Oh my, never imagined this subject would come up on here so I could tell my story!! When our poodle was younger, I had someone approach me for stud service. He was a red toy poodle which is not very common in our area and they had a red female. Being ignorant about the whole breeding process, I talked in great lengths to a co-worker that knew it all and got lots of tips. Well, the female came to our house and stayed for a WEEK (that was rough!) because the owners had a vacation planned already. On the day I was told to put them together (kept them separate the rest of the time), I thought I was all prepared. Turned out though that Dax (mine) was a couple inches shorter than Penny (the girl) so I had to "help". I used a couple big fat phonebooks to stack behind her so he could reach and then after the tie, I helped him down and had to help him lift his leg around and over her (Wow, didn't realize before I got into this situation that they even DID that part - but I was coached on this). Then I had to keep them both calm and laid down until the tie was over. Being the first time for both of them, I knew it was crucial to keep them calm so nobody got hurt. It was incredible. This whole time my husband was out in the garage chatting with a friend and when I went out there with this awed look on my face, he could barely believe what I told him I just did! Had to do this one more time that week - second time was a lot easier on all of us. The outcome was 4 gorgeous red poodle pups - and boy was I a proud "grandma"!
So for those that think that it's just put them in a room together and let nature takes it's course..... doesn't always turn out that way!
Oh, and I have to add..... knowing what I know now about how (most) males change after breeding, I would never do that again with a male indoor pet. The marking problems we had - ugh! I know a lot more on that subject now and definitely don't recommend it if you want a non-marking indoor male. Just my opinion!