Dog Ovulation Test

As a breeder, you already know that when it comes to breeding, the canine species is truly unique. I have spent many hours over the years helping breeders achieve a better understanding of how to succeed in the ultimate quest to produce healthy litters. To determine the time of ovulation (determining the optimal timing of mating in dogs), such an indicator as progesterone is used, in females, progesterone is secreted before ovulation (estrous cycle), and this characteristic in dogs can be used. This is a good tool to improve your dogs fertility and fertility as improper breeding is by far the most common cause of infertility in bitches. These 20 facts will give you a better understanding of why.

I. When to start? The first consultation is recommended. Seems a bit early, but better sooner than later. It happens in bitches that ovulation occurs as soon as this happens in their estrous cycle.

II. Sometimes they call to say: “Doctor, what should I do? My bitch is in [number] progesterone. Standard response: "[Number] what?" I wonder why? Progesterone readings can be shown in two different units: ng/mL or nmol/L. We will not interpret the result in the same way depending on its unit.

III. I was asked to find out when a bitch ovulates based on one test. Most of the time this is not possible. (I told you that I have had bitches that ovulate six days after the onset of estrus, but I have also had bitches that ovulate 30 days after!). Often, at least three or four tests are usually required over a period of a number of days.

IV. “Is it necessary to come every day until ovulation is over?” No, you will need it for your LH tests (another hormone secreted by the brain, it peaks two to three days before ovulation). The secretion of LH is pulsatile and we need to find a transient peak, and as a result, we need daily tests. Progesterone gradually rises during estrus, and we will focus on this increase when meeting the time of ovulation.

V. With low progesterone (= baseline), you can usually wait four to five days before seeing your dog again.

VI. Progesterone is "basal" when its blood value is less than 1 ng/mL.

VII. In the figure below, I have highlighted the 2 main events that we need to focus on when performing ovulation timing: “LH peak” and “ovulation”.

VIII. Peak LH occurs at levels of 2-3 ng/mL. When this level is reached, ovulation will occur two to three days later.

IX. If you think you've passed your LH peak, don't stop timing your ovulation. You still need to detect ovulation. Dogs do have an anovulatory cycle.

X. Anovulatory cycle, what is it? A cycle in which ovulation does not occur (and the dog does not become pregnant). An increase in progesterone is possible due to the growth of ovarian follicles containing oocytes, but suddenly decreases (the reason is still unknown). The follicles will simply shrink and disappear, and ovulation will not occur. There were cases when it rose to 4.9 ng / ml in progesterone, but after that it decreased.

XI. Ovulation occurs at progesterone levels of 5-6 ng/mL

XII. This figure is similar regardless of the size of the dog. Regardless of the breed of dog, be it Sheepdog, Pekingese, Labrador Retriever, Mastiff, etc., dogs will ovulate at the same level as progesterone. In the picture above, you will notice that the different curves overlap each other during ovulation.

XIII. We know the level of progesterone during ovulation. Anyway, during the breeding season there is no "ideal" level. In optimal fertility, progesterone levels can be around 10, 30, and sometimes more than 60 ng / ml. The breeding protocol should be determined based on the expected day of ovulation. We are not in a position to answer that a dog should be bred when it is in [any amount of] ng/mL of progesterone.

XIV. Then why analyze the level after ovulation? The progesterone level will rise rapidly after ovulation, which is good for confirming the increase. Indeed, there is a plateau (= progesterone level stagnating at about the same level) during the time, something is wrong, and an ovarian cyst can be suspected.

XV. In fact, whenever such a plateau is observed during ovulation, the bitch must always be carefully observed. This can indeed happen normally, but the plateau should not last more than three days. When in doubt, an ovarian ultrasound should be performed to ensure that the surface of the ovaries looks normal.

XVI. The hormone progesterone is similar in all mammals (similar in all sex, similar conformation, similar size of molecules). So there is no need for special tests on dogs. In truth, all the machines used to analyze progesterone in dogs are primarily designed for the human market.

XVII. Not all progesterone machines are alike. By this I mean when progesterone was 5-6 ng/ml per appa