All You Need To Know About Dog Mating

It would be considered as responsible to wait for a dog to reach maturity before allowing mating to take place. Dog owners can work according to these approximate guidelines:

Large Dog Breeds: +- 18 to 24 months old
Small Dog Breeds: +- 12 to 18 months old
Medium Dog Breeds: +- 15 to 18 months old

Depending on health and fertility a dog can continue to be used as a stud for about ten years. A bitch can be used for breeding until five years old. It is not advisable to allow dog mating to take place once these periods have been reached.

Weigh up all the pros and cons of the breeding process and the responsibility of a litter before allowing mating. If you are going ahead you must ensure the following is done beforehand.

A bitch must be the right weight for her age and size. This is dependent on whether or not she has been correctly fed. A bitch that is too thin won't have the resources to feed and care for a litter. A dog that is overweight is more prone to problems during pregnancy and labor. A healthy dog is going to save you a lot on vet fees. Just prior to the bitch coming into heat she must be thoroughly bathed. It will be beneficial to the process of dogs mating if the hair around the area of the vulva is trimmed away. This will ensure a clean entry without any obstruction.

The stud should also be thoroughly bathed before and the hair around the sheath covering the penis trimmed away. The stud's genitals should be clean. This will help prevent the any infection being passed to the bitch during mating. A stud should also be normal weight. Don't feed him before the mating. There is a chance he may vomit during the mating process.

Responsible dog owners will want specific dogs to mate. There are a number of reasons for this. Both dogs could have good dispositions and they want the same in a litter of puppies. It could be down to how the dogs look. It may be the owners only want their pets to mate with the same breed. However, they all want the same result, a healthy litter of puppies. There are breeders who specialize in a particular breed of dog and sell the puppies. Then there are those who are against puppies for sale and want their bitch to have only one littler before having her spayed.

You can be sure those who only want a specific stud or bitch for their pet will be most upset if their dog mates with another dog. This can and does happen and it is important to make sure the bitch is confined while in season. If she gets out and meets up with a male they will mate. If you want to prevent this from happening then you must know what to look for so you know when a bitch is in heat. A sign of being in heat is a swollen vulva. However, this could also happen just prior to a bitch being in heat. Bitches do begin to bleed when in heat. There is a situation called 'white heat'. This is a term used to identify a heat without bleeding. It is also possible that no blood is present because the bitch is so thorough about cleaning. This is pretty common. The only way to know if a bitch is in heat is to remain vigilant. It is important to note that bleeding coupled with frequent urinating could indicate an infection is present. In such a case take your pet to the vet.

When it is time to put the bitch with the stud make sure you are present. It is possible that things could go wrong if the dog is unable to mount the bitch. In this case you must be there to position them. Even if the mating is successful they will have to go through the mating process on day nine, day eleven and day thirteen of the cycle. One breeding on each of these days is highly likely to produce a litter. If you allow the animals to mate more than once a day it will tire them out unnecessarily and reduce the male's sperm. Canine sperm lives for a few days after mating and can still fertilize eggs.

If you are allowing your dogs to mate it may be advisable to ask a professional breeder to be present. If not, then having some knowledge of what to expect and how to react will be most helpful. It's not necessary to be too anxious because dogs instinctively know how to go about mating. However, they do sometimes require a little help with the procedure. Most owners are keen for the mating to take place because they want a littler to be the result.

One of the ways you can help the dogs to mate is to assist in positioning the dogs if one or both are having difficulty with this. If the bitch is fully in season she will permit the stud to inspect the area of her vulva. She will indicate she is ready by holding her tail up so that it doesn't interfere in the process. Once the stud has the scent of the bitch he will mount her from behind and the penis will penetrate the vulva. It only takes one or two seconds for the two to be tied together. For 10 to 30 minutes the two will not be able to separate. The stud could stay on top or to the side or twist around so that the two face in opposite directions. It is very important they remain calm the entire time. Make sure there are no loud noises or other interruptions to startle them. If they are startled and attempt to pull apart the genitals of both could be damaged. The tie is caused by the swelling of two glands on each side of the penis. It is during the tie period that semen enters the canal. The dogs separate naturally when the swelling goes down.

It is when the dogs separate that you must keep the bitch from urinating for around thirty minutes. If she does urinate a lot of the semen will be lost. It's a good idea to have a crate ready for this purpose. While the bitch is in her crate, check to see whether or not the stud's penis has retracted into the sheath. If it hasn't don't force it. It could take thirty minutes for this to happen naturally but be sure it does.

The most important thing you can do for dogs during the mating procedure is to remain calm and ensure they are in a quiet environment so they aren't injured. It is a good idea to allow the dogs to mate over a period of nine days to ensure a litter is the result.