heat cycle frequency - Page 2

Interesting...  My Zoe will be 5 next month.  I thought about using a different male but honestly I am not that worried about breeding her again. 

jbbrbx - have you been able to breed your female that comes in every 3 months successfully?  I have one that comes in every 3-4 months, stands normally, progesterone tests normal and indicate ovulation - but no go on getting her bred. 

what is the protocal on steroids to lengthen the heat cycle timing?  Or, what could I do to get this female bred (she comes in normal heats, every 3-4 months) - I have had her checked thoroughly by repro vets and they can't find anything wrong with her.

To answer the OP question - my females (the ones that are bred successfully) come in normally every 6 months - 14 months.  Yes, have had two females now that come in only once/year and though they usually have a "short cycle" at the 6 month mark, t hey do not ovulate and they do not stand for breeding during this time (and stud dogs are not interested).  Once/year they come in but have multiple split heats - but eventually ovulate normally and are bred successfully.  I like the females that come in every 6 months and are more regular, better :)

molly

Many of my females are (or have been--some of the females I am thinking of have passed on or been spayed) on a fairly regular 4 month cycle (with some variation after a litter, etc.).

But I also have two who are on regular 6 month cycles. Sometimes following a pregnancy, the cycle will be delayed a bit.

If you have a female with a cycle shorter than 4 months, it will probably be very hard (impossible) to get her pregnant.

Christine

Basically the steroids were to stop her from coming into heat, she was to take them before her next heat and then once finished with them she would come into heat exactly 120 days after taking them giving her uterine wall plenty of time to get thicker and stronger.  She was to stay on the steroids for 30 days.   

Same with my females...Some regular intervals of 6 mos but as they got closer to 4 yrs old  the 4 mo period popped up...

I call it a false heat...some have been bred in that period and produce nothing...then the next heat is about  4 mos later and that heat was the real deal...

Never count on a regular heat cycle...Rare..mine were regular for quite a while then all of a sudden   the  cycles changed...so have to be very aware of your female..at all times.

Keep a calendar for that purpose of logging..Then watch the 4 month periods to be sure she is safe and not exposed. You cannot be too careful.

YR

in almost 30 yrs of living with gsd bitches, we find that 4-6 month cycles are the norm.  bringing a new bitch home, especially a dominant one, upsets the apple cart until they all get back to regualr cycles again.
pjp

I have one female that cycles every 9 months, another that had two cycles in the time it took her to cycle once.

I have the opposite problem right now, I have a bitch here who usually goes 4-5 months, we're now at 6 months and still nothing. My old bitch just came out and I was hoping she would "synch" but no such luck. Waiting sucks.

Eichenluft--The bitch that has 3 month cycles has had one litter, her first breeding she had 5 pups. She has not had success with pregnancy since then.  She in currently in heat and we are doing a surgical implant hopefully Monday.  We are doing progesterone testing and Monday should be the day.  Wish us luck!!!

Jan ;-)

Molly,

 Consider putting your frequent cycler on Mibolerone(Cheque Drops) to lengthen her inter-estrous interval as that is where her problem likely lies. When a bitch cycles too frequently,this interval is too short to allow the uterus to complete the remodeling process to prepare for subsequent litters;therefore,she may come into an ostensibly normal heat,ovulate,flag/stand.etc...after breeding,the fertilized eggs do not implant into the lining of her uterus and hence,pregnancy does not occur.

The "protocol" for Cheque Drops is to start the female on it at least 30 days prior to the start of an expected cycle.
The dose for GSD bitches is 1.8ml daily irrespective of body weight. Of course it is prudent to monitor her Liver enzymes on a monthly basis to ensure that they are not elevated to unhealthy levels.It is recommended that you maintain her on the Cheque Drops for approximately 4 to 6 months. She should come into heat anywhere from 1week to ??? after discontinuing the steroid .Hope this helps!

Cheers

thank you!