Artificial Insemination Guide for Dogs

Artificial insemination allows dog breeders to breed and produce quality offspring without ever leaving their hometown. Overnight shipping and long-term freezing options for semen allow a dog in another area of the country or the world to impregnate a female. Semen can also be stored long after an award-winning stud's death, so his line carries on far into the future.

  1. Male Dog Arousal

    • The male dog must be excited to collect semen. In order to illicit the male's arousal, a female dog in estrus is placed near the male. If no female dog is available that is currently in heat, breeders often keep a special supply of cotton swabs on hand. At an earlier time, the swabs were swiped across the vaginal area of a female dog in season and stored in a refrigerator. The cotton swabs will be wiped across the female dog's private region so the male is tricked into thinking that she is in season when he catches the smell.

    Semen Collection

    • The male will attempt to mount the female dog. Before the male can insert his penis into her vagina, a veterinarian or trained individual will grasp the penis and place it into a semen collection receptacle. The male dog will be unaware that he is not inside the female. He will continue to completion, depositing his semen into the artificial vagina. The receptacle is than removed from the dog's penis and the dog's semen is examined under a microscope to determine viability.

    Insemination Process

    • Insemination can take place immediately after semen retrieval by placing a long plastic catheter into the female dog's vagina. Ideally, the semen should be placed as close to the female dog's cervix as possible to improve the odds of fertilization. The female dog must be in estrus for fertilization to occur. The semen can also be placed directly into the female dog's uterus by a veterinarian using a very thin catheter to pass through the cervical opening.

    Storing and Freezing Semen

    • Semen must be promptly refrigerated to ensure viability. It can safely be chilled for 24 hours with no damage to the sperm's viability, according to the Doctors Foster and Smith Pet Education website. If the female dog is not going to be inseminated within 24 hours of the semen collection, then the semen must be frozen for future use. Liquid nitrogen is used to adequately freeze the semen and retain the sperm's viability for future use.

    Success Rate

    • The best success rate is achieved with fresh semen. When the female dog is promptly inseminated, the success rate ranges from 60 to 100 percent, according to Pet Place. The success rate for chilled semen drops to 59 to 80 percent. Frozen semen placed in the vagina beside the cervix holds a low success rate of only 52 to 60 percent. If the frozen semen is placed into the actual uterus of the dog using a catheter that is inserted past the cervix, then the success rate holds at up to 80 percent.