Understanding Female Fertility - I've decided to do a little blog series, which I hope will allow you to understand your girl and her fertility better. It's going to be in no particular order, just whatever comes into my head that day.
Today's topic is going to focus on ovulation and specifically the "status" of a female's eggs once she's ovulated. As part of a bitch's heat cycle she will produce immature eggs at ovulation. Ovulation DOES NOT mean it's time to breed your girl! Each egg still needs to shed a little moon called the polar body before it is ready to fertilize and this takes time!
When speaking to clients I usually compare the freshly dropped eggs as fruit that is firm and not yet ripened. My goal for my clients is to get two breedings 2 & 4 days from ovulation to optimize success (assuming fresh semen is used). This gives the eggs time to mature. Now while I'm here let's talk about timing some more! It is so important to have patience, to not rush and to trust your clinic. Recently I have seen two dogs bred on VERY low numbers simply because they were accepting of the male. The result? Well predictably both bitches were empty when scanned. Now this was a tough pill for both clients to swallow, but it was a learning moment for both breeders. I'm very good at what I do, but I am always working to be better - experimenting, reading and most importantly LISTENING.
Now I honestly believe that the clinic/client relationship can only be productive if both parties are on the same page. Trust in the advice and service provided is essential and if it's not there then find someone you can work with.
I'm going to share a quick story from clinic today. It's probably what inspired this post!
A female had been taken to the stud and they had been unsuccessful. The bitch was not happy and refusing to stand.
Both dogs were then brought to me for an Artificial Insemination. After meeting and playing with the girl for a few minutes my feeling was she was simply too early. After speaking with the owners the problem became clear. Another clinic had measured her progesterone levels at 12nmol and advised to breed in two days. JUST NO!