Canine sexual maturity and mating

The question is often ask, when does my dog reach sexual maturity and when is the best time to mate?

Canine sexual maturity is determined by the overall development of her reproductive system and not on age. {{more}}A dog may be over two years old and is not sexually mature. This may have resulted from poor nutrition and or disease during the dog’s early stages of development.

A male is considered sexually mature when all the components of his reproductive system are developed.

Practically speaking the best time to mate your female dog is on the eleventh, thirteenth and fifteenth day after she starts bleeding.

A female dog will normally bleeds for seven to nine days before she eventually accepts a male. In my practice I know of dogs that would have bled for over two weeks before she mates.

If your female dog bleeds for two weeks then take her to mate on the second, fourth and sixth day after the bleeding stops.

The bleeding is an indication of the final preparatory phase that the female reproductive system undergoes before she starts accepting the male.

This bleeding may go undetected because some females clean themselves quickly.