Benefits of Canine Frozen Semen
Long term benefits If you feel your dog has the genetic potential to improve your breed, he should have semen frozen while he is young after his health clearances are done. The semen will be available years later to be used by other breeders or by yourself in your own breeding program. You can always destroy the semen if you decide not to use it, but it is better to have it in case something unforeseen happens to him.
Convenience Once semen is frozen, it is always available for usage when a bitch comes into season. This is especially important when a lot of stud dogs are busy on the show circuit and not easily accessible for collections when needed.
International Usage Frozen semen is the most reliable form of semen when shipping overseas where it may take a bit longer to clear customs and get to its destination. Most of the shipper tanks will hold the semen frozen for up to 3 weeks, whereas chilled semen will not survive that long.
Convenience Once semen is frozen, it is always available for usage when a bitch comes into season. This is especially important when a lot of stud dogs are busy on the show circuit and not easily accessible for collections when needed.
International Usage Frozen semen is the most reliable form of semen when shipping overseas where it may take a bit longer to clear customs and get to its destination. Most of the shipper tanks will hold the semen frozen for up to 3 weeks, whereas chilled semen will not survive that long.
Collection and Freezing
Collection
Semen is collected by manual stimulation of the dog. The collector needs to obtain the second fraction of the ejaculate (the milky, sperm rich portion) stopping the collection when the third fraction starts (watery in appearance) which consists of prostatic fluid. Trade Kennels usually have a seasonal bitch available. For toy breeds we recommend bringing a teaser bitch with you. (Be sure to travel them in separate compartments – ideally car and trailer!)
It is important to consider the recent breeding history of your sire when contemplating having his semen frozen. Ideally he has had a semen collection or mating in the past 2 months. If it has been six months or more without sexual activity the initial semen sample may be of inferior quality to freeze. Sires should be at least one year old and, depending on concurrent illness may be successfully collected past ten years. However, semen from older dogs may not “recover” as well during post thaw.
Semen analysis and freezing
The semen is then examined for motility as well as morphology, which is the quality of the semen as far as percentages of normal and abnormal sperm. Good quality semen, going into the process, is a MUST if we are going to get good quality frozen semen to inseminate years later. We only use the imported extenders of the Camelot system and produce pelleted semen packaged into screw-cap vials, each vial being one insemination (breeding) unit.
Thaw evaluation test
After freezing,1 pellet is then thawed in a water bath at body temperature and the semen is then evaluated under a microscope to see what percentage of good quality semen survived the freezing process.
Semen is collected by manual stimulation of the dog. The collector needs to obtain the second fraction of the ejaculate (the milky, sperm rich portion) stopping the collection when the third fraction starts (watery in appearance) which consists of prostatic fluid. Trade Kennels usually have a seasonal bitch available. For toy breeds we recommend bringing a teaser bitch with you. (Be sure to travel them in separate compartments – ideally car and trailer!)
It is important to consider the recent breeding history of your sire when contemplating having his semen frozen. Ideally he has had a semen collection or mating in the past 2 months. If it has been six months or more without sexual activity the initial semen sample may be of inferior quality to freeze. Sires should be at least one year old and, depending on concurrent illness may be successfully collected past ten years. However, semen from older dogs may not “recover” as well during post thaw.
Semen analysis and freezing
The semen is then examined for motility as well as morphology, which is the quality of the semen as far as percentages of normal and abnormal sperm. Good quality semen, going into the process, is a MUST if we are going to get good quality frozen semen to inseminate years later. We only use the imported extenders of the Camelot system and produce pelleted semen packaged into screw-cap vials, each vial being one insemination (breeding) unit.
Thaw evaluation test
After freezing,1 pellet is then thawed in a water bath at body temperature and the semen is then evaluated under a microscope to see what percentage of good quality semen survived the freezing process.
Semen Storage
Semen is stored in large tanks containing liquid nitrogen, at -150 C. All the tanks are inspected on a daily basis to ensure there is no nitrogen loss and the semen is kept at a stable temperature.
Pelleted semen is stored in a small screw cap bottle called a vial (cryovial) with ID information about each donor and the date it has been frozen. Each vial contains enough semen for one insemination. Occasionally, there might be a necessity to use two vials, if the collection was performed at later stages in life of a sire and the post thaw motility is under the optimal range. The vials are clipped onto aluminum canes, identified by numbers. The tanks are topped up with liquid nitrogen as required.
There is no time limit on storage of the frozen semen as long as the conditions are maintained stable throughout the period, whether it is one day or 50 years. Insurance can be purchased for additional fee to the owner of the semen. (Insurance provider is FBD Insurance -talk to us, if you are interested.)
Pelleted semen is stored in a small screw cap bottle called a vial (cryovial) with ID information about each donor and the date it has been frozen. Each vial contains enough semen for one insemination. Occasionally, there might be a necessity to use two vials, if the collection was performed at later stages in life of a sire and the post thaw motility is under the optimal range. The vials are clipped onto aluminum canes, identified by numbers. The tanks are topped up with liquid nitrogen as required.
There is no time limit on storage of the frozen semen as long as the conditions are maintained stable throughout the period, whether it is one day or 50 years. Insurance can be purchased for additional fee to the owner of the semen. (Insurance provider is FBD Insurance -talk to us, if you are interested.)