycle could last longer than that. Be careful not to allow your female around any intact males for the entire cycle (except the baby daddy).
4. There are 3 phases in her cycle:
   • Proestrus: The beginning. At first, your dog’s vulva will swell and you may notice blood droplets on the floor. Some females bleed a lot- requiring a diaper- and some females may hardly bleed at all (making it tricky to notice the beginning of the cycle). During this phase, the female is not receptive to males. This is NOT the perfect time to breed. Most commonly, this phase lasts 7-10 days although I have seen it last up to 30 days when my female had a split heat cycle. You may see these characteristic signs during this phase:
     • Swollen vulva and/or nipples
     • Bloody discharge
     • Licking her vulva
     • Peeing more often
     • Eating less food
     • Changes in behavior- restless, agitated, aggressive, affectionate, clingy
     • If a male attempts to mount her, she will tuck her tail, try to sit, jump away, etc.
   • Estrus: Prime time. The female is cooperative and eager because this is the perfect time to breed. She ovulates towards the beginning of this phase- although it is important to note that a dog’s eggs take 2 days to mature. However, since semen survives for up to 7 days in utero, breeding before the eggs are fully mature usually produces a pregnancy. A female is usually receptive for around 7 days, but in extreme cases she could be receptive for up to 20 days.
     • We will talk more about specific behaviors and symptoms of this phase in depth later in this article.
   • Diestrus: The hormonal phase. Whether a dog is pregnant or not, her body works through an “after heat cycle” hormonal process. It lasts about 2 months. It is common to see signs of a pregnancy even if the dog is not pregnant (“false pregnancy”) due to the hormones. The dog’s body will slowly return to normal over time.
   • Anestrus: The waiting phase. This is the time in between heat cycles, usually around 4-6 months long.
5. Heat cycles aren’t always by the book. Here are a few abnormal heat cycles that your dog could experience:
   • Absent Heat: The dog skipped a heat- it just never happened in the expected time frame. This could be caused by stress or a significant change in her life.
   • Silent Heat: A heat cycle happens, all the usual hormones occur and ovulation occurs, but the human owner never saw any physical signs- no blood or swelling. A female can get pregnant during a silent heat (the male dogs will know even if humans don’t).
   • Split Heat: A heat cycle begins, seems to “stall” or “take a break”, and then picks back up in a second phase. I’ve had one of these- my girl’s hormones began to rise like normal after first blood. However, rather than ovulate around day 14 as she usually does, there was a distinct pause in her hormones around day 15- her hormones actually dropped instead of rising. The “stall” lasted for about 5 days, and then hormones began to rise again as if it were the beginning of the heat cycle on day 23. She ovulated on day 33.
   • Prolonged Heat: A cycle that is abnormally never ending- just takes forever to ovulate.
   • Prolonged or Shortened Inter Estrus Interval- An abnormally long or short break between heat cycles.
6. Dogs continue to cycle even when they are old. It is not advisable to breed a dog at an old age. It is risky for mother and for puppies. There are more deaths, smaller litter sizes, and more difficult deliveries for older mothers. I recommend spaying females after age 5 or 6.

The Perfect Time to Breed: Watch the Calendar

Many dog breeders use the common heat cycle to determine when to breed. Because MOST females end proestrus around day 7 to 10, that should mean that estrus is starting around day 8 to 11.

These breeders routinely breed each female on the same days, no matter what. It could be day 9, 11, and 13 or day 10, 12, and 14.

You’ll notice that most will skip a day in between breeding. This serves 2 purposes: first, the male can recoup his semen for another breeding, second, the semen inside the female can easily survive this long so skipping a day does not decrease the chances of a successful pregnancy. In fact, by spacing out 3 matings, we are actually improving the odds of hitting the fertile window because our breedings span a 5-6 day window rather than a 3 day window.

What are the draw backs?

There is no guarantee that your female will be fertile on these exact days.

I had one female who almost always ovulated on day 14-16. Remember that dog’s eggs take 2 days to mature, meaning the absolute perfect time to breed this female was on day 16-18.

If I used this method, I had a small chance that the semen would still be alive by the time her eggs were mature, but I was not inseminating at the correct time… meaning I was risking no pregnancy.

The Perfect Time to Breed: Watch the Dog

Other breeders prefer to watch the dog rather than watching the calendar.

What behavior or signs can you expect to see during the estrus phase?

Flagging is a common behavior in which the female tucks her tail at a sharp angle to one side, holding the tail out of the way so that the male has a clear path to penetration.

Standing refers to the behavior of holding still, allowing a male to mount, and lifting the vulva for penetration. You can see the female flex the vulva when she is in “standing heat”. This is an excellent indicator of the perfect time to breed.

The female’s bloody discharge tends to change color as estrus approaches. It begins dark or bright red, but slowly changed to more pink or even clear. This is a sign that the female may be ready for the male.

