ovulation

Question
hi I have a small female poodle, white, weight about 8 lb. 1 year and 9 month old she has her period Thursday 8th (star bleeding )when is she ready to be mate or breed? when will she be ovulating? how many times she has to have sex with the male/?..... thank you

Answer
Hello Marcel,
You need to count 9 days from the first day you see blood and that is when she is ready to be bred.  You will want to breed her every other day until either she refuses or the male isn't interested anymore.  
I would stay and watch to make sure that neither dog gets into trouble. Sometimes with new males, you might need to help guide him if he doesn't know what he is doing (you would be surprised with some males) Sometimes the male won't let you help though and you just have to let nature take its course.  If he is having trouble, try putting them outside for a bit in the yard to run around and then bring them back inside.  The male should mount the female, thrust several times until he penetrates, then he will attempt to turn around and they will "lock" butt to butt.  This is the tie stage.  It can last from 5-30 minutes.  When he pulls out, put the female in a crate for 30 minutes with some water and let her rest.  You don't want her to go out and "pee" out the sperm.  Let the male get a drink and let him outside.  Separate the male and female until you plan on breeding them again.  If you wait a day before breeding them, you give the male a chance to rebuild his sperm count, insuring a higher count the next breeding.  
If all was successful, your female will have puppies 63 days from the first breeding, give or take a day or two.

You should get both male and female Vet checked to make sure that they are healthy and don't have anything that can be passed on to the puppies.  Let your Vet know that you are planning on breeding her and he/she can advise you on what to have checked out.  

I hope this helps you some.  If you have other questions about breeding or whelping questions once the puppies come, please feel free to ask.  

Thanks for using AllExperts.com,
Kim