Nola is in heat: first litter on the way?
It had been coming for a while, I noticed it for a while in both dogs. Nola will soon come into season, and then it is planned that she will hopefully be mated and have her first litter.
The heat is approaching.
It's been a long time coming. I already noticed from both dogs that it wouldn't be long before Nola would come into heat. But when that will be could still be a few months away. Nola is becoming a bit more nervous: she is more likely to be frightened and would like to be with us as much as possible. In her case, she also suffered from separation anxiety again. Fortunately, this time the separation anxiety wasn't too bad, and we were at home as much as possible or we took her with us. We notice that Fido is closer to Nola, accepts her more and also wants to play more. Everything has been prepared and, if everything goes well, Nola will be mated and have her first litters of puppies during Nola's next heat.
After being away for a day, I came home to a nice surprise: Nola has come into heat. We wrapped the couch with rugs so that Nola doesn't have to wear panties during her heat. She keeps herself clean very well and we immediately mop up the few drops we find on the floor. A few extra cleanings are done in no time, and less hassle with panties for her. In the photo she is wearing the panties for a while to see if they still fit.
Test progesterone.
We made an appointment at the vet for a first progesterone test. This test measures the amount of progesterone in the blood, allowing you to measure the day of ovulation fairly precisely, and therefore better know on which day(s) it is best to mate the bitch.
Our first appointment was on Monday, October 17th. The vet will take some blood from the paw and you will be called back later for the results. The progesterone value was not yet high enough on Monday, the advice was to test again in 2 days. On Wednesday October 19th we went to the vet again for a test. We had only just returned home when we received a call: her progesterone level has risen considerably and the advice was to mate the same and possibly the next day.
Cover.
Fido has previously mated a bitch via artificial insemination, but not through natural mating. So the question was whether it would work. There was no doubt about that, although Fido is very concerned about his privacy. He didn't want to mate when I (Rianne) was there. That's where Fido's sensitive character is seen again. Nola has also done a great job and there have been several successful matings. Now all I can do is wait.
Pregnant or not?
That is a question that I would of course really like an answer to. Unfortunately I will have to wait a while for that. The pregnancy ultrasound is scheduled for mid-November, only then can I say with certainty whether she is pregnant. Until then, I'll just have to wait and see and just spend a lot of time cuddling with my beautiful cocker girl.
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