Part 2 –How to Mate your Bulldog at the right time

Know your bulldog. Her first heat cycle will happen between 6 months and 18 months.  After that it should happen every six months.  Her heat cycle should last about 3 weeks.  With this information, you can ideally know when the heat is starting, but you are still going to need to know what days during the heat to mate your dog.  

Now she is in heat, what now. The first part of the Bulldogs heat cycle is called proestrus. The vagina will be swollen and much larger than usual.  There will also be a lot of blood.  Your Bulldog will not let the male Bulldog mate with her yet.  It’s a waste of time on your part.  This is more of the get ready part.  This part typically will last about 7-10 days.  

Testing for ovulation. As the first stage of her heat is coming to an end, this is when you start to start testing the progesterone levels of your female Bulldog.  Your local vet will be able to do these tests for you.  The exact time to breed at this point is debatable by most vets and breeders, but most will agree to mate after the levels reach 5 ng/ml. 

Breeding time, finally.  Once the female has reached the 5 ng/ml level, this part of the cycle is called estrus.  Now is the time to breed.  The female Bulldog will now allow the male to mate with her.  Sometimes even rubbing her tail, she will move it aside showing you that she is ready to be mated.  Ovulation usually starts 2 days into estrus and can last anywhere from 5 to 8 days.  

Artificial Insemination. Breeding Bulldogs naturally isn’t the best idea.  French Bulldogs are a bit easier, but we still encourage artificial for best results. Bulldogs have short legs and stout bodies that make it difficult to mate naturally.  Also, once connected, they are so powerful, issues may arise as they try and pull apart from each other.  Now you must collect the male’s semen and put it into the female’s vagina, and into the uterus by way of a syringe.  Keeping the temperature of the semen is vital so be careful.  Other methods of getting cooled and frozen semen work as well, but the odds are severely decreased.  

Diagnose the pregnancy. Pregnancy for an English Bulldog or French Bulldog lasts about 61 days from first insemination. The easiest way we use is going to the vet and getting an ultrasound after 30-35 days.  This should also give you an approximate litter size as well.