PROGESTERONE TESTING SERVICE
There is a lot to do when planning a litter and the disappointment when all your efforts to get your girl breed only results in a not pregnancy.
When both the sire and dam have been vet checked and deemed health enough to breed, the most common reason for bitches failing to become pregnant is mistiming. A progesterone blood test is the most accurate tool for predicting the best time to breed. While mother nature knows a lot, and the bitch’s signals should never be ignored, not taking advantage of the technology available with progesterone testing is a big mistake. It can be inconvenient &/or not possible to make several visits to the vet during your vet regular office hours. Here at kountryrusfrenchies, we have failed to get girls pregnant because of this.
There are three stages of the female dog’s cycle: proestrus, estrus, and anestrus. The estrus stage, which lasts from 3 – 21 days, with an average of nine, is when the bitch is fertile.
Besides giving the best shot at pregnancy, reverse progesterone testing is also necessary should a C-section or when the bitch is close to term and survival of the puppies, even the bitch herself, might be in question. Dogs do not have a two-week window for safe delivery as humans do.
Pay careful attention to signs that your bitch is coming into season. Look for vulval swelling and any discharge. The first progesterone test should be done five or six days from this point, to establish a baseline. If the number is very low, you might wait a few days before the next test, but once it starts moving up it should be tested every other day. One test is not enough, and some bitches reach the ideal number sooner or later than others. Once the level begins to rise steadily, your vet may be able to predict the right day to breed.
Ovulation is thought to take place when the level is 4.5 to 5.5 ng/ml on Idexx and 8.0 to 10.5 on Minvidas. This is a good time for breeding with fresh semen, naturally or by vaginal AI. Though the eggs are not mature at this point, healthy fresh semen will survive in the bitch’s reproductive tract until they are.
Breeding using fresh chilled or surgically inseminated frozen semen should take place later, when the progesterone level is 19.0 to 21.5s ng/ml on idexx and 35.0 to 40.00 on minvidas. Of course, if this is the case, you are already working with a canine repro specialist who can advise you best.
“It might be useful to have progesterone levels tested on a heat cycle even if no breeding is planned, just to have an idea of how a bitch behaves at any given level. The results are not always consistent from one cycle to another, even with the same bitch. But it might help when planning shipments of semen for future litters,
Stud owners should be kept informed with your bitch’s progress. There is plenty of work for them too – they want a successful pregnancy, and for natural breeding or fresh semen AI, they need to plan. They may not be able to drop everything just because your mama-to-be is ready.
This is were we, at kountryrusfrenchies, come into to help. We are offering after hours and weekend progesterone testing to your fellow breeders. It does not have to be a frenchies. We love all dogs. We can pull blood and have the numbers you are needing in about an hour. No more sending off testing and or having to take off from work to get your girl tested. We only charge $90.00 a test to do with no office visit charges. Call Sharon, 334-689-2712 to setup our progesterone testing time.
