From What Day Do You Start Blood Tests?

[oakeydoak1]

Hi All

My bitch is in season and as we are going to be travelling to a stud dog I am going to get her tested to make sure she is right to go.

I am going to ring our vet on Monday but I was just wondering from what day you start taking the blood tests. Never had to do it before.

Thanks!

[puglvr]

The repro vet I go to says day 6.

[sandgrubber]

Depends on the girl and the situation. If I don't really care if I miss this one, I might wait until day 9 or 10 . . . especially if the girl tends to come on slow. If it's critical I might start at day 5, especially if another bitch came in earlier and the one I'm wanting to mate is likely to play catch-up.

[Fordogs]

My girls come in r e a l l y S l o w , just tested one on day 16 and the result was < 1, that was 4 days ago so I will recheck tomorrow and hope for a better result.

Last season day 22 she was 2 and on day 26 she was 9.

[oakeydoak1]

Thanks all. Will see what the vet says tomorrow. Am a bit excited.

[Bob]

Hi All,

I am never sure why people go to all the trouble of testing. I guess there may be a reason if you are flying the bitch off to stud or if the stud dog you are using is only going to be "allowed" a couple of shots.

Having the stud here I allow them together from day 10 to see if we get a tie. I continue to allow them together every second day until I have had two good ties. It always seems to work and I think if the dogs can't work it out then what's the point?

Regards,

[oakeydoak1]

Hi Bob

I am basically blood testing so I am sure she is on as last time we both AI'd her and natural mated and nothing so this time we want to make sure that she is ovulating. Also the drive is 3 hours one way, my girl gets car sick and I will have to stay down there with her. With 2 kids and a farm to run plus working I kinda need to know we are giving it the best possible chance.

[Fordogs]

Bob, not everyone has a stud dog in their yard and that is why we have to test.

Even if the stud I will use lived closer I would still do progesterone testing just to make arrangements easier for the stud owner.

I would prefer to take my bitch once and get the job done rather than bother the stud owner multiple times with a bitch that just isn't ready.

My bitch at the moment is day 22 and still is not ready I don't know what game she is playing.

[Bob]

Hi Fordogs,

I am aware that not everyone has a stud in their yard and that there are times when it may be necessary to progesterone test for "readiness". I am not sure what the situation was with Oakeydoak last time but as you can see she both AI'd and did a natural mating. One would assume if it was a Vet AI that they would do the test as a matter of course.

Personally, we have sent bitches interstate both when in heat and when due to come into heat.

The one we sent prior to being in was sent so that she had an opportunity to become familiar with the "new" surrounds and the prospective sire.

We have friends who had a bitch in season for over a week. They drove for 500 km, put her on the plane and when she got off she was not in heat.

I just don't see that taking a bitch to the Vet on a regular basis for testing on a regular basis is more convenient than taking her to a local dog.

Regards,

[oakeydoak1]

Hi Bob, actually no we didnt get her tested last time. It was my own fault. We had a "teaser dog" which she was ready to accept so we thought she would be right. Obviously not.

If our dog was local, I probably wouldnt bother, just keep taking her back, but unfortunately he is not so we cant!!!

[Fordogs]

Bob,

Yes I agree, why go through with an AI without doing a progesterone test first, a teaser dog is not always reliable some bitches will tease and accept a dog to mount and mate even though they haven't ovulated.

And some studs are so good they won't touch a bitch if she is not ready then you have the other kind, if she's on heat then she is fair game.

[SpikesPuppy]

Bob,

Yes I agree, why go through with an AI without doing a progesterone test first, a teaser dog is not always reliable some bitches will tease and accept a dog to mount and mate even though they haven't ovulated.

And some studs are so good they won't touch a bitch if she is not ready then you have the other kind, if she's on heat then she is fair game.

If I hadn't prog. tested my bitch, we probably would have missed mating her. Had her blood taken on day 9 - she wasn't ready, went back on day 12 and the result showed she would likely be ready in 2 days time (day 14). So that Friday, we took her to the stud dog (I was a bit dubious as she had no signs of flagging to my own male, nor did she react when we touched her croup etc), within 15 minutes they were tied! This was also the stud's first time (although my bitch had been mated unsuccessfully the previous season). Left her there for the weekend and they had a total of 5 matings. The stud dog was a family pet and in this circumstance it was very helpful to have that 2 days notice to arrange everything.

The due date was exactly as predicted using the progesterone test results.

So I had a very worthwhile experience with progesterone testing and will do it again. I understand why people don't bother but for me, that $200 or so dollars I spent made planning both the mating and whelping that much easier and IMO well worth it

[oakeydoak1]

We used a teaser dog first time (different bitch) and it worked. Second time, different bitch - didnt work. So this time we will do the testing. First test is tomorrow (day 5) and will see how we go from there depending on the reading.