Worldwide dairy herd fertility has been stated to decline drastically during the latest decades leading to significantly increased calving intervals. The principal likely component of an increased calving interval is the prolongation of the interval parturition-insemination. The latter might be caused by problems related to the modern high yielding dairy cow herself (postpartum endocrinopathies leading to ovarian disturbances), or may reflect serious shortcomings in the management (inadequate heat detection). While bovine practitioners are frequently faced with this problem nowadays, they should be fully aware of the underlying causes of this problem in order to be able to help their clients to attain economically optimal calving intervals. As modern herd health control programs mainly focus on the adjustment of management practices on the herd instead of advising a widespread use of drugs, practitioners should be fully aware of the management practices which influence overall fertility and resumption of ovarian activity in peculiar. The present article reviews the current state of knowledge about the postpartum anoestrus problem in high yielding dairy cows, and hence may serve as a practical guide for the practitioners who want to advice their clients on how to tackle this major fertility problem.