male gave up interest

Question
we are trying to breed bullmastiffs. we tried to breed them on days 9, 10, and 11. the male was very interested and mounted her many times but never made a successful "docking" so to speak. it is now day 14 and she is still bleeding very slightly. however for the last three days he has not even attempted to mount her. he takes a little sniff and just walks away. this is his first time but he seemed to know what he was doing at first. could there be something wrong with him all of the sudden to make him not even want to try? otherwise he seems fine. thanks

Answer
Hi Mike:

Pinpointing the estrus (fertile) portion of the female's heat cycle can be tricky. It sounds as if you're in the correct timeframe as the estrus portion normally occurs around day 9 or 10 from the initial onset of the cycle & continues anywhere from 5 to 12 days thereafter. Unfortunately, all cycles & phases thereof vary from dog to dog so there's no absolute in regard to timing breeding. Usually the best indicators of estrus is you'll notice the discharge will lighten in flow & color, becoming more of a light pink to straw color. Since estrus is the only portion of the heat cycle in which the female will allow & even encourage mating, any other attempts made by the male are fruitless. It's possible he's become discouraged from his earlier attempts or also possible she's not yet fully into estrus, which is when she'll produce the pheromones that will attract him to mount & breed. Given this is his first time, he may need some additional assistance from you. If you're as certain as possible that she is in estrus, you can try manually stimulating him (yes, I know, it sounds obscene!) and then encourage him to mount & assist him in penetrating. Obviously you'll need some additional hands for this, at least one extra person to hold the female. Usually once a male has been successful he'll be more apt to follow through on his own thereafter. Although I doubt there's anything physically wrong with him, if he still seems disinterested or unable to accomplish the task it would probably be in everyone's best interest to have your vet give him an exam & testing done to make sure his reproductive ability is performing properly. Also you could have your vet examine your female to find out if she is in estrus or if it hasn't yet arrived or has passed. There is a home test I've heard of breeders using but I've never personally tried it. You can read more on it via these links:

http://www.petstruly.com/3368.html
http://www.camelotfarms.com/pre_mate_order.php

This test detects the amount of progesterone present in a blood sample & claims to help take the guess work out of when estrus is occurring so one knows when to breed. As I stated earlier, it's not always easy to know when estrus is occurring but usually the female & male's response are the best indicators. Since you're dealing with novice dogs you may need some extra guidance for the first mating or so before you'll be able to better recognize the signs. I'm also including some links on heat cycles in general to provide you with some additional, more detailed resources. I hope this helps!

http://www.yourpetsbestfriend.com/your_pets_best_friend/2007/02/dog_heat_cycle_....

http://www.cs.uu.nl/wais/html/na-dir/dogs-faq/medical-info/whelping.html

http://www.superk9.com/article-doghealthcare32.asp