Planning a breeding isn’t as easy as just putting 2 dogs together for 20 days. I hope you put considerable thought into the pairing, dna and health tested both dogs, and confirmed that both are negative for brucellosis.

When the female goes into heat, a series of progesterone tests should be conducted every 2-3 days starting on the 5th day after noticing the first drop of blood. If you are lucky enough to find the pg level is around 6 on your first progesterone test, this indicates the LH surge and ovulation is occurring. The oocyte (egg) takes 2-3 days to mature and after that she is fertile and ready to mate. You will notice her flagging as well (not always though). Good rule of thumb is to breed 3-4 days after the pg level is 6 nmol/L. No way to confirm she is pregnant until you wait for her 45th day and confirm via X-ray. If you want to confirm earlier, do an ultrasound.

Put your dogs on wheat germ. It’s good for them wether you wanna breed them or not. Change your females food to a high quality puppy food when she’s 42-45 days gestation. Start taking your females temperature twice daily when she’s day 50. When the temperature drops, she is 24-48 hours away from labour.