Dog Fertility Tests & Sperm Analysis for breeding success
Stud dog fertility testing
To ensure we’re offering a premium stud service to our clients, our stud dogs‘ sperm counts are regularly checked by a reproduction specialist vet to ensure they are producing at least 200 million motile sperm per stud service.
Our most recent semen analysis confirmed that not only are our studs fertile but their semen quality was rated excellent with a 5/5 rating for motility (ability to swim toward eggs). Piccolo our poodle stud produced a volume of 6mL with a sperm count of 306 million and Saffron our cavoodle stud produced 10mL with a sperm count of 580 million.
Are canine fertility tests necessary and how much semen is actually required to get a dog pregnant?
A minimum of 200 million motile sperm is recommended for intra-vaginal insemination or natural mating (Johnson. C., 2008). Our stud services include up to two matings or inseminations in your bitches cycle, meaning from a fresh semen collection you’ll get anywhere from 300 million (one insemination from our toy poodle) to 600 million (two inseminations, carried out over two days) motile sperm inseminated into your female.
If using our cavoodle stud, he produces around 500 million motile sperm per fresh collection, meaning over two inseminations your female will receive around 1 million motile sperm. Stud dogs should regularly be checked to confirm they are fertile and producing a minimum of 200 million sperm for insemination.
High Pregnancy success rate
Our high pregnancy success rate is due to our diligence in ensuring our stud dogs are optimally fertile and helping our clients inseminate their bitches at the right time. The 200 million doesn’t need to be produced in one collection, it can be spread over the number of inseminations carried out.
For example, if a dog is producing 100 million sperm per fresh collection and they offer the female two matings carried out over two days, that provides 2 lots of 100 million motile sperm, equating to the minimum required amount of 200 million for a cycle.
Smaller dogs will have a lower sperm count which explains the difference observed between our studs; Piccolo our poodle stud (4.2Kg) is half the size of Saffron our cavoodle stud (8Kg) and his sperm count reflects this.
Quality of fresh semen collection
Our stud dogs reliably produce quality semen samples for insemination. Generally our boys will successfully mate with females of similar size however there are sometimes unforeseen obstacles that make natural matings impossible. Some girls can be aggressive and others might not stand for the male (even when ovulating and held), there can also be anatomical reasons that make a natural mating unlikely.
Onsite AI
When these cases arise we can offer immediate onsite artificial insemination (at no extra charge) to ensure your girl is inseminated when optimally fertile and that you don’t miss her cycle. Progesterone testing is helpful in determining when to mate your dog, timing is critical in achieving a litter of puppies.
Female dogs have a 2-3 day window of opportunity, within their 18-21 day cycle, for insemination before the number and quality of eggs starts to decline rapidly.
Planning for breeding
Being organised, booking a stud and planning for your litter of puppies in advance of your female coming in season will ensure that the breeding process runs smoothly. We also have frozen semen breeding units stored at Colyton vet, ready for immediate purchase to be shipped to your vet for TCI or surgical implantation or inseminated onsite at Colyton Vet who specialise in reproduction and offer TCI and surgical implants.
If you’re looking to offer your dog for public stud, one of the first steps in the process involves getting their semen analysed by a breeding specialist vet. We have used and can recommend the following reproduction specialists who also offer in-house progesterone testing to determine when females are ready to breed –
Stud Dog Sperm Analysis
