Artificial insemination in dogs

Potential benefits	Potential weakness
Reduce stress, disease spread, and travel costs	Trauma during AI
Uninterrupted sperm collection	Misusing AI
Ejaculate splitting for more females	Failure to examine breeding animals clinically
Cost savings	Some genetic abnormalities may be passed down (hip dysplasia or anatomical abnormality of the reproductive tract)
Dog sperm availability worldwide	Possible inherited illnesses or anomalies
Keep working dogs’ genes available after early castration.	Male overuse in a program or breed
AI semen evaluation	Parentage ambiguous
Male reproductive pathology detection
Semen storage allows for future genetic material.
Refusing to breed (psychological or physical causes, precocious ejaculation), inexperienced men
May bypass quarantine

Before providing canine AI services, practitioners should become experts in the field, learning all there is to know about the species’ reproductive physiology and pathology and how to collect sperm and inseminate the female without endangering the animal’s health or welfare.

Canine Semen collection and evaluation

Dog sperm collection is simple but requires training to perfect. Dogs AI requires sperm collection and examination. Every sample of semen should be analyzed (at least progressive forward motility, total sperm count, and morphology) before it is utilized for AI or cryopreservation. Semen assessment before insemination ensures male fertility and predicts AI fertility. A fertility certificate may be required for semen preservation. In such instances, the stud dog must undergo an andrological assessment (breeding soundness evaluation or BSE). Semen collection should be done before or after any stressful treatments on the stud.

Semen can be collected from most dogs without a teaser in a calm, isolated environment, although a bitch would enable better ejaculation. An estrus female or frozen-thawed swabs or gauze sponges soaked in vaginal secretions might stimulate estrus fragrance in hesitant males. 

Collection of semen should be prepared in advance, and the interval between collections or between the natural mating and collection should be registered if the male is regularly used. Intervals more significant than 10 days may cause morphological defects and reduced motility. In more extended periods, it’s best to collect semen once before shipping it chilled or frozen. Before the animal’s arrival, a semen extender should be prepared.

Available Dog Semen

Most canine semen is collected manualy in the presence of a female. Bitch presence, although helpful, is not required to collect. When collected with the bitch present, ejaculates are more concentrated.

In the past, semen was collected from dogs using an artificial vagina. Penile massage and a cone, plastic sleeve, funnel, or specific collecting vial are used to collect semen into a tube. Massage the dog’s prepuce at the bulbus glandis until a partial erection develops, then quickly withdraw and expose the penile. Right-handed collectors must collect semen from the dog’s left side, holding the penis with their right hand and the collecting cup with their left. Canine ejaculate has three fractions: prostatic fluid in the first and third, and spermatozoa in the second. The first fraction, sperm, is released in 0.5 to 1 minute and is 1-5 ml. It’s ejected at the initial stage of erection when male copulation is obvious. The second fraction, sperm-rich, is equally quickly finished (1-2 minutes), greyish-white, and 1-3 ml. It’s discharged after male thrusting stops and the erection is full. The prostate fraction maybe 30-40 ml and take 5 to 30 minutes.

Characteristics OF SEMEN	1st fraction	2nd	3rd
Volume of the semen	0.1-2 mL	0.1-3 mL and Sometimes larger volume	1-2 to “/20 mL And variable depending on the animal.
Colour of the semen	clear or opaque	greyish-white, white, milky-white	clear, transparent
Consistency of the semen	watery	watery-milky, milky	watery
Character of semen	prostate secretion with an admixture of epithelial cells, urine, bacteria, and sperm cells	sperm cells suspended in seminal plasma	prostate gland secretion
pH (average) of semen	6.37	6.10	7.20
Duration	5-90 sec. (average 13.5 sec)	5-300 sec. (average 52.4 sec.)	60 sec-20 min. (average 6 min. 55 sec.)

Assessing dog sperm

Semen evaluation is a standard aspect of pre-breeding examinations for males. Before AI or sperm preservation, semen should be evaluated. Semen must be assessed and treated correctly shortly after collection. Rapid temperature fluctuations may harm spermatozoal motility and shape and skew test findings. Any delay in semen evaluation may reduce motile sperm and increase dead sperm. Keep semen collection and examination equipment at approximately 37°C.

Canine sperm is evaluated for several reasons.

Because:

• Increased matings or semen collections may result in a temporary decrease in semen quality
• Dogs may ejaculate many dull, immotile spermatozoa of anomalous morphology after prolonged sexual rest.

The traditional method of evaluating dog sperm

There are a lot of methods for determining the quality of dog sperm, which may be divided into two categories: traditional and modern procedures. The latter generally requires more advanced techniques for assessing sperm and technical equipment, while the former may be done in-house.

