# Mating



## ArchersMom (May 22, 2013)

Have you contacted your vet? A reproductive specialist would be even better. 14 months is very young, you might want to think about some options https://breedingbusiness.com/morning-after-pill-dogs/


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## jwemt81 (Aug 20, 2008)

No, they would not usually tie if she was not in heat; however, you're really going to need to start planning for when she does go into heat and be very, very careful. What are your plans for keeping them separated? Intact males are extremely persistent when there is a female in heat around and they will do literally ANYTHING to get to them. Do you have plans to spay her? The last thing you want or need are any "oops" litters, especially when she is not even physically mature at just 14 months and can't have health clearances done through OFA until she is at least 24 months. It's time to start keeping track of her heat cycles and taking preventative measures to prevent any accidental breedings.


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## Prism Goldens (May 27, 2011)

She was in season. If you wanted to spay her in the end, you may as well do it now and not have to deal with any possible puppies. Otherwise, you are going to have a litter- and there is much to do to get ready.


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

Prism Goldens said:


> She was in season. If you wanted to spay her in the end, you may as well do it now and not have to deal with any possible puppies. Otherwise, you are going to have a litter- and there is much to do to get ready.


Especially if the dogs were related (father/daughter).... there could be a lot of health issues in a litter in that case, particularly if there are no health checks on the boy.


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## Linny523 (Jan 22, 2017)

Thank you for your response. Luckily the two are not related and my male has all of his health clearances. Unfortunately there was no bloody show to warn me of the fertile period. I want to learn from this. I'm just wondering, how as a breeder you monitor your young female's heat cycles who don't yet have an established menstrual pattern. Do you check their vulvus a couple times per week for blood/swelling? Do you have a health record you use to document your breeding females and males history? Is there somewhere I could go to buy this? Thanks you all for your help.


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## ArchersMom (May 22, 2013)

I don't know about everyone, but a lot of good breeders don't own intact males. The best dog usually isn't the one in the backyard. With all the amazing, multiple titled dogs out there it's actually a challenge for me just to decide on which few I'll want to breed to. I assume this was your girls second heat? You should check daily for swelling as she approaches the 6 month mark. You know her heat will be coming approximately every 6 months.


Somebody can correct me if I'm wrong, but wouldn't such a young bitch be at higher risk of c-section? That is mostly an assumption. But she won't even be close to physical maturity by the time she's due to deliver.


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## SunGold (Feb 27, 2007)

Silent heats are actually more common than you'd think, and you would have no signs your bitch was in heat -- other than your male being interested in her. If you plan to keep the pregnancy, best thing to do is get some prelim clearances on her. Eyes, heart, DNA testing. Be upfront with your puppy buyers that this was not planned. 

Being young does not put her at a higher risk of c-section.


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## Prism Goldens (May 27, 2011)

Linny523 said:


> Thank you for your response. Luckily the two are not related and my male has all of his health clearances. Unfortunately there was no bloody show to warn me of the fertile period. I want to learn from this. I'm just wondering, how as a breeder you monitor your young female's heat cycles who don't yet have an established menstrual pattern. Do you check their vulvus a couple times per week for blood/swelling? Do you have a health record you use to document your breeding females and males history? Is there somewhere I could go to buy this? Thanks you all for your help.


I have intact animals. My girls and boys run together. I have never had an accidental litter (other than the one last year that my handler let happen on her watch- I was mortified). I watch them together. When the boys start being 'interested' I start checking daily with a paper towel. I just wipe the girls' vulva. That is, if I don't see blood in the AM... I look for any discoloration on the towel and when I see any shade of red, pink, straw- I pull the girl from the group. 
I have a dry erase board on which I have every dog's name, and under that I have these columns: 
Bath, nails, heart worm, flea, vet, heat, and under the boys' names I also add brucella. I write the dates the dogs are bathed, etc under their name next to the item. For HW I write also the brand I gave because I alternate them. 
Next to vet I write the date and the weight of the dog. Next to heat, I write the date began and in parentheses I write how many months it has been (so it might look like this: 1/30/17 (7)) which gives me a heads up to start watching after the first couple heats. But key to all this is observation. A dog will never ignore a bitch in season and then jump her on the day she's ovulating. He's going to have been showing interest for a while.


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## Linny523 (Jan 22, 2017)

Thank you so much. That was so incredibly helpful. You have a really good system and I am grateful to you for sharing it.


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## Swampcollie (Sep 6, 2007)

Linny523 said:


> I have an intact experienced male 3 years old and an intact inexperienced female 14 months. Today while they were in the backyard, I heard whimpering and when I ran out, my male and female were tied. I have had no sign that my female was in heat. Would the male tie with her if she was not in heat?


In most cases a female will not stand for a male unless she is in season. (On rare occasion you can have a female that will stand anytime even if she isn't in season.) 

You need to pay much closer attention to your female and the changes they go through as seasons change throughout the year. While some heats may not produce a lot of bloody discharge, the physical and behavioral changes that occur prior to the heat cycle will still happen and they should give you the heads up to be watching. (That is if you're paying attention.)

At this point you may have a under age female with a litter on the way. Make sure she's eating right, and see the repro-vet in the near future for guidance. If she's not mature enough, you might be looking at a C-section and you could be hand raising the puppies if mom has not matured to the point where her maternal instincts are active. (If the maternal instincts aren't active, she may ignore the puppies altogether, refuse to feed and care for them, or fear and hurt them. There are reasons why people always say wait until a female is older before breeding them. )


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