There have been many people that call and ask about using frozen semen. It’s a tedious process. That being said, the benefits of that initial expense can be huge. There are a few things to consider and I will detail that advice in the following paragraphs. Here are a few rules:
- Unless the dog is an inside the house dog, take sample to freeze in the winter time, as the semen quality will be twice as good. It cost the same to pull and freeze two straws as it does to freeze and pull 40.
- I strongly recommend Tom Garners “Sperm Up” supplement. It is based on his RF1 formula with added tribulus for fertility. If you can’t afford that, put him on a multivitamin along with a bit of probiotics in his daily feed for a month before you plan on collecting the semen to freeze. It makes a difference.
- A month before you collect from him, walk him around the neighborhood for at least 30 minutes a night or morning daily. The dog will mark his territory for females in the area to smell him. This walking and marking of territory signals the brain to signal the testicles to start producing semen for a potential mate.
- Nothing else matters but post thaw motility. They collect the dog then look at it under a microscope to determine if it’s good enough to freeze. You want motility of 85% or above. It does no good to freeze from a dog with lower motility. If it is good, they freeze it and then thaw out one of the straws or pellets to see how much semen survived the freezing process. You want that number to be above 50%. If it’s in the high 80’s, only one or two straws are necessary. If 70’s maybe three, 60’s maybe four, below 60 up to five straws. You need 100 million motile sperm for a good litter. For example:
“The number of straws required per insemination is determined by thawing a straw and rating its post thaw motility. For a frozen semen breeding you want to have a minimum of 100 million motile sperm per insemination. Each straw holds 50 million sperm but not all of them will survive the freezing process, hence the evaluation of “post thaw motility”. The higher the percent post thaw motility the fewer straws are required. For example; if a sample is rated at a 70% post thaw motility, of the 50 million sperm in the straw 35 million will have survived the freezing process, so in order to get at least 100 million motile sperm you would need to use 3 straws (3 X 35 million = 105 million motile sperm).” - Don’t get ripped off when buying semen, ASK FOR POST THAW MOTILITY % and what the vet recommended given that motility to get a big litter.
- Use a young bitch. Young, well fed, healthy bitches with frozen semen give you much better litters given that the quality of the eggs is much better.
- Start progesterone timing at day 10 or 11 from the first signs of a heat cycle. Most vets will want to do a surgical insemination two days after the bitch ovulated.
- Bitches ovulate when progesterone is between 5 and 8.
- I breed my dogs two days after ovulation, even when I breed naturally. I like to do progesterone timing so I don’t have to guess when the bitch is due. Bitches have puppies 63 +/- one day from ovulation. It’s also good to know because if you get to 65 days after ovulation with no pups, you know to take the bitch to the vet for a C-Section that morning.
- Lastly, FREEZE YOUR PRIZED MALES EARLY! The semen quality is much better before seven years old.
Good luck
Alberto Ramirez
THE ROLE OF A REGISTRATION OFFICE
With the advances in scientific knowledge and the technology to provide verification of parentage, registries are now being held to a higher standard. It used to be that the owner of the bitch and the stud were the only two individuals supervising a breeding, but with the use of frozen and fresh chilled semen, the number of individuals handling the breeding has multiplied, i.e. one to collect, a technician or two to process the semen and freeze, one to retrieve and reactivate, and one to inseminate. The more individuals involved in this complex process the more room for mistakes to be made. A Registration Office would be negligent if additional verification was not required in the registration of litters or individuals using FROZEN SEMEN and FRESH CHILLED SEMEN.
A policy on the registration of litters produced using FROZEN SEMEN has been in place since the early 1990’s. This policy includes a DNA profile to be submitted to the registration office on the stud dog, recording of each collection and freezing of semen, and attachment of ADBA form AIFS to the litter registration application with the verifying signatures of the owner of the semen and the veterinarian doing the insemination.
The ADBA Inc. has DNA profiling services, so you can visit our website or call our office to order Collection Kits. Dog must be ADBA registered prior to being profiled. The fee for these kits are $6.00 for the cheek swab or for a Blood FTA card, per dog being profiled.
Forms for use of frozen semen can also be printed off our website at ADBADOG.COM.
The 1, 2, 3’s Of Registering
Semen With The ADBA
1. At the time of collection the Semen collection Form (SCF) is sent in to the ADBA office. The fee to have it recorded is $15.00. A detailed receipt will be sent. A DNA profile on the dog will need to be on file. The DNA is $56.00 which includes the kit.
