Have you been so unsuccessful with mating your dog? This must make you feel so frustrated and feel like the whole mating process is a waste of time. Well, what if I tell you that you could become very successful with breeding your dog after reading this article? This is a bold claim, but I can assure you that if you stick around to the end you will get all the help you need. So, what is the perfect time to mate your dog?
The straightforward answer would be that during the estrus stage of your dog’s heat cycle, she is ready to mate. Most professionals would tell you that this is between days nine to eleven. But I have seen cases when the female dogs get receptive much later, like around day twelve to even fifteen.
So how do you know when exactly is the right time for your own female dog? Well, this question will be answered in this post. But first, I would try to explain each of the different stages of a female dog’s heat cycle. This is to help you get a much better understanding of what happens during your dog’s heat cycle.
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The 4 Stages of a Female Dog Heat Cycle Explained
A female dog’s heat cycle usually comes twice a year and lasts for about a month. During this period your dog would become fertile and can get pregnant. This heat period is divided into different sages, namely, the proestrus, Estrus, diestrus, and Anestrus. Let’s look at each of these stages and know what happens through them.
1. Proestrus (around 9-10 days)
This is the first stage, during which the female dog may experience some vaginal bleeding and swelling of the vulva. However, she is not yet receptive to mating. This means that at this stage she is most likely to be aggressive when in close contact with a male dog. Why? Because he can smell the heat and is likely to attempt mating which she does not want yet.
As a result, she gets violent to word off his advances. We recommend you keep her away from her mate partner for the first 9 days of the heat cycle. You could use this waiting period to ensure both dogs are ready for mating, and feeding, and health checks are very important during this stage and could really make a difference between success and failure.
2. Estrus (around 5-13 days)
This is the stage where the female dog becomes fertile and receptive to mating. The bleeding may become lighter, and she may actively seek out male dogs. As the heading indicates, this period could be anywhere from day five to day thirteen, depending on the dog.
Large dog breeds often enter this stage later than smaller breeds. Dogs like German Shepherds could enter the estrus stage from day nine and can remain in this stage for as long as day fifteen. There are a few ways to know if your dog has reached this stage. This will be covered much later in this post.
3. Diestrus (around 60-90 days)
If the female dog does not become pregnant, she will enter the diestrus. This is a period of rest between heat cycles. Some dogs would often exhibit signs of pregnancy during this stage. So you might see your female dog sleeping more, adding weight, and suffering from fatigue more often during this period.
We once had a German Shepherd who had a false pregnancy during this period. She even grew a fake belly bump during this period. It was so convincing that we thought she got mated and pregnant without us knowing it. Then again this is just a one-in-a-million case and does not happen to all female dogs.
4. Anestrus (90 days to next heat cycle)
This is a period of sexual inactivity, and it can last for several months. During this period you can allow your female dog to interact freely with other male dogs as her hormones would have been back to normal. She would also have resumed her normal activities and no longer suffer from behavioral changes that come with the heat cycle.
If you would like more in-depth knowledge on the different periods in your dog’s heat cycle be sure to consult your vet. But now we would leave you with three unique ways to know when your dog is ready to mate.
3 Amazing Ways to Tell If Your Dog Is Ready to Mate
There are three amazing ways to tell if your dog is ready to mate or not. It is important to know this as it will improve your chances of success during the mating period and ensure your female gets the best and safest mating experience there is. The three ways include
- Check her blood color and thickness.
- Change in Vulva Size.
- Try the two-finger test.
Let’s consider these three methods and see why each of them is so effective in confirming whether or not your dog has reached the estrus stage.
Checking Her Blood Color and Thickness.
At the start of your dog’s heat cycle, she releases a reddish fluid (Blood) from her vulva. This reddish fluid (Blood) is usually very watery and could even be seen licking from her vulva making her lick and constantly clean herself.
This usually happens from day 1 to 9. From sometime on day 8 or 9 the reddish fluid or discharge from her vulva will change from the initial color to pinkish or brownish discharge.
The texture of her discharge will also become thicker and pastlike. To track these changes easily it is important to take a sample of her discharge at the end of each day with a tissue and compare it with the sample you will collect in the morning.
Once the discharge becomes pink and is thick like a paste (Around day 9 to 15) your dog is most likely fertile and ready to mate.
Look out for Changes in Vulva Size.
This second method is a good way to know if your dog is even in heat at all. This is because your female dog’s vulva swells considerably during pregnancy. This is very easy to notice because the vulva will protrude and look like it is constantly groomed.
I even noticed that my dog’s vulva is a bit darker and a bit red at the tip due to the constant licking and grooming she carries out. It is important to note that this method is not so effective at determining the right time to mate. The third method though is a game changer in achieving this purpose.
Try the Two Finger Test.
This third method is great for knowing exactly what stage your dog is in her pregnancy. With this method, you don’t necessarily need to bother yourself with a day’s counting, although it is best to carry out this test from day nine.
The purpose of this test is to know just how open your dog is to mate. When a female dog is ready to mate she usually makes herself accessible to male dogs by raising her tail and facing her behind to his face. This makes it very easy for the male to have access to her, making mating successful.
For this test, get a Medical glove, bend to face your dog’s behind, and then without reaching for her tail, place your two fingers on the surface of her vulva. If she is fertile and receptive to mate, her tail should automatically rise to give you more access the moment your fingers hit her vulva. If your female dog gives this reaction it’s time to mate her.
Final Thoughts
We have answered the question about the perfect time to mate your dog which is at the estrus stage of her heat cycle. We have also covered in detail, each of the different stages in a female dog’s heat cycle. And finally, we touched on three amazing ways to know if your dog is ready to be mated. Well, a successful mating will most likely leave you with pregnant dogs to know more about pregnancy stages in dogs and what type of exercise is good for your dog, click either link to find out more.
