I was on vacation when I bred my bitch so it was completely managed by my vet. I took her in today for a 2nd ultra sound at 28 days from the last breeding and no puppies. Here is how the breeding went:

We hade done several pg test prior but I can't remember what the numbers were but when we started they were at .o2. Friday 28th Sept. pg - 3.1 Shipped semen and bred on Saturday the 29th. The semen was shiped in 2 vials so she was bred again on Monday the 1st of oct.

Monday pg - 16.1 Shipped semen again and bred on Tuesday.

Semen looked GREAT prior to all breedings - any thoughts what we did wrong?

IMO, you missed her. I think you bred too early. You don't ship semen at 3.1 and 16.1 doesn't matter. It's 5 you need. When was 5??

We tested on Friday and got the results on Saturday - On Friday she was 3.1. We shipped Friday just in case prior to getting the test results. She was bred on Saturday to cover her and was bred again on Monday with the 2nd vial. We tested on Monday and shipped on Monday. We got the results on Tuesday that said she was 16.1 and used the shipped semen that day. How could we have covered her better?

Bascially she hit "5"somewhere between Friday and Monday. she was 3.1 on Friday and jumped to 16.1 on Monday BUT she was covered. Since the semen looked GREAT she should have been covered.

Who knows what happened! Did the bitch have an underlying infection? Was the semen handled properly? Sometime sh&$ happens - no one can pin down a reason a breeding missed, just like many times doctors can't figure out why a woman can't conceive. It's called Mother Nature. Next time, do a guarded culture before breeding, test every day to determine the exact progesterone levels, and go from there.

I also think you were a bit early, I would say ovulation was Sunday PM
breeding on Tuesday and Thurday would have been optimal.

but it could have been semen, did vet check it before insemenation?
did both viles come in the same shipment? I dont care for that and would rather have two separate, that way your not dealing with the same variables.

Also dont count ont he US completely, if you need to know now do a Relaxin test after day 32.

I also feel your vet was early. Never breed before a 5.0 or above and even at 5 you still need to wait for those eggs to mature. You might have got the timing on the 2nd shipment. Might isn't good enough for all you spent and the stud dog owners time.

Even if a girl of mine reaches 4.8 or 4.9 I test again as they can stall at under 5.0. After all spent on progesterone level testing, what's the big deal doing 1 more especially only seeing a 3.1?


Tell your vet to do a 1/2 hour, phone session with Hutch about timing. The vet is probably looking at the no.'s they give on the Idexx form with results which are incorrect. It says 4 is ovulation. They do great testing but shouldn't send that information to anyone, vet or patient owner as it's entirely wrong.

IMO your first breeding was a little early, but your second still should have caught her. Sometimes things happen.

I had a bitch who had 2 previous litters of 9 & 11, bred side by side to a boy who had been producing 8-10 puppies consistantly by chilled shipments. We checked his semen under the scope and it looked great! I was SURE she'd have at least 8 or 10 pups.

Nada.......nothing. She missed.

Sometimes things happen. No reason, no excuse.

JMO: If she were my bitch, based on those numbers I assume she would have ovulated on Saturday/Sunday. I would have bred her on Monday & Wednesday, or Monday/Tuesday with the split vial and then Thursday with the second shipment.

You should have been fine. You covered her early, then again when you should have. I think sometimes it just doesn't work. The other thing is I have known people who have had ultrasounds done and seen no puppies when in fact their girl was pregnant. Assume she is until you know for sure about a week before her due date.

It may not have even been your girl or the timing. It could be the stud. I bred my girl to a stud, timing was spot on, semen looked good on both ends, she didn't take. Stud had sired many litters up to that point. I thought it was her. Fast forward to her next cycle, going to use the same stud again, come to find out through conversations with stud owner, that my girl was the start of a few misses for the stud. They had been working on figuring out and resolving his issues, but they didn't know at the time of my breeding he was having any. I'm not by any means bad mouthing the stud or his owners, just stating that it does take two to tango. And to be honest, it worked out better in the end (though it didn't feel like it when I took my girl for an US, that was a disappointing afternoon). We are dealing with living creatures after all, so there can be a lot of variables.

Here's to the next go around!

I agree that your second breeding was spot on. I don't thing that you were late either.

If she ovulated on Sunday then her eggs could have taken until Friday to mature. The semen from Mon and Tues would have a struggle surviving that long. You shouldn't count on more than 48 hrs for extended semen once it's inseminated. Fresh semen can live much longer and is more forgiving as far as timing goes.

If your bitch was a slow maturer her eggs could take longer to mature too. If this is the case then you were probably too early, the sperm died before her eggs were ripe. Have you bred her before?

Did you do a culture on your girl prior to breeding?

Thanks everyone for your replys - yes we did a pre=breed screening with cultures ect. so from here, we'll just try again next time. I think the onething that worked against us was that I was on vacation and the breeding was over a weekend. Sigh...... if only mother nature would cooperate next time.

I have the same concern. You had 2 vials, both shipped on the same day. The first breeding was done too early. By the time the 2nd breeding was done, the semen was getting older. So the semen quality was on the decline.

Well, I truly respect your opinion. I was reading from a forum of Canine Reproduction Experts. Just sayin;