2. When the semen is used, the vet performing the insemination will fill out and sign the AIFS form. This form is attached and sent in with the ADBA litter application form at the time of registration. The fee of $23.00 is due in addition to the litter fee.
3. If the dogs produced are to be single dog registered, the breeder will need to file an AIFS form with the ADBA for the breeding with the fee of $23.00. ADBA will record and keep this on file. The single application forms from this frozen semen breeding will then be accepted.
4. The transfer of semen form (TRFS) is used to sell frozen semen. This document will be recorded by the ADBA. The fee is $15.00. A detailed receipt will be sent.
Storage Facilities
For a complete list of frozen semen storage facilities visit: http://www.huntingbassets.com/articles/storage.pdf
Storage Facilities ADBA customers have used:
Animal Clinic Northview Inc. – N. Ridgeville, OH – 440-327-8282
Brittmore Animal Hospital Inc. – Houston, TX – 713-468-8995
Once Frozen Canine Breeders Service – Oklahoma City, OK – 405-682-2849
Zoetis – Kansas City, MO – (800) 228-4305/ 816-464-3500 (To ship frozen semen overseas, you need to go through this company.)
Q and A’s
Hello ADBA,
I have a question on the frozen semen collection. I want to have a stud dog collected. He is an ADBA Working Pit Bulldog. The stud owner would be going with me to the vet office.
Q: What form do I need? I will be the owner of the semen being stored.
A: The semen collection and freezing form (SCF) is the form that the owner will need to have filled out and recorded with the ADBA. The recording fee is $15.00. The dog will need to be DNA profiled.
Q: What is the transfer of ownership?
A: A transfer of ownership of frozen semen (TRSF) form will need to be filled and signed by the owner of the semen, giving the new owner the rights to a specific number of breeding straws. This will need to be recorded with ADBA by the new owner. The fee for recording is $15.00.
Q: What will the situation be on the frozen semen if the dog is sold? To register offspring, do I need original stud owner’s signature, or the new stud owner’s signature if he sells said stud dog?
A: To use the semen you will need to have the vet fill out the (AIFS) form when the female is being inseminated. You will attach this form to the back of the litter application form when you register the litter. This form is $23.00 in addition to the litter fee. You will not need a service agreement as the semen is under your ownership.
Q: The same stud owner that I have an upcoming litter with also plans to sell the stud soon. Can he sell the stud before my litter is born? I know I’ll need his signature as the owner of the stud on the litter being born next month.
A: The stud certificate for your litter produced by natural breeding would need to be signed by the owner of the stud dog, at the time of breeding. If he sells the dog before your pups are whelped, he needs to make sure he lists the date of sale when he signs the paperwork over to the new owner. The date of sale will be after the breeding date so your stud service agreement will be accepted.
Hello ADBA,
Q: I have semen that has been frozen. The dog has not been transferred into my name and he is now deceased. I did not know about the frozen semen policy. What do I have to do now in order to get the semen recognized by the ADBA so I can use it?
A: You need to have the dog transferred into your ownership. Make sure the date of sale is accurate and filled out. You need to have owned the dog at the time of collection.
Send in a record of where the semen has been stored and the quantity of semen stored. You will need to have a DNA profile done on the dog. Since the dog is deceased, to obtain a DNA profile, a straw will need to be thawed and sent to the lab to obtain the DNA profile. If you do not want to waste a straw, you can have the vet save 2 drops at the time you are inseminating a female.
Instruction For Shipping Frozen Semen Samples
• Place a minimum of 50 ul (2-3 drops) of semen in a 1.5-ml Eppendorf tube.
• Close cap tightly to prevent accidental spillage or cross contamination during shipment. It is recommended to use Para film to wrap the lid/cap for additional support.
• The semen samples in tubes may be shipped at room temperature for overnight delivery. It is not necessary to send the samples on dry ice or wet ice.
Your Vet will send the semen sample with submission form, which can be obtained from a DNA kit that you get from the ADBA.
Send To:
NEOGEN/ GENESEEK
4131 N. 48TH STREET Lincoln, NE 68504
(402-435-0665)
Once you have the sample sent, contact Adam at adam@adba.cc and email over the submission form with the fee of $65.00. Then GENESEEK sends the results to the ADBA. It takes 4 to 6 weeks. ADBA will then record the DNA, and send you a DNA certificate. Your frozen semen breeding will then be recognized.
