The Waiting….
….is the hardest part.
A second TCI yesterday with the good ICSB semen (which was collected when Zar was 3 years old, and has 85% motility) and we’re done. Renee did it again yesterday, Alice’s vaginal walls looked softer than Friday, Renee said that ideally you inseminate on the prime day (which seems to have been Friday) and the day after (which was yesterday). So it seems like we’ve done everything we can to make this happen. Two good breedings, with good semen, and good timing. The last frozen litter I did (the litter Zhora was born in) was a surgical AI, but TCI was so much less stressful for Alice, so much faster, and the success rates are as good as, or better than, surgical (depending on the vet).
I will schedule her pregnancy check ultrasound for day 27-30. Now we start counting days from ovulation instead of days from the start of her season. Ovulation is considered day 0. Dogs, unlike humans (and most other mammals for that matter), have a pretty weird reproductive cycle. Dogs ovulate, then the eggs take 2-3 days to mature, or in science speak: “Primary oocytes are ovulated and cannot be fertilized until the completion of the first meiotic division to form the secondary oocyte, which takes a further 2–3 days. Ovulated oocytes may be fertilizable for 2 to 5 days; however, there may be breed differences.” And unlike humans, in dogs you calculate the due date from ovulation, not conception. Regardless of when breeding actually takes place, the due date is always 63 days from ovulation +/- 3 or so days. So since we are calling November 1 ovulation day, her “official” due date will be January 3!
I so hope this works. We’ve used up half of the good semen collection from Zar, there are only 2 breeding units left of that collection, which is realistically one attempt, since ideally you breed twice. I am honored that Michelle (Zar’s breeder and owner) likes Alice so much that she really wanted this to happen as much as I do. Thank goodness for technology that allows us to collect and freeze semen from a dog in his prime, and then implant it 10 years later when the right opportunity presents itself. Keep your fingers crossed!