Progesterone Testing

[kennic]

I have had my girl to the vet on 2 occassions to be prog tested to evaluate the best time to introduce the dog to her.

Day 3 of her season she was 3.1 nmol - Saturday

Day 7 of her season she was 7.2 nmol - Wednesday (yesterday)

The vet informs me that I should be mating her this weekend as her levels are slowly increasing and she should peek on the weekend.

Just wondering when other breeders are mating their bitches and at what prog levels they are using as a rough guide.

This vet that has done the tests is not very in the know when it comes to levels and optimal mating times, and he is only going off the report that came back with the prog test results.

I know we should trust our vets as they are meant to know what they are talking about but I was not feeling very comfortable after have a discussion with him regarding the above.

Just wanted other breeders opinions and advice as I feel that the people doing the breeding are sometimes more informative than our 'trusty' vets.

Going to another vet is not viable due to my geographical location.

I also only have a 'window' to breed the bitch as I am travelling to the stud dog and cannot extend my stay away from home due to work commitments.

I am travelling tomorrow and need to be home on Tuesday night at the latest.

I have Kathryn Hedburgs book and have studied the prog testing and levels section but as I said - I would appreciate advice from other breeders too please.

[Aspyre]

There are a few topic on Progesterone testing at the moment regarding frozen semen breedings, so they will have useful information in them too.

But most vets I have dealt with quote 15-18nmol as Ovulation range and 30-90nmol as the fertile period. But it is not always the case, some will peak earlier some later, the thing you are looking for is a sharp spike in the numbers to indicate ovulation.

Could you not leave the bitch at the stud, until you can collect her or have her transported back??

That way you would be able to get in a couple of matings in case she is not ready during your timeframe.