The traditional methods of evaluating semen include macroscopical examination (volume and colour) and microscopical examination, which determines the concentration and quantity of viable cells in the ejaculate.

Macroscopic assessment

Volume. In the calibrated mirror tube used for semen collection, the importance of the ejaculate may be measured. It is primarily determined by the dog’s size, the prostate gland’s size, the animal’s age, the frequency with which semen is collected, the degree of eroticization, and the amount of 3rd fraction collected. In benign prostatic hyperplasia, prostatic cysts, inflammatory lesions of the prostate and testicles, inflammation of the epididymis, vas deferens, or urethra, and low libido, semen volume decreases.

Colour. The amount of the third portion of ejaculate collected, the number of spermatozoa per mL, and the presence of non-germ cells in the ejaculate all influence the colour of the overall ejaculate. When analyzing the colour, keep in mind the collection technique since colour changes depending on the fraction to be analyzed and whether the analysis is done on the entire semen or fractioned semen. The colour of the whole ejaculate is usually greyish-white. Pathological colours include green-greyish, which indicates the presence of pus in the sperm; red or pink, which shows erythrocyte contamination (e.g., urethral or corpora cavernosa haemorrhages, prostatitis); yellow, which indicates urine contamination; and brown, which means the presence of blood.

Any contamination of the sperm, such as hair or dirt, prevents the samples from being used for future operations such as artificial insemination or semen storage. It is thus critical to inspect and clean the preputial entrance area before semen collection.

If the sperm is kept in the tube for many minutes, sediment consisting of sperm cells will form at the base of the tube.

Microscopic assessment

Motility. Examining increasingly motile spermatozoa (Spz) under a contrast-phase microscope is one of the most critical steps in traditional semen testing. The ideal temperature for testing the motility of dog sperm cells is 39°C. In a pre-warmed slide, a little drop of roughly 20 L of semen is put and covered by the coverslip. The assessment is carried out using an x20 to x40 objective. If the highly concentrated sperm-rich fraction is separated, the semen should be prolonged with saline or Tris-buffer at a concentration that allows single sperm cells to be seen. The evaluation is based on the average proportion of increasingly motile spermatozoa in many distinct material areas. At least 70% of progressively motile spermatozoa are seen in normal dog sperm.

High-temperature shock, contamination with water, urine, blood, or lubricants, protracted sexual abstinence, and systemic or infectious disorders such as brucellosis may cause a reduction in the proportion of motile spermatozoa. Sperm agglutination is usually pathological, and it’s common in infectious illness instances.

Advanced dog sperm analysis

Several strategies have been developed in the last two to three decades to avoid contamination in semen evaluation, which is related to the observer’s experience and skills, specimen preparation method, staining technique, and many cells evaluated and is especially important when determining the fertility potential of preserved sperm cells. It is widely recognized that differences in traditional assessment findings of the same semen samples acquired by various observers and labs may range from 30 to 60%. Furthermore, such procedures, which are not frequently used in small to mid-sized veterinary clinics due to their high costs, enable reliable comparisons across labs worldwide and reduce the likelihood of big mistakes. Furthermore, improved semen evaluation is required anytime semen must be stored, especially for freezing. The procedures for assessing advanced sperm are summarised. In general, the findings of these approaches are more closely connected to the AI outcome than standard semen assessment results.

Canine Artificial insemination success rates

• Canine artificial insemination success rates vary depending on several factors, including the quality of the semen, the timing and site of insemination, and the method used. According to a study, the success rate of artificial insemination with frozen semen in dogs is around 67%, with a mean litter size of 6.4. Another source suggests that the success rate of AI is highest with fresh semen, ranging from 59% to 80%, followed by chilled semen with a success rate of 52% to 60%. A study reports that the pregnancy rates for artificial insemination in dogs were 62.3% and 51.1% when corrected for the stage of oestrus at the time of AI and semen quality, respectively. The success rate for clinical procedures is approximately 70-80% . The success rate for AI in dogs is achieved with fresh semen. The method used for insemination can also affect the success rate. A study found that transcervical insemination had a higher success rate than surgical insemination.

Examination with ultrasound

Although ovarian ultrasound examination is a good and accurate approach for determining ovulation in most domestic females, fat buildup in the ovarian bursa, which encloses the ovaries, may make the procedure less useful in bitches. Furthermore, several studies have shown that ultrasound images of the ovaries around ovulation are more challenging because ovarian follicles do not differ significantly in the immediate pre- and post-ovulatory periods. Not all dog follicles collapse at ovulation. Non-ovulated follicles frequently remain in the ovary. Dogs and puppies for sale in UK are best seller in the world.

