How to Help Dogs Breed Naturally for the First Time

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How to keep your dogs healthy and find the right mating time

Co-authored by Tom Robertson and Raven Minyard, BA

Last Updated: November 20, 2024 Fact Checked

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• Preparing for Breeding
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• Choosing the Right Time to Mate
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• Helping the Dogs Mate
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• Tips

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If you want to breed dogs, allowing them to mate naturally can help keep them safe and healthy. If it’s their first time breeding, however, they may need a little help. For this article, we interviewed professional dog breeders Tom Robertson and Sam and Kinsey Moses to teach you everything you need to know to encourage dogs to mate naturally. We’ll help you prepare the dogs for breeding, choose the right time to breed, and help the dogs on mating day.

Getting Dogs to Mate Naturally

If the dogs don’t know each other, introduce them a few days prior. On mating day, choose a calm and private environment for your dogs to mate in. Keep your distance once mating begins, but if necessary, use your hands to gently help the male dog mount the female.

Steps

Part 1

Part 1 of 3:

Preparing for Breeding

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1. 1
   Keep the female at a healthy weight. Females are more likely to conceive and have healthy pregnancies if they stay at a healthy weight. An under or overweight female may have problems conceiving and carrying puppies to term. Talk to your vet about your dog’s weight; they can recommend a feeding and exercise routine that will keep the female at a healthy weight for her age and breed.
2. 2
   Feed both dogs a balanced diet. Healthier dogs will be better equipped for mating. A balanced diet is key to your pet's health. Feed your dog the proper amounts of a healthy dog food to encourage good health overall. Dogs have different dietary needs depending on breed and age, so talk to your vet about a healthy diet for your dog.

   • Most dogs do better with scheduled feeding than they do with free feeding.
   • Offer your dogs healthy treats to reward them for good behavior, while also keeping their weight under control. Try fruits and veggies like baby carrots, green beans, or banana or apple slices.
   • Fish oils are often used to supplement a dog's diet, as they may prevent things like kidney disease. Talk to your vet about supplementing your dog's diet with fish oils to promote good overall health.
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3. 3
   Exercise both dogs regularly. Dogs need exercise to maintain good health and a proper weight, which can promote overall fertility. Sedentary females often have more issues with fertility, ovulation, and whelping. Exercise your dog daily by taking them for a walk or playing around the house. Bigger, higher energy dogs may need more physical activity than smaller breeds. Talk to your vet about how much exercise your dog needs each day.

   • If your dog is very high energy, you may want to invest in a fenced in yard so they can run around outside during the day.
4. 4
   Make sure the male is clean and groomed. Males need to be groomed and have clean genitals to prevent yeast infections and other complications during breeding. Keep the hair around the genitals trimmed, as this will help the male successfully mount the female and encourage natural breeding.

   • To prepare dogs for breeding, Robertson says, “Give them a fresh grooming and shave around the private areas of both the male and the female. Then, make sure [you] have a nice environment for them to be comfortable and separated from any other dogs.”
5. 5
   Test if the dogs are fertile. If you want to improve your chances of a successful breeding, consider testing both the male and female to ensure they’re fertile. For females, Robertson says, “Generally, we'll do progesterone testing, [which is] where they take some blood and have it tested in a lab to see if they are fertile. That also gives us more exact timing of when to breed, as well.” For males, he adds, “We take them to our vet, and they'll do a kind of a semen count to make sure they've got a good count and good live semen.”

   • It isn’t necessary to test your dog’s fertility, but it may be worth it if you want to breed dogs professionally.
   EXPERT TIP

   

   Kinsey Moses

   Dog Breeder

   Kinsey Moses is a Dog Breeder and the Co-Founder of Haystack Mountain Bernedoodles in Mead, Colorado. With 20 years of experience between her, her husband Sam, and her mother, they specialize in ethical and premium dog breeding, which prioritizes the health, conformation, and upbringing of each dog in their program. Kinsey earned her Bachelor's degree in Integrative Physiology from the University of Colorado Boulder, and her husband Sam holds a BS in Kinesiology from San Diego State University and a Master's in Applied Exercise Science from Concordia University Chicago.

   

   Kinsey Moses
   Dog Breeder

   Health should be a breeder's number one priority. Literature-supported health testing such as PennHip (for canine hip dysplasia), Embark (for genetic diseases), cardiac testing, and others are readily available to breeding programs to ensure the parents and puppies start out on the best path possible.
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Part 2

Part 2 of 3:

Choosing the Right Time to Mate

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1. 1
   Track when the female goes into heat. Female dogs have a natural heat cycle, with a heat typically occurring twice a year. The first day of a female’s cycle begins when you see bloody discharge coming from the dog’s vulva. If the bleeding is light, you may not always notice the precise first day of your dog’s cycle. Take note of any changes in behavior, energy levels, or eating habits, as well, to try to identify the most accurate start date.

   • It may take a few months of tracking before you recognize the true start date.
   • There are four stages in a female dog’s heat cycle: proestrus, estrus, diestrus, and anestrus. The first phase is proestrus, in which the dog may show signs of heat, like a swollen vulva and bloody discharge. She is not ready to mate at this point in the cycle.
   • Unlike with females, there isn’t a specific time to breed males. However, Robertson says as males get older, their semen count starts to drop: “Generally, we'll check when they start getting up around seven years old. That's kind of what we've found to be the age where we start seeing that count drop off. So generally, around seven or eight years old is when we retire our males.”
2. 2
   Count the days in the female’s cycle. Remember to start on the day you first notice blood. Your female will be fertile later on in the cycle and not on the first day she bleeds. Usually, a female will allow a male to mount her around 10 days into the cycle. If you want to breed naturally, let your female breed during her natural cycle.

