DOGGIE DOG BLOG

Written by: Cindy Jacobs (Cyd)
In doing German Shepherd breeding and wanting to produce a large healthy litter of German Shepherd puppies, I am researching the value of having progesterone test.  I really didn’t feel I needed to worry about it having a German Shepherd stud living here with my females.  Although, so far my German Shepherd stud has gotten each of my females pregnant and several other females not belonging to me.  What has happened is getting some of the others pregnant second time around, they have bred to my stud before having a litter but failed to this time so I wanted to understand why, plus my breeding my one female to other studs and her not getting pregnant.  I have found out it happens to both people that have done progesterone testing and those that have not.  It did cause me to start doing my own research on the subject, as my Brandy has not gotten PG the last two times she was bred, once using progesterone test with an AI (artificial insemination) and another time to another stud, that I did not do progesterone tests before breeding, I basically used my stud to try to tell me on timing, and that didn’t work either with Brandy.
It was determined that this time I would use both my stud, who has been the only male to get Brandy PG thus far, plus progesterone tests with Brandy, hopefully to tell me two things… #1 was my stud experienced enough to tell me Brandy was ovulating and #2 to try to give Brandy the best possible timing and due date of a litter I could get.  I will provide some of the links I used to make my decisions at the end of this post.  I had determined to get my first progesterone test on Brandy 7 days after she came into heat and that would be my starting point.  I chose that date as I have had progesterone tests on her before and felt that would be good timing to still be prior to ovulation based on the last 2 different heat cycles I had used them.  I couldn’t believe how tricky some females can be to try to get them PG.

One of the places I read stated that gave some insight and key things I listed was: Link to site

“The ovulation date can be as early as day 7 and as late as day 27 of the estrous cycle, emphasizing the importance of the blood test.”

“Once ovulated, a bitch’s eggs take approximately 48 hours to become fertile. They will then remain fertile for approximately 48 hours.”
“A bitch’s due date is 63 days from ovulation, regardless of breeding days”

This was also very interesting to me:

“Progesterone monitoring can also be important during gestation. Some bitches have a problem maintaining adequate levels of progest­erone during a pregnancy, usually resulting in resorbed or aborted fe­tuses. Monitoring progesterone levels is critical in bitches with such histories, as supplementation of progesterone at the proper times could mean the difference between live or dead puppies.”

The other site was very similar and stated this:  Link to site

“The key information breeders gain from progesterone testing is finding out when a bitch ovulates. This significantly increases the chance of a successful breeding.”
” Once you’ve confirmed ovulation with progesterone testing, you also know that a bitch’s due date is 62 to 64 days later,” Smith says.”

With both of these vets stating the information on the due date, I made my decision and Brandy was progesterone tested as planned 7 days after first blood….however what was not planned in that mix, was that my male bred her last night the evening prior to her first progesterone test.  I had the test done anyway I am hoping it tells me she did ovulate yesterday.  One thing I do know is that once I have that timing, and tests, there is no question as to when the litter should be born, it has nothing to do with the day you breed the way I read all this information.

Brandy got her test on day 7 even (Wed morning), though my male had bred her the night before (Tuesday), I just got the reading this morning from the vet, it was 6.3 meaning she ovulated on the Tuesday morning, that my male covered her that night.  The vet instructions were to breed today (Thursday) skip a day and breed Saturday which I will do.  According to what I am reading, Brandy if PG, her due date is counted from Tuesday the day of ovulation according to my research.. so due date is:  June 22, 2010 no matter how many times they breed..however there is information on these sites stating that it takes a stud 48 hrs to completely recover with again full sperm count, which is why they skip a day.  We will see how this plays out with this female that is hard to get PG… there might be other issues… but we are on track for now.

For more information, and if you are a larger breeder you might want to learn to do your own testing… this was another link for more information as to the readings with information on where to purchase supplies.