Breeding & tie

Question
My male was having trouble finding the hole so we assisted him. my question is do they have to get locked up? he was in for about 2 minutes while we were holding them but then he came out. It appeared like he was through kinda like he was trying to get off of her. We tried the next day and with some help he did the same thing 2 more times both for about 2 minutes each. we were supporting the female because we didnt want him to come out it appeared that he was finished again but we never let them go to see if they locked up. should we try again and let them go as soon as he gets in her? She is on day 13 both are first timers. do you think that she is pregnat or do they have to tie.

Answer
Hi Foster. A dog doesn't absolutely have to have a tie in order to pregnant the female. However, the dog does have to ejaculate. If you're not sure if your boy did that, then it'd be hard to say for sure. You can hold them all you want, but if he didn't ejaculate, then it was for nothing. You could try gain, and then let go, like you said. Is the female standing for the male?