Predicting your females’ heat cycles is the best way to plan your breeding activities for the months and years ahead.
Note: Everything we discuss in the following guide can be done on Breedera’s Free plan. You don’t need any active subscription to use the Heat Cycle or Matings features on Breedera!
With Breedera, you can start planning future heat cycles and estimating any future mating and whelping dates from that particular cycle.
To get started, navigate to the Dogs list page and tap the (+) PLUS button. When you tap the (+) PLUS button, you’ll see a range of different records you can add. Select ‘Heat Cycle’, then select the dog you wish to add the cycle for. This will allow you to add the details of any heat cycles she’s had in the past.
To view the heat cycle information of any female, simply find that female in the Dogs list, tap to open up her profile page, then go to Records > Breeding > Heat Cycles.
On any female’s Heat Cycle page, you’ll see a large panel displaying her current or upcoming heat cycle (with predicted dates); followed by a list of previous heat cycles.
Note: In order for Breedera to predict her next heat cycle, you must have at least two previous heat cycles recorded.
Adding a detail to a future heat cycle
Breedera also gives you the option to start adding details about a future heat cycle. To do this, you must first navigate to the female, then to her Records > Breeding > Heat Cycles. Then tap the ‘View and update’ button on her current or future heat.
From here, you’ll be able to add the actual or expected heat start date, as well as other details such as key dates, notes and mating activities.
Adding matings to heat cycles.
There are two ways to record matings in Breedera. You can either use the (+) PLUS button to quickly record any matings between any two dogs. Or, you can add matings directly from inside the heat cycle of any female.
If the date of any mating falls inside the Start and End date of any Heat Cycle, Breedera will automatically save the Mating inside that Heat for future reference. That way, you’ll always know which matings occurred during which heat cycle. Furthermore, if there’s at least one mating recorded inside any heat cycle, we’ll use that information to start predicting the future whelp date.
Recording heat cycles with Breedera is easy and stress-free. But we’re always making improvements and listening to our breeder community to improve our service. If you want any help, or wish to offer feedback, please contact us, or join our Breeder community.
