Artificial Insemination

[Nebulosa]

Originally Posted by André

Does anyone made it successfully?
I'm wondering how breeders from secondary countries to the breed can mate with a good dog, bringing new blood to the country.
Travelling is the only option?

For people living in europe, I guess that travelling is the best way.
I know some breeders who used the IA in their females and was everything ok, they had a nice litter and so on, but what I noticed is that when the breeder turn the IA as preference the quality of the chosen stud fell.
I could see several people chosing the stud dog, not because of their bloodline or because how his blood could improve the breed in their country, but because of the fact that the owner accepted to send the semen of his dog for IA.

Just remembering here that most of the good stud dogs are not with breeders, but with mere owners who maybe, have no idea about how precious for the breed their dog could be, or who simply does not care for dog breeding, perhaps people who just does not want to have extra work by helping breeders to use their pet dog in breeding.

[André]

Originally Posted by Nebulosa

For people living in europe, I guess that travelling is the best way.
I know some breeders who used the IA in their females and was everything ok, they had a nice litter and so on, but what I noticed is that when the breeder turn the IA as preference the quality of the chosen stud fell.
I could see several people chosing the stud dog, not because of their bloodline or because how his blood could improve the breed in their country, but because of the fact that the owner accepted to send the semen of his dog for IA.

Just remembering here that most of the good stud dogs are not with breeders, but with mere owners who maybe, have no idea about how precious for the breed their dog could be, or who simply does not care for dog breeding, perhaps people who just does not want to have extra work by helping breeders to use their pet dog in breeding.

But the problem is even worse because of travelling. People mate dogs because the stud is more accessible. For example, for me a trip to Poland will be 6000km by car... with the dog! (yeah, I know, you made even more but generally speaking... no one would do it)
With IA we could choose THE RIGHT dog. Still, I don't know what it takes... is it expensive? Complicated process? Any breeder here sent semen abroad?

[Nebulosa]

Originally Posted by André

But the problem is even worse because of travelling. People mate dogs because the stud is more accessible. For example, for me a trip to Poland will be 6000km by car... with the dog! (yeah, I know, you made even more but generally speaking... no one would do it)
With IA we could choose THE RIGHT dog. Still, I don't know what it takes... is it expensive? Complicated process? Any breeder here sent semen abroad?

But that's exactly the main point, often the right stud dogs does NOT have the right owner or will not live in the right place (ie. with conditions) for IA, and I can tell you that few owners would be willing to really have a lot of work, searching for competent vets and clinics, for cool or freeze the semen only to send it for you.

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.

A breeder will probably see no problems in do it all to send semen for you, but several times good studs are not in hands of breeders, but of mere owners as pets.

[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.