I scheduled US for Ivy on Feb 13 with reproduction vet. We will know if she's got any puppies then.

Since it's unclear what are the chances Ivy will get pregnant (clearly not the same as with natural breeding) I will hold off with the deposits until we know if there are any pups (February 11).

This is frustrating and disappointing for everyone. We were planning this for 2 years

I was asked if we will breed in case this one doesn't work. Not in the summer, as we do not want to lose the hunting season. Perhaps next winter.

Unfortunately, the dogs didn't do it. We put them together twice every day for 3 days, but no go. We artificially inseminated Ivy today with fresh semen (vet did). She did vaginal cytology at the same time and said she's almost done with the heat. So we can only hope now she gets pregnant. We have to wait about one month to see if she's pregnant.

Ivy's progesterone from 9 am today is 15.3 nmol/L (4.8 ng/ml). That means she ovulates today. We wanted to wait for the ovulation to take place at home, because it can be delayed by stress/travel. We plan to travel to Iowa (1300 km) tomorrow and breed over the next couple days.
BTW, we can now figure out the whelp date of the litter (cross your fingers, so the breeding 'takes'). 63 days from the ovulation date - March 13 should be the whelp date.

Yesterday's (it was Day 8) blood work came back - Progesterone 8.27 nmol/L (2.6 ng/ml). We will do another test tomorrow (Day 10), put a rush on it to have the results the same day. Hopefully that will be the last test we need to do.

False alarm.  I am back from the vet now. It's been driving me crazy all weekend -  all the signs except the progesterone were showing Ivy's not ready.
Yesterday someone sent me more info on progesterone testing -apparently it can be measured in 2 different units. Turns out that's what happened.
Ivy's progesterone was 3.5 in nmol/L (1.1 ng/ml - the commonly used units).
Brucellosis is negative.
We took more blood today and I will know the results tomorrow morning.
I figure I will have few more days here before I travel.
I am mad at the vet, but what can I do...

Well, here's the first post in this blog. As you know by now (unless this is your first time here), Ivy started the heat Dec 31. Her progesterone was tested Jan 4 and came at 3.5 which (if accurate) means she ovulates Jan 5 or 6. The eggs need 48 hours to mature and become ready for fertilization. If not fertilized within 3-4 days they die (if that's a correct word here...) So we have a short window for the breeding.
Blood serum progesterone will be repeated Monday, Jan 7 and if it's above 5 ng/ml we will travel to Iowa on Tuesday for the breeding.