Preparation of the Male for AI

We simply can not overlook conditioning and proper nutrition of your stud dog.  Semen produciton is as natural as breathing, but we are looking to optomize the fertility of your male.  There simply is no substitute for proper nutrition.  A healthy diet rich in Vitamin D and Vitamin E are essential.

We have also learned that while sperm counts drop as the stud gets older, there is no real statistical disadvantage to breeding to an older dog.  Remember, it is the frequency of ejaculation that has the greatest bearing on semen quality.  Breeding the dog too frequenlty will certainly drive down sperm counts.  Just the opposite is true as well...not breeding the dog often drives down the sperm counts in any given sample....

Aside from proper nutrition and care, there really is not a whole lot to preparation of the stud dog.

Believe it or not, you can train your dog to make him more receptive to collection.  Let's face it, semen collection is not a natural way of doing things in the dog world, and most stud dogs get a little "confused" by you trying to collect the semen.  They soon learn that no harm will come to them, and they seem to adapt to handling of the penis after a few attempts.  Don't be afraid to touch your dog from time to time.

We will talk about collection next.