Every breeder does their wait lists, deposits, etc. a little different. Some will take deposits years in advance and others don’t take deposits until pups are born. At Steel City Puppies, we take deposits when we are confident a breeding and litter will happen. I provide an estimated time period the pups should be born, but this is not a guarantee. Hopefully, this post will help you understand more about Canine Pregnancy and Timing.
Estrus “Heat” Cycles
Female humans, typically, cycle every 28 days. This means they ovulate about every 28 days, and that is the time when they can get fertile and are receptive to sperm. Fun fact, Goats are pretty similar with cycling around every 21 days. Unfortunately, dogs do not have heat cycles but every 6-7 months on average. The even less fortunate fact is that some bitches do not cycle every 6-7 months, but every 8, 9, 10, up to 20+ months. It is rare for the timing to be more than 12 months between cycles, but we have a few bitches that do. The even less less fortunate fact is they are not always consistent. So a bitch can go 6 months between cycles, and then 9 months before she cycles again, and then 7 months before cycling again. In other words, dogs are not always consistent in their reproduction timing.
The Most Difficult to Predict
The litters that are always the hardest for me to predict are a bitch’s first litter. The reason being, as long as the mom is of proper age, we usually breed her on her second Estrus Cycle. This means I only have her first cycle to go by, and it could be anywhere from 6-12+ months before she cycles again. After a mom has 3 litters, however, I can generally see a trend form and then get within +/- one month. Of course she is going to retire soon, so a lot of good it does me.
How I Predict Estimated Due Dates
I’ve been doing this long enough that there are some unseen factors, intuition through experience you could say, that help me estimate estrus cycles. Fun fact, it also seems to be that a daughter will have similar timing between cycling as her mother. I take into account the timing of the mother, maybe the grandmother, when she cycled first, timing between litters (if she has had some before), and also the timing of the other females in the pack. Of course I am not perfect and mistakes will be made, but it is important to remember we are dealing with forces outside my control.
The Only Guarantee
If you see on the website I have “Due Date”, instead of “Estimated Due Date” that means the mom has actually been bred. So she actually delivers pups around this day or we have an even longer wait than expected. because the pregnancy did not take. We know the exact days our females ovulate, so once this happens I can pretty much always get the due date correct +/- one day. The gestation period of a dog is 63 days, so that is really the only time period I can be accurate in, is 63 days pre-birth.
“Did you move my litter back?”
Most people do not understand the basics of canine reproduction and believe I can control exactly when litters will be born. So if I want Christmas puppies, then I just put the parents together 2 months ahead of time and Viola! Christmas babies! Hopefully, this post will help spread awareness that it is a waiting game. I can only breed a female when she is in heat and ovulating. This can happen 6 months from her last cycle or 12 months, there are no guarantees when it will happen. Males/Studs are always ready and able. :)
*If you see your litter’s estimated due date has been moved back that means the mom did not ovulate when “best-guessed” by me, and so it is physically impossible for her to have puppies by the original listed month.