mating.

Question
QUESTION: i have a full maltese and my friend has a shih poo(toy poodle and shitzu mix). we have been trying to get them to mate for about 2-3 weeks now. i bring my maltese to her house. her shih poo is in heat and has been for well over a week. they've been together at least 5 times. she did have a pitbull at her house before, it isn't anymore tho so my first question is, would this interfer with anything? second, how do we get the maltese and shih poo to mate? we put them in the spare room together a lot and my maltese is always drooling whenever he's around here but they don't do anything. mainly, the female just scratches at the door to get out. so, we need help. how do we mate these 2 dogs!? please help, we appreciate it. thank you!

ANSWER: Hello Olivia,
Chances are that the female just isn't ready to be bred yet.  Females will start their heat by bleeding.  They will bleed for about 9 days, then will be in "standing heat" where they will stand and "flag" the male.  When this happens, the female is ready to be bred.  
The male will drool because he is licking the female, and means that she is close to being ready, but apparently not quite ready.
Once the female is in "standing heat" she will be breedable for about 5-6 days.  

The pit bull being there in the house won't make a difference.  

Give the female a few more days and see if she will stand for the male.  If not, you might have to hold her while the male breeds her.  

I hope this helps you some.  If you have other questions for me, please feel free to ask.

Thanks for using AllExperts.com,
Kim

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: this does help, a lot actually. but i kno the female started bleeding about 2 weeks ago, she isn't anymore but it is dried up in her area. when the male is around her, he does drool a lot and all the time. how do you kno when she is in "standing heat"? i appreciate the help, Kim! thank you so much! =)

Answer
Hello again,
If it has been more than 5-6 days since your female stopped bleeding, then she is probably out of heat now.  A females heat cycle goes for about 2-3 weeks, the first nine days or so she will bleed, then at about the 9th day she is in breeding heat.  She will stay in breeding heat for another 6 days or so.  After that, you have to wait until her next heat cycle, which is typically in 6 months.  

Feel free to ask if you have other questions.
Kim