As a result, evaluating follicular dynamics in dogs using ultrasonography (US) is still experimental. It requires following a highly exact methodology, the accuracy of which improves with the use of many exams. Font revealed in recent research that the US was accurate enough to identify ovulation and get equivalent quantities of ovarian structures compared to a macroscopic visual count on the surface of the ovaries following surgical excision, even if only one daily check was conducted. However, the author acknowledges that ovulation traits may be difficult to see in big breeds and overweight animals. In the US, pre-ovulatory follicles might have a variety of appearances. They often appear as spherical to slightly triangular anechoic structures that are occasionally somewhat flattened, giving the ovary a honeycomb appearance. The US pictures show varying degrees of follicular collapse during ovulation. A distinct shift in ovarian echogenicity has been seen in a significant number of bitches, giving the ovary a more homogenous appearance. After ovulation, non-ovulatory follicular structures were still visible in US pictures. Hypoechoic structures were also found in the early post-ovulation phase, up to 24 hours following US alterations of the ovaries during ovulation. These formations were remarkably similar to pre-ovulatory follicles, albeit somewhat smaller, and their echogenicity (from the border to the interior of the structure) increased with time. Go to the website to get Dogs and puppies for sale in UK.

Techniques of Insemination

During the sexual bond in dogs, a significant percentage of the ejaculate is projected into the uterus via the cervical canal during natural mating. When practising AI, keep in mind that vaginal deposition has a detrimental impact on sperm cell survival and transit in the female genital canal, making it challenging to attain normal whelping rates and litter sizes.  Deep vaginal insemination, on the other hand, produces satisfactory outcomes when utilizing fresh and, to a lesser degree, cold sperm. Intrauterine insemination is required to achieve great success rates when using frozen/thawed sperm.

Insemination via the vaginal canal

When the procedure is conducted by the breeder or in limited-budget clinics, deep vaginal insemination is probably the most often utilized method for insemination with fresh semen. A simple plastic catheter of appropriate length may be used for vaginal AI, with a plastic disposable syringe holding the semen connected. Alternatively, a commercial catheter in a flexible latex tube with an inflating balloon at the tip, such as the Osiris gun, may be used; when inflated, this kind of device benefits, increasing the likelihood of intrauterine semen transfer and reducing semen backflow.

intrauterine insemination is a method of conceiving a

Non-surgical transcervical catheterization or surgical semen deposition by laparotomy or laparoscopy are also options for intrauterine insemination. Because of animal welfare concerns, most European small animal reproductive facilities utilize transcervical intrauterine Insemination (TCI). Catheterization of the uterine cervix in the bitch, on the other hand, is a complex treatment that requires expertise and experience. To provide good outcomes of artificial insemination, poorer quality semen, such as frozen-thawed or those taken from subfertile canines, must be implanted intrauterine. Compared to the effects of intrauterine insemination, the rates of conception following intravaginal insemination using frozen-thawed semen are much lower.

Surgical procedure

Surgical insemination has been suggested once for frozen sperm or when the bitch has an anatomical impediment that prohibits the catheter or endoscope from being inserted. Anaesthesia and competent surgical skills are required for both the laparoscopic approach and the laparotomy. The semen is inserted into the uterus by a puncture of the uterine wall or a scalpel incision, followed by the passage of a tom cat catheter. Semen deposition, on the other hand, is only done once in such approaches.

There may be certain limitations to using this approach in various countries, which might jeopardize the registration of litter acquired without meeting legal criteria such as a pre-evaluation of the situation or prior authorization from the local Kennel Club. In addition, several ethical concerns have been raised about using surgical methods in dogs for AI. Surgery is an intrusive process that is unlikely to be carried out in the animal’s best interests. The risk of transmitting an undesired characteristic in a specific animal genetic line should be considered.

Importing and exporting sperm has its own set of rules and laws.

Before using canine artificial insemination, the owner and clinician should be informed of any relevant national or international semen import rules and the local Kennel Club criteria for canine AI and litter registration. Furthermore, methods may alter depending on whether native or imported sperm is used. As a result, this issue should be given careful consideration.

Conclusion

The demand for canine artificial insemination is increasing over the globe, as is the need for sperm storage in sperm banks. Furthermore, there is a growing trend toward using frozen/thawed semen AI instead of fresh semen AI as breeding tools for genetic enhancement. As long as optimal AI timing and semen deposition are employed, it is now feasible to achieve acceptable whelping rates and litter sizes regardless of semen used. Client education and technical counselling are required as part of the AI services provided by trained practitioners, especially when breeding a problematic bitch.

Artificial insemination and Natural breeding