I am wondering if anyone has had any similar experience to the following. I recently bred a female who is having an unusual heat cycle. She started normally and seemed to progress normally in terms of LH surge, cytology, etc.

Expecting her to come into season, I was checking her carefully and was able to get a spot of blood on a tissue. Four days later, there was nothing on her in home protection although, with effort, I could get a drop of blood on a tissue if I probed inside.

By day 5, there was blood on her protection and an obvious heat. Normally I do not probe that much and, in the past, may have called what I called day 5 this time day 1 so I would expect her heat cycle to be longer than last time. In the past, her seasons have lasted 21-24 days.

However, we are now in day 29 (which I might called day 25 if I not be watching so carefully since we were breeding her this time). Her discharge has decreased but she still has noticeable discharge that is reddish dirty brown. It has no strong aroma or anything like that.

The 2 times she has been bred has resulted in everything going perfectly well and normal.

Has anyone had experience with this? Much appreciated.

I haven't been around long but I have learned there isn't any normal cycles. Even the same bitch can have something out of the ordinary for her. I have had cycles that have lasted 30 days, bred in the 20's and had big litters. Don't give up. One vet told me that when my girl hadn't gone above 5 by day 10 that she would not ovulate that cycle. So I sadly gave up hopes of a litter. On day 20 my male was going nuts for her. I scrambled to get the semen here and ended up with 9 puppies. This is why I now home test so I have a better idea when to get the lab test done. Most of my girls ovulate late in their cycles

One of my girls is due quite soon. The first 6 days of her cycle sounds exactly the same as your girl's. When I saw a drop of blood I counted from then. I was always taught many years back to count Day 1 as the first day you see any red blood. So I did with her although I didn't see red again for several days.

She wound up bred days 22 through 25 when in the past days 11& 14 and days 11 & 12. Both were good size, healthy litters gratefully. So she was different this time, not the first time it's happened in 1 of my girls over the years. I've had enough litters to not panic and kept testing.

I also have a bitch who was bred on day 25 for the first and sometimes only breeding done. Each cycle with her has been almost identical. She has had larger litters. The 1st time I had 9 progesterone levels done when the cost was lower. Now being $98 to $150, depending on where I go, it hurts financially to do alot of testing. I don't test at home but ultimately, it's worth it & a part of the many costs of breeding.

I gave you 2 examples of my girls, 1 similar to yours. I've found it can go either way, the same or totally different with each cycle.

I hope your home testing is accurate. Do you use that premate test that some do for home testing?

Bleeding color has nothing to do with ovulation from my experiences. Most of my girls over the years are still bleeding at least light red, red-brown if not deep red when bred even at day 25. Years back, some breeders claimed the discharge should be straw colored. Not the case ever with all of my girls but I know others that do see that.

Continue testing, especially being cheaper with your home testing. Maybe you should do 1 Antech test to be sure you're getting accurate results.

She'll ovulate when it's the right time for her. I would be surprised if she didn't. Our girls do keep us on our toes.