Artificial Insemination

[Vaiva]

Originally Posted by Nebulosa

In some countries is not easy to find a vet able to work with semen properly and you must take this in consideration, if the vet does not make a good work preparing the semen for you, you will expend a lot of money and lose a heat of your female for nothing.

Well, for example, our vet, who makes AI, also recomends vets in other countries and contacts them himself to make everything as "smooth" as possible. So, everything stands on stud's owner...
I know in Lithuania the procedure and sending sperm from EU countries might cost about 300 euros. Guess it might be even cheaper in other countries.
It is just very important for semen not to be x-rayed on the border But they have special stickers

[André]

What I'm more curious about is: any breeder did it successfully?
All these litters I see between dogs in different (sometimes distant) countries are made live?
Usually the male go to the female house?

[GalomyOak]

I think we will be attempting AI at some point in the next couple of years. I insist that both dogs have successfully produced a litter each with natural covering before I would consider AI. The biggest problem for me is the timing of the heats of my females - I am a teacher, so by contract cannot break my cotract to travel - usually in early autumn, when our heats come. The whole process makes me very nervous!

[yukidomari]

If I was a breeder (which I am not), I don't think I would accept using AI unless I have also seen the dog I want to use in real life before.

I think photos are a poor way to judge a dog.

[mijke]

Hmmmm… Nebulosa and Yukidomary have a point… but also the others! I noticed several times (for other breeds) sometimes the male owners were not able to do all the right things at the end …. Or when I did meet the male he was total different in exterior and behaviour what I did expect from photo’s…
But … I agree with GalomyOak that in future (because of spreading the gene pole) we also have to deal with AI. But only when both dogs did succesfuly produce a litter before!

For my CsW I did drive hundreds of miles for a covering. But for other breeds I did have successful coverings with AI (see for example more info: http://www.cloneusa.com/aboutus.html , http://innovativecaninereproduction.com/ or http://ukclone.co.uk/ )
But worldwide in all kind of breeds, breed clubs, kennel clubs a.s.o. it is not “well done” to speak about AI or sometimes even not allowed to do this…

But I know it is successfully done (even in CsW breed), but I never don’t want to blame or harm any breeder by mentioning any names!