What to Expect - Male Dogs

Caralee Guardian Program male dogs are contracted until they are five years old. At the end of the contracted time, I arrange to desex the dog and transfer the registration into your name.

Males may reach sexual maturity around 10 months, but it would be rare that I would use them to father a litter prior until they are 12 months of age.

The frequency with which a male may be required for breeding depends on a number of factors, including;

🐾 His suitability with the females in season.

🐾 The genetics he carries - particularly related to coat colour. For example; a chocolate boy that does not carry the genes for gold will only be mated with another chocolate female otherwise, they would breed a whole black litter.

🐾 Hip scores - males that have lower hip scores are used less often because they need to be matched with females that have excellent hip scores.

The health of the male breeding dogs is extremely important as it will often dictate if the female becomes pregnant.

It is essential that I know if he has had any injuries or illnesses or has been on antibiotics prior to him being used to father a litter. It is important that you notify me any time your boy is sick for whatever reason.

Once I have advised you of the plan to mate your dog with a female coming into, or already in season, he may be required for mating at relatively short notice.

The timing of the mating session will depend on the female dogs’ progesterone results once tested by the vet. This only happens once the female guardians’ owners advise me she is in season.

Sometimes it can take multiple progesterone tests before the female dog is confirmed as ready to mate, and other times the female is ready at her first progesterone test and in this circumstance, the breeding boy is required that very afternoon!

It is important to know that due to the occasional urgency of requiring the male for mating, I will need to be able to access your guardian boy at any time.

Mating

The majority of matings are usually done by artificial insemination (AI) at our specialist vet Queensland Veterinary Specialists (QVS), located at Stafford. 

The mating process involves the male dog’s semen being collected by the vet, tested for quality and then inserted into the female via a small non-invasive tube.

This process is repeated daily over 2 or sometimes 3 concurrent days, based on the vet’s recommendation.

The Vets are happy to keep non-barking dogs at the vet practice for the duration of the mating process and QVS is a 24-hour veterinary hospital so your dog is in excellent hands with the nursing staff and not left alone.

Note: If you prefer not to leave your dog at the vets during the AI process, then you will need to organise for them to be collected and returned to QVS for each mating session. Mating/collection sessions may only take 20-30 minutes, so you can wait for the procedure to be completed if you have the time. If the vets do not have time to do the mating/collection while you are there, they will ask you to leave and collect him/her later that day.

What do you need to do:

🐾 Let Carol know anytime your boy is ill, or injured.

🐾 Be aware your boy may be required at short notice for Carol to collect.

🐾 Be prepared to take your boy to Queensland Veterinary Specialists practice for multiple mating sessions, if you prefer not to leave him overnight