Litter Planner
Video walkthrough: Watch on Loom (link coming soon)
The Litter Planner is a visual timeline that shows the heat cycle and reproductive status of every active breeding female in your program — all on one screen. It helps you plan breedings, anticipate upcoming heats, and see at a glance who’s active, pregnant, or due next.
What You Can Do Here
- See every active breeding female’s heat cycle history on a single timeline
- Spot who is currently in heat and who is pregnant
- Forecast upcoming heat cycles 3 or 4 cycles out
- Filter your view to all females, only those in heat, or only those who are pregnant
- Zoom in or out between a 3-month, 6-month, or 12-month view
- Export the timeline as a PDF
How It Works
- Go to Litter Planner in the left menu (under Tools & Analytics). You’ll see a Breeding Females timeline with one row per girl.
- Read the bars: blue bars are heat cycles (current or projected), and pink bars are pregnancies. Hover over any bar to see the dog’s name and dates.
- Use the filter buttons above the timeline to narrow the view: All Females, In Heat, or Pregnant. Each shows a count.
- Under Zoom Level, pick 12 mo, 6 mo, or 3 mo to change how much time fits on screen.
- Under Forecast, pick 3 cycles or 4 cycles to show projected future heats, or Off to hide them. Projected heats appear slightly faded, so you can tell them apart from cycles you’ve recorded.
- To save or print the plan, click Export PDF in the top right. The PDF follows the filter and forecast you have selected.
Where the Timeline Gets Its Information
- Heat cycles come from each female’s Heat Cycles tab on her profile. See Heat Cycles & Breeding Records.
- Pregnancies come from her litters. As soon as a litter with her as the dam has a Date Bred, a pregnancy bar appears, running to the litter’s Date of Birth (or to the estimated due date if puppies aren’t born yet).
- Forecasts are projected from her own past cycles, the same way your calendar projects estimated heat cycles, so the two always match.
Key Terms
Tips & Common Questions
Why isn't a female showing up on the timeline?
Why isn't a female showing up on the timeline?
Only dogs with Sex set to Female and Type set to Active Breeding Dog appear, and females with Fertility set to Spayed / Neutered are left out. To fix it, open her profile, click Edit Details, check those three fields, and save. She also needs at least one heat cycle (or a litter with a Date Bred) on record before there’s anything to draw.
How does the forecast work?
How does the forecast work?
BreederBuddy uses the dog’s past cycle history to project when future heats are likely. The more heat cycles you’ve logged, the more accurate the forecast.
How do I show a female as pregnant on the planner?
How do I show a female as pregnant on the planner?
Create a litter with her as the Dam and fill in the Date Bred. The pregnancy bar appears automatically, and it ends on the litter’s Date of Birth once you enter it.
Can I use this for planning specific matings?
Can I use this for planning specific matings?
Yes — the timeline helps you see which females are likely to be in heat at the same time so you can plan around sire availability or co-own arrangements.