Should the Male & Female Dog Be Split Up After Mating?

Under no circumstances should a male and female dog be split up after mating. After ejaculation, the male cannot withdraw his penis until the swelling subsides, which takes time. Trying to speed up the process by splitting up the dogs can cause serious physical damage to one or both dogs.

  1. Mating Procedure

    • A female dog indicates she is ready to mate by holding her tail to the side, or flagging the male. The male dog mounts her and penetrates. The male dog's penis swells up, and is held in place by the female's vaginal sphincter muscle. At this point, the dogs are locked together or, as it is commonly known, tied.

    Fertilization

    • The first part of ejaculation takes place during the mounting. The second part, during the tie. The tie is natural and necessary for impregnation so from a breeding perspective, the male and female should not be split up.

    Tie Positions

    • The male dog may lift one leg over so it stands next to the female while tied. The male might also turn to stand back to back with the female dog while tied. While the tie in any position may look unnatural, it does not hurt the dogs. Splitting the dogs up to break the tie would, however, hurt the dogs.

    Supervising the Tie

    • Some dog owners are tempted to split up mating dogs because the female becomes vicious or tries to wrench away from the male. Even in these circumstances, splitting them up is not an option. The owners need to restrain the dogs to prevent the female from causing damage.