Progesterone numbers: Mon 1.3
Wed 2.7
Thurs 3.2

All blood draws done in the late afternoon. LH surge probably would have been Tuesday. 2 days later still haven't hit 5. I have read that ovulation is 2 days after LH surge but it also doesn't occur until progesterone hits 5 or higher. So what if 5 isn't hit for 4-5 days later? TIA

Well, since you don't have an exact on the LH, you can't really base your breeding on Tuesday. I have had readings of LH positive as early as 1.4 and as late as 2.2

Given the range on the LH, it would seem as though the surge should have been Tuesday.

Some literature says that ovulation can take place at 4.0 to 8.0

The repro vet I use tests for the LH surge and plans on ovulation 48 hours later - but there are always exceptions that throw us off

I would keep testing until you pass 5, breeding on days 3 & 5 or 4 & 6 post LH (guestimate) to be sure you cover her are you limited to two breedings?

I have a girl that I am sure ovulates earlier and needs to be bred earlier than some of the literature would suggest

We originally planned breeding for Saturday.Unfortunately had problem with shipment. Progesterone from Friday came back at 4. Have another shipment chiming early Tuesday morning and did another blood draw. So at three days post suspected LH surge still no magic 5. I think we may have bred to early if Saturday at been successful.But again cana bitch hit a two and still not ovulate in 48 hours?

Newbie- "But again cana bitch hit a two and still not ovulate in 48 hours"


YES! What do you think you're progesterone testing for? You want to see a 5.0 or over before you send for a shipment.

Newbie- "Have another shipment chiming early Tuesday morning and did another blood draw. So at three days post suspected LH surge still no magic 5. I think we may have bred to early if Saturday at been successful"

You're lucky you didn't get the shipment. Sounds as if she stalled. That's why you want to wait for a 5.0 before breeding 2 days later. Not just in this case, in every case. Don't stop testing even at 4.9 . The bitch can stall.

Is this your 1st attempt at breeding? You need a mentor

Why would the stud-dog owner ship with those no.'s?? They should know better. Geez. It sounds like the blind leading the blind.

This is all being done under direction of popular repro vet in Florida. They called for shipment at 3.2. Stud owner actually is one voicing concern over sending too early. So no blind leading the blind at all. Just questioning vets call based on what I know

What a shame a repro vet didn't know better then to wait for the 5. I'm happy for you the shipment didn't work out, it might very well give you a litter instead of a missed breeding.

If the LH level was so valuable and fault free, we would be testing only for that and would not be concerned with a 5 to 10 progesterone level being ovulation.

I breed days 2 & 3 or 4. I sometimes breed once at day 3 post 5.0. Following that plan, I don't miss with my girls. Even with frozen semen doing a TCI at day 3 post 5 or around a level of 16 to 22 ng per ml. For frozen breeding, I like to see the higher no as the time frame is much smaller.

If there is a miss with any breeding, usually it's missed timing or the bitch doesn't ovulate many or any eggs. Most of the time it's not the stud-dog and I don't own a stud-dog.

I think you'll learn alot from this breeding. No matter how long anyone is breeding there is always something to learn for all of us. Good luck and please let us know when her belly is full. You should be able to hit this right on given the information you have.

The LH surge is valuable. But LH surge is difficult to measure because it peaks in a few hours. Even daily testing of LH may miss the surge. Progesterone testing only provides a rough estimate of LH surge.

Fortunately nature allows for imprecise measurement. Even chilled semen can hang around for a while waiting for the eggs to ripen.

My local repro vet (also popular) uses 4.0 as ovulation because that's what his Idexx lab says is ovulation. Unfortunately this has resulted in 3 misses for us.

Ouch! 3 misses is really tough. I have been doing one breeding, 3 days after reaching 5.0 and had success every time.

My vet also tells me to consider ovulation to be at 4.0 because she uses IDEXX and they say 4.0. I do the inseminations myself, so generally ignore the vet and wait for the 5.0. I have had pretty good results, but have had a few misses as well.