The American Beagler Forum

Alright guys, I've got a question for y'all. We have a female that started coming in heat about 2 weeks ago, the 12th day was last Friday. She had been bleeding, not much though, and was partially swollen. That Friday evening after she was bred, she quit bleeding and had no swelling whatsoever. She has been bred every day since, but they have yet to lock up. There is definitely semen in there, and both dogs are cooperating very well, but they just won't lock up. The male has successfully bred every female that he has been mated with in the past, no problem on his part, he is an excellent stud. It's definitely something on the female's part. What are your thoughts on this? Do you think false heat or just a weird heat cycle? Input is appreciated. Thanks, Hunter Hall

not sure if i'm of any help but I just bred a female of mine and we bred her on day 11 and that was pushing it. Suppose to breed them on day 9 skip a day and breed on the 11th day. everyone does it different I guess. I counted 11 days from when I first saw blood we bred her and she held still and they were locked up. Sorry I couldn't be of any more help to you but I thought day 12 plus anything after that is to late. According to my vet days 9-11 are best.

Others with more experiance will chime in

We've always been told that day 12 is the prime. We've also been told that it is a week coming in heat, a week in heat, and a week going out of heat. And that they bleed coming in, quit bleeding while in, and bleed going out. We don't know too much about the whole breeding process, considering we bred our female for the first time last year. Any input is appreciated, thanks.

yeah I guess it all depends on the female. Sometimes I'd just throw my hands up in the air and say the heck with the vet's and their day 9 or day 11 or 12......lol

do it the old fashion way by letting the female tell you when she is ready. when you see her flag her tail and flirt with the male she is ready.

i also heard that the male when he enter's will then have a big ol knot and that is what keeps them locked into place cause he can't pull it back out till the swelling goes down. I"m trying to keep it G rated here folks......lol

I'm no expert on breedin, but i just viewed a DVD set called 20 years of Breeding by John A. Koerner II. I thought was very informative. Discusses the whole process of breedin from preparin the stud and bitch prior to breedin to wheenin the pups in great detail. I'm lookin forward to readin his book (The Little Black Book) should be here within a week. Could be a good resource in the future. John did mention timing and the stud ballin up. I'll watch it again to tomorrow post what he recommended. My memory not so good and don't want to mis quote him.

My experience has always been a week coming in a week in heat and a week going out. Every female I have bleeds coming and stops after that. Once they stop bleeding, which is usually around day 7 I breed every other day for a week. The reason for every other day is that the males sperm will live for 2 days inside the bitch. So if you breed every other day you'll for sure catch her when she ovulates. I'm no professional breeder, but I've had a several litters, and this breeding strategy has never let me down. With that being said, I've never had a female take without having the male lock up with her. Also even with a false heat I would think that they should lock up. I've had males lock up with bitches that aren't in heat at all before. If the male has locked up with every other female then I'm really not sure what to think of that.