All the neighbor’s male dogs will suddenly start visiting your home. I wake up in the morning to many dogs hanging out on my porch, or my grass where my female peed. All the boys go crazy for the female during this phase.

If you have a male in the house, even a neutered male, he may “go off feed” during this time- refusing to eat because all he can think about is breeding. He may whine, howl, try to escape his kennel, anything to get to the female.

A female may “mark”. We’re used to males marking their territory, but a female may have urges to spread her scent to attract a male. She could pee in the house, or start peeing all around the yard just as a marking male would. I have even seen my females start lifting their leg to pee during this phase.

What’s the downside to this method?

It’s easy to get it wrong. This entire process rides on my ability to accurately read my dog- which is tricky! Especially when I’m waiting for certain signs, my mind seems to play tricks on me about if I’m seeing the right things or not.

Another thing to think about- our dogs are not robots. They are very individual and have amazing personalities! That means that each female will act slightly different, not always showing us “textbook” signs. This could complicate our attempts to read her behavior.

Third thing: It is common for a female to travel to the stud’s home at the time of breeding. The way my repro vet put it is this: “She needs to be calm before ovulation. After ovulation, she can’t suck the eggs back in! At this point, HE needs to be calm so that he can perform.” This means that the female might be a bit uncomfortable in a strange new environment. That could change her behavior, making it even harder to recognize if she is ready to breed or not. I have misread female’s behavior just because I didn’t factor in this one thing- missing the perfect time to breed!

The Perfect Time to Breed: Watch the Progesterone

Ah- my favorite method!

Progesterone testing is by far the most accurate way to identify the perfect time to breed. You take your pup to the vet, he takes a blood sample and tests it, then he tells you the levels of the hormone progesterone in her blood.

I have seriously decreased my rates of failed breedings by switching to progesterone testing rather than “watch the calendar” method or “watch the dog” method.

All you have to know is how to read the results!

The most important thing to know is that there are 2 main methods of reading progesterone results: ng/ml and nmol/L. Be sure you ask your vet which one he uses.

Once you know how your vet is measuring, just follow the chart below!

My vet uses ng/ml, so I’ll walk you through what I usually see using this measurement.

Once a heat cycle begins, I call my vet right away and schedule an appointment for progesterone on day 6 of her cycle. Don’t wait to schedule- your vet may get all booked up!

Remember that some vets can give you the results same day, but some vets need 1-2 days to read the results. This can make a HUGE difference in your breeding and can even cause you to miss the perfect time to breed, so be sure to ask your vet how quickly they can get your results.

Before ovulation, I typically see an increase in progesterone by about 1 ng/ml every day. That means on Monday my female could be at 0.9ng/ml. On Tuesday, she will be around 2.0 ng/ml. On Wednesday, maybe around 3.2ng/ml. On Thursday, around 4.1ng/ml. On Friday, I’m expecting around 5.0 which signals ovulation!

After ovulation, something incredible happens. Progesterone DOUBLES every day! On Saturday, progesterone could be around 10! On Sunday, around 20! If you see this spike in progesterone, you know you’ve identified ovulation.

That means the prime breeding time is anywhere from Friday to Tuesday or Wednesday (this window allows time for the dog’s eggs to mature after ovulation). Best case scenario- breed every other day during this window. This is the absolute, unbeatable, sure perfect time to breed.

The big downside to progesterone testing- the vet fees. It can take 1-5 tests to identify a female’s ovulation. Remember that story about the split heat cycle? I ran NINE progesterone tests during that cycle!!!

Keep in mind- I NEVER would have guessed what was going on in my dog’s body without those tests. Because I had them, I did not miss that cycle- we had a darling litter of 8 puppies!

Another great point about progesterone testing is- it gives you BY FAR the most accurate due date.

Remember how a dog’s semen can survive for 7 days in utero? That means that a date of breeding is not an accurate way to guess a due date- the dog could have gotten pregnant up to 7 days after the breeding! Your due date ranges over at least 7 days!

With progesterone testing, we nail down EXACTLY the date of ovulation. The due date is exactly 63 days after ovulation. Easy peasy.

With an accurate due date like this one, it is easier to identify if the puppies need help. The puppies must be born within 48 hours after the due date as determined by progesterone testing. After that point, the placentas start to die and the puppies have a limited amount of time before they die too. With progesterone testing, you’ll know exactly when that danger zone is.

The Main Point

Finding the perfect time to breed means passing on the best of what your incredible dog has to offer. It means improving the breed, providing amazing pets to amazing homes, and producing the next generation of working dogs.

It means a healthy generation of responsibly raised puppies and dogs- a never ending legacy for good!

Please breed responsibly, as irresponsible breeding yields none of these positive results.