   • The female becomes receptive to mating in the estrus stage of her cycle. At this point, her discharge will be lighter and more watery. Receptive females may also become more affectionate toward male dogs and hold their tails raised and flagged to one side.
3. 3
   Breed your female on the right cycle days. Females are most fertile on days 9, 11, and 13 of their cycles. Give the dogs a chance to breed on these days, as this will increase the likelihood of your female conceiving a litter. Since you may not know the exact start day of your female’s cycle, put the male and female together the days before and after your dog’s estimated fertile days.

   • The female is only fertile during the estrus phase. After these fertile days, she enters the diestrus, which is a two-month period during which she is no longer receptive to mating. If she successfully mated, this is when she’ll begin to show signs of pregnancy.
   • The heat cycle ends with the anestrus stage, which is a 3-4 month period of sexual and hormonal inactivity between cycles.
4. 4
   Avoid breeding on your female dog’s first heat cycle. Sam and Kinsey Moses say, “Regardless of breed, females will typically have their first heat cycle at 6-8 months of age, and then will consistently have a heat cycle every six months after that. Our vets recommend first breeding around one and a half years old. If their first cycle is late, it is possible to breed their second cycle, but more often the first breeding is on the third cycle.” Breeding on the first heat cycle is generally discouraged because the dog may not be physically or mentally mature enough to carry a pregnancy.

   • The Moseses add that “Once of age, you can tell a dog is ready to breed by progesterone testing throughout their cycle. Their progesterone doubling over the span of a day indicates the female is ovulating and ready to be bred.”
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Part 3

Part 3 of 3:

Helping the Dogs Mate

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1. 1
   Introduce the dogs to each other before the day of mating. If the male and female dogs do not already know each other, make sure they meet a few days prior to the mating day. Have them meet in neutral territory and keep them both on a leash. Allow them to sniff each other and watch for signs of aggression, like stiffening or growling. If they seem relaxed, loosen their leashes and let them play and get to know each other.

   • If the dogs seem aggressive, it is probably not a good idea to attempt to breed them.
2. 2
   Keep the dogs in a calm environment. If dogs are agitated or nervous, mating is less likely to occur. Keep them in a calm area that’s not prone to loud noises or other interruptions. If your dogs get startled or scared, this may halt breeding. Males are typically more stress-sensitive than females, so females are usually taken to the male’s home for breeding.

   • Before mating the dogs, Robertson recommends that you “Keep them separated in a safe, clean environment, [away from] the other males or even other females during that time.” This helps keep the dogs safe and ensure they won’t mate with the wrong dog.
3. 3
   Physically guide the dogs if necessary. Dogs are capable of breeding naturally, but males can sometimes be unsure of what to do, especially if it’s their first time breeding. Do not hesitate to direct the dogs when necessary. Use your hands to gently guide the dog towards the right area when he attempts to mount the female. It may help to have another person hold the female still, as well.

   • Females can sometimes be aggressive toward the male when in heat, especially if they haven’t been socialized, which is why it may be helpful to have someone hold her.
   • Robertson says, “The [female] will start flagging their tail and will literally go 90 degrees sideways when they're actually ready to accept the male.”
4. 4
   Give the dogs privacy and do not break them up after mating begins. When the male dog ejaculates, a breeding “tie” occurs; this is when the dogs are physically stuck together because the male’s penis swells to keep the sperm inside the female. Do not interrupt them or try to break them apart, as this can stress them out and may even harm them. The tie typically lasts around 13-14 minutes, though it can last anywhere from 10-45 minutes. This is a completely natural process and nothing to worry about.

   • Giving the dogs a little privacy may make it easier for them to breed successfully. A garage, shed, or basement may be a good area to place your dogs while they mate.
   • It may take the male dog a while to mount the female, especially if he is inexperienced. Be patient and try to minimize intervention. Allow the dogs to breed on their own time.
   • Don’t panic if the dogs take longer than expected to separate. If they’ve been stuck for longer than an hour, however, contact your vet for assistance. Let them handle the situation so the dogs don’t get injured.
5. 5
   Care for the dogs after mating. It’s important to care for both dogs after they’ve finished mating. You may need to confine the female to a cage for half an hour after she mates, and try to prevent urination to help with conception. Make sure the male’s penis retracts; it will usually retract naturally after 30 minutes, but if it doesn’t, you may have to retract it yourself. Make sure both dogs get food, water, and plenty of rest.
6. 6
   Keep the female away from other males. Females can be fertile for several days, and it is possible for them to become pregnant by multiple males. To ensure your dogs breed successfully—and to keep your dogs safe—make sure she does not come in contact with other males until she is no longer fertile.

   • If any mis-mating occurs, contact your vet as soon as possible to see if you can prevent pregnancy.
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Tips

• If the dogs fail to breed naturally, it is possible to artificially inseminate the female.
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• Some dogs may stay stuck together for a while after mating. This is normal, so be patient and wait for them to separate naturally rather than interfering.
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