Mating a German Shepherd Dog

Tsara was now about 18 months old and the time had come to 'mate' her - so we arranged to take her to the ShadowSquad German Shepherd Dog breeder in Newbury, Berkshire that we had got her from - to be presented to 'Tiger' one of their resident stud dogs.

He was a very large German Shepherd and aptly named!

When they met, Tsara played very it cool and looked not very interested - while the stud dog looked on rather calmly - he was very experienced and took it all in his stride - I guess he'd seen it all before and knew that she would come round!

Tsara obviously decided that she wanted to be 'wooed' first and was not going to play ball immediately - so Tiger had to keep going around her and try to entice her. This seemed to go on for about 30 minutes but Tiger was very patient and as we were beginning to think nothing was going to happen, Tsara relented and decided it was the right time and she was now ready.

We had to keep our Shepherd bitch on a long lead just in case anything went wrong, just in case she panicked - it may have led to her hurting the stud dog.

Now some of you will probably have seen a pair of dogs going at it like 'hammer and tongs' but seeing German Shepherd Dogs mating is not like that at all.

Mating a German Shepherd Dog is calm and almost like in 'slow motion', and is always supervised at the dog breeders.

Tiger the experienced stud dog seemed to be very careful and sensitive towards Tsara - as if he knew it was her first time.

It was really quite something to see and unlike anything you imagined, they performed what is called a 'tie' where they are entwined together back-to-back and this again seemed to last for about 15 minutes where nothing actually seemed to be happening.

It's amazing to see animals that have a natural instinct perform a mating ritual that frankly is hard to put into words to describe it adequately.
But at the end, they separated and both seemed quite relaxed and contented.

Presumably, Tiger went off to get his dinner and have a lie-down after all his exertions, and we got our baby back who seemed shyly none the worst for her experience!

Now we had to get her back home, cross our fingers and hope the mating was successful.

Now to a German Shepherd breeder, mating their German Shepherds is a very serious business as they need to keep the line pure and free from any physical defects (note: dogs are screened for any inherited physical problems such as hip dysplasia) so that the German Shepherd puppies that are produced are fit and healthy.

They must keep good records and make sure the blood lines are not 'inter-mixed' so they match their stud dogs carefully with the bitches history, in order to have the best looking and best physical attributes that they can, which results in good even temperament, and healthy German Shepherd puppies that people will like and want.

That's why to a dog breeder, the mating of German Shepherd Dogs is so critical, and the choice of which dog to breed with which bitch is vitally important to keep the historical line pure without inter-breeding which could lead to harmful effects to the line of descent.

Dog Heat Symptoms

A bitch comes 'into season' (or also termed as 'on heat') twice per year and a small discharge of blood from the vagina will be noticed - this lasts for about 14 days and she should be ready for mating a few days after the discharges stop. (i.e. between the 14th - 18th day of having come into season.

One way to check if your dog is ready for mating is to stroke her hindquarters - if she is ready for mating your bitch will raise her tail and move it to one side.

Note: If you are going to breed from your dog, you should make sure you mate her before your bitch is 3 years old. This is for her health reasons, approx 18 - 24 months is best
(after her third season) and make sure your bitch has been wormed, and has relieved herself before mating, and keep her quiet after the mating has taken place.

Before mating your dog, the bitch should be in good condition i.e. she shouldn't be overfed leading to her being fat, and should be enjoying a good physical, regular exercise regime.
After the mating, keep your bitch away from other dogs, if you don't she may end up have two litters by different dogs!

So are we going to have our own German Shepherd puppies born at home?