When thinking about semen and how to breed our dogs we have three options; fresh, chilled, and frozen. They each have their place and offer benefits to a well rounded breeding program.
Fresh semen is just that, it’s fresh, straight from the source with nothing mixed into it. It gives the highest conception rates with a high margin for error due to the long survival time in the female's reproductive tract. It also comes at the lowest cost when compared to chilled and frozen. Fresh is perfect, but, there is a down side as with anything. Fresh semen can not be stored and used later; whether hours later or decades later.
Frozen semen is semen that has been collected manually, spun down to become very concentrated, mixed with extenders, and frozen using liquid nitrogen into “straws” or “pellets”. Once the semen has undergone this process a small portion is thawed to be evaluated so we can determine how many “units” were attained during the collection. These units are what we use for breeding in the future. Once thawed the semen has a much shorter life expectancy (12-24 hours) in the female's reproductive tract which brings some challenges. Due to this shorter life it is ideal to manually place the semen as close to the eggs as possible; this is done via a TCI (transcervical insemination) or a SI (surgical insemination). Timing is also very specific due to this shorter lifespan; thus we typically inseminate around 3-4 days post ovulation when the eggs are mature and ready to be fertilized. Due to the very delicate nature and high cost involved with freezing semen this is typically only done within veterinary practices and success rates are between 50-60%. The largest benefit to using frozen semen is that we can breed two dogs living in completely different parts of the globe, even in different times. Frozen semen can be stored for decades allowing us to collect and store a dog for many years before using him for breeding, even long after he has passed away. Additionally this frozen semen can be shipped globally so one can use a male living in a different country or continent without having to fly their female.
Chilled semen is somewhere in the middle between fresh and frozen. It is fresh semen which has had some extenders mixed into it and cooled (not frozen) putting the sperm at "rest" so they can be woken up again in a few days. It offers a longer survival rate and higher conception rate than that of frozen semen but less than fresh. Cost is moderate as is the margin for error. Due to the storage capability of ~7-10 days one can look to breed to a male who is a far distance (Canada to the USA or vice versa), but not too far (other continents) as shipping times tend to be too long.
How to choose?
This is dependent on many things; veterinary availability, your budget, your skillset, is the stud alive or passed, do you want to potentially use the stud again after he has passed, are you willing to drive or fly to the stud when your female cycles, and more.
My rule of thumb is to always freeze your stud when he is young because you never know what may happen tomorrow. Also, if you can use fresh, do it. If you can't use fresh, use chilled, and if you can't use chilled use frozen. This will give you the greatest success rates.
At the breeders cupboard we can help with many aspects of breeding with fresh, chilled, and frozen semen. We offer progesterone machines, HERE
, and microscopes, HERE,
to help determine when ovulation occurred. We also have a variety of supplies for your vaginal AI needs, HERE, and shipping supplies, HERE.
Here at TBC we are always happy to talk with you about your breeding program and your needs. Feel free to reach out to us directly to discuss your needs and how we can help assist you.
Written by Susan H, RVT