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Leroy Perry Leroy Perry Today we have more options and methods of breeding our good female than ever before. We also have more good stud dogs to choose from and a choice of whether we want to breed natural to a stud dog in driving range or 500 miles away. We could ship our bitch by air to the stud dog owner at the first signs of her heat cycle, have her bred a couple of times and shipped back. Of the choices we have, this one is on the bottom of my list. Here are some of my reasons: all the noise and commotion at the airport, she is going to be with strangers, and shipping costs are very expensive. The most simple and most often form of A-I is when the stud dog is collected and the female is inseminated immediately after the semen is collected. We use this method for so many reasons. The stud dog may not be able to mount the bitch. Some bitches, although in full estrous will not stand or let the stud dog mount her. While other bitch owners want to make sure the semen is of good quality. I recommend the bitch be inseminated at least twice. If she is unwilling to let the stud dog mount her, a progesterone test should be performed. Our next option is fresh chilled semen. This is where the stud dog is collected and the semen is extended with an egg yoke buffer. Once the semen has been extended, it is cooled down, put in a cold pack kit and shipped overnight express. Once the semen is collected and extended, it should be checked under a microscope for motility. The motility should be 70% or greater. This method requires a great deal of coordination between the stud dog owner and whoever is going to inseminate the bitch. Progesterone testing is a must for this type of breeding procedure to be successful. Vaginal cytology can be used in conjunction with the progesterone test. This is where a vaginal smear is obtained by moistening a sterile cotton swab with sterile saline, inserting it into the anterior vagina then rolling the swab onto a microscopic slide and reading the results. Most veterinarians can use this method quite well. We must be able to determine when the bitch ovulates. Once ovulation occurs, the bitch should be bred from 48 to 60 hours later. Some veterinarians suggest two separate shipments of fresh chilled semen to be used two or three days apart. This adds to the expense of the breeding. We have about an 80% compaction rate with one shipment of chilled semen if all the guidelines are followed. Vaginal insemination is the most common method used with chilled semen. Estrus lasts approximately nine days with a range of three to eighteen days It is suggested that the total time of proestrus and estrus should not exceed 21 days. Our next option is frozen semen. If the stud dog is sterile or dead and we wish to breed him, then this is the only option. Again progesterone test is a blood test where we measure the level of progesterone in the blood. The progesterone test kit is a color comparison test where you have a constant to compare with. Once the bitch ovulates we often send blood out to a hospital to get an actual number reading. When the progesterone level reaches 4 or 5 mg/ml, we inseminate. A surgical insemtination is the only method we recommend. This is a rather simple operation where the semen is deposited directly into the horns of the uterus. The surgery is very similar to that used to spay a bitch. The bitch should be at least 2 1/2 years of age if the surgical method is used. Fresh sperm, if the male is normal and has good semen will live in the bitch from four to six days, chilled semen 50 to 72 hours, frozen semen up to 30 hours. This is the reason timing is so important especially when using frozen semen. We use two to four units or straws of frozen semen. We feel we need 150 to 200 million sperm cells per breeding. Our next big challenge is to be able to collect and freeze embryos in the canine. A great deal of research will need to be done before this becomes reality. Cattlemen have been collecting and freezing embryos for years now. This is where eggs are fertilized in the cow. Once fertilized the eggs are called embryos and are flushed from the cow and frozen for future use in a surrogate mother. As most of us know research is very expensive and there are no guarantees. The cattlemen formed co-ops and raised funds for research. This is one reason they are so far advanced compared to the dog people. Houndsmen have had adverse experiences in the past due to fraudulent businessmen and are very apprehensive to contribute to this study. However breeders that are willing to contribute to research on embryos have asked me to try and raise the funds necessary. I would like to see the research get off the ground, but so far I have been reluctant to go forward on their proposition for fear of the repercussions that have ensued others. |
