RE: maltease dog breeding .

Question
hi, I am a maltease dog owner, and lover. I bread my maltease dog last july. now she has had her period for 13 days, and is with her mate, and nothing has happened yet, and she is not refusing him either, it has been 2 days. am I too soon on the number of days when she started her period? I can remember how many days it was in july. do you know how many days it is, when they first start thier period? thank you. jodi.

Answer
While the majority of heat cycles are 21 days, some do go longer. Ovulation times can vary from bitch to bitch, and even one cycle to another. Bitches usually start standing for the male before they ovulate, and while some males want to breed the bitch the entire time, some refuse to breed until the bitch is ovulating. And there is always the chance that the male is stupid about breeding; that can happen,too, particularly when they are used at too young an age.

There is no way for me to guess what is going on with your bitch. The only way to know is to have your veterinarian do progesterone-testing on her to determine ovulation time. You might have to resort to artificial insemination.

Karen