FAQs

Why should I freeze semen on my dog?

Frozen semen provides many advantages for a breeding program. Frozen semen is used to preserve genetics on very valuable stud dogs for future use, after they are deceased. For some, frozen semen is a way to make a stud dog available who may be in competition and unavailable for use, though still intact or live. International semen use is often another reason some dogs are frozen, as the customs process can delay the proper use and timing of fresh chilled semen.

What age should I freeze semen for my dog?

Young, healthy stud dogs are the best candidates for freezing. The older your dog gets, often the less optimal his semen sample, and the less fruitful of a collection for you as an owner. Though economics are not always important, more total sperm counts and higher quality will generally yield a higher number of breedings as a result of one collection.

Someone wants to breed to my dog in a foreign country, and they need frozen semen. What do I need to do to prepare him to do this?

Shipment of frozen semen is often complicated, and each country has their own requirements. If you have already frozen semen on the dog for use, it must still meet the requirements they demand. This can be complicated, as some semen samples are from dogs who can no longer be collected again, but the country’s requirements will still stand.

It is recommended to let us know in advance regarding the country of destination, to allow us to investigate the current requirements for entry. These requirements may include things like exams on the day of freeze, blood tests or titers, vaccination status statements, and microchip declaration. Semen movement to some countries requires months of time-sensitive preparation.

How long does frozen semen last?

If properly cared for in liquid nitrogen, frozen semen can last beyond our lifetimes. It has been suggested in other species based on research that it may be viable for thousands of years. There is a rare stud dog who doesn’t maintain his motility over time in nitrogen, but it is not a common finding. Semen frozen from the start of the initiative (1970s) to freeze canine frozen semen is still being used successfully at this time.

When is frozen semen supposed to be used in a bitch’s for best success?

Most success is seen at 3 or 4 days post ovulation, sometimes 5 days post ovulation if vaginal folding suggests. Your veterinarian will be the best guide to advise you on your individual bitch’s cycle and trends, as well as their physical appearance on endoscopy (if TCI is used). It is important to use an experienced veterinarian for frozen semen breeding to have the best outcome. The handling of the semen as well as the timing of the insemination require more experience than typical fresh breeding and vaginal insemination work.

A local bitch is going to use my semen, in Oklahoma or Texas. What are my options for shipment?

Hand delivery is available for movement of semen to Oklahoma and North Texas, and will be the most cost effective option. When possible, we can move semen ahead of your bitch’s cycle for your use, to the clinic of your choice. Please contact us to help set up for these arrangements.

I need to ship semen to a clinic in another state. How do I get the process started?

Please call our office to set up frozen semen shipment. At least 1 week notice is required to organize the shipment for its destination.

I have semen at another facility - I’d like to have all semen in one location. What are my options?

Most semen facilities (including GCR) charge by the animal, vs by the collection for storage fees. From this perspective, it is a good idea to move all semen to one location for economic reasons. For some clients and for some dogs, the value of the animal warrants the fees associated with more than one facility, for “safety” in case of a natural disaster, for example.

What’s better, pellets or straws?

Pellets and straws are both acceptable techniques for preserving canine frozen semen. Our facility uses straws for a number of reasons, but mostly consistency of sample. Spherical pellets can vary significantly in size and sometimes shape, within a collection. If using number of pellets to determine total number of sperm in the sample, it can pose a challenge to package semen properly for use. Straws are consistent in the volume the hold, and are more common industry- wide for practitioners to use. They also require no additional equipment or precautions aside from a warm water bath during use.

Other repro service FAQs:

What are the options for semen use for a breeding I have upcoming?

Fresh semen (natural breeding or via artificial insemination), fresh chilled semen, and frozen semen are the types of semen available for use in dogs. Fresh semen is a nice option for local dogs, or if you are traveling to your stud dog. Chilled semen allows for overnight shipment of fresh chilled semen packaged with special extenders in a refrigerated temperature. Chilled semen is a great option if geographic distance results in a dog being unavailable. Frozen semen has the advantage of always being available and easy to arrange, however, it requires the most expense to both obtain and ship. It also requires skilled individuals and veterinarians to accomplish a successful breeding.

In most cases, fresh semen carries best conception rates, followed by chilled semen, followed by frozen. This difference in conception rates has to do with the tax on the semen from some processing, which some dogs can be more sensitive to.

What is included in a semen evaluation?

Every semen evaluation through our facility will include a semen count, motility, and morphology. All three features are critical for understanding your dog’s fertility, and the likelihood for his success in a fresh or frozen breeding. Motility is the movement of the cells across the slide, while morphology assesses the shapes of the head, midpiece, and tail to confirm there are no significant defects affecting fertilization and conception. For infertility workups, other assessments of the sample might be recommended, but for most dogs, these three parameters will give you information you need for breeding use.

Every frozen semen sample will have multiple assessments of motility throughout the processing, to determine how the semen sample fared during the freezing process. These will all be provided in a report to you, as well as kept with his permanent record at GCR.

What is brucella testing?

Brucella testing is a blood test for a contagious sexually transmitted disease of dogs. It is standard to test breeding females prior to each heat cycle if being bred, as well as males every 3-6 months if being actively used naturally. For our stud dogs, we require a negative brucella test every 6 months for freezing.

Brucellosis is a serious disease that is a permanent infection, and can cause illness in people. Although we think of it as an “STD”, it can also be transmitted in urine, secretions, and other fluids.

All of our teaser bitches are used with minimal contact to stud dogs to minimize concerns for disease transmission, and keep your stud dogs as safe as possible. If allowed contact, we require current brucella negative testing. Any bitches we provide at GCR have had a negative test as well, before use as a teaser.

How often does my dog need a brucella test?

For most stud dogs, testing every 6 months is sufficient while being used naturally, collected, or frozen. Some breeders will opt to test more frequently to show documentation of negative status before natural cover.

For our purposes, a negative test is only required for a freeze candidate, though encouraged for other males receiving semen evaluation only.

My dog has had some DNA testing through a lab. Is it possible for this to count as the “AKC DNA” needed to use my semen?

DNA testing through AKC must be performed separately, even if your dog has had other DNA collected for a private or university lab. It is important to complete this when freezing your stud dog, as it is required for ultimate registration of your litter. See the Resources page for a direct link to order an AKC DNA Kit for your dog.