Inseminations

CLONE INSEMINATIONS

FROZEN SEMEN INSEMINATION

This beautiful litter of 11 Leonbergers is one of many large litters of puppies produced by CLONE. It was produced with one TRANS-CERVICAL insemination with the Norwegian Catheter using two 0.50ml straws. Each straw contained 75 million frozen sperm. The semen was frozen by Dr. George Govette of CLONE INC. while he was in England. The frozen semen was then shipped to the United States and inseminated by Dr. Govette.

One of the largest CLONE litters has been 17 Foxhounds and as usual was inseminated once using the TRANS-CERVICAL Technique with the Norwegian Catheter.

Clone’s success is documented by the fact that their conception rate was 79 % before the use of the Trans-cervical Insemination technique and is now 87% all breeds with frozen semen inseminated using the Norwegian Catheter (Trans-cervical Insemination).

When using Frozen Semen the first thing to know is that it should be inseminated directly into the uterus for the best success. This calls for special training. CLONE uses the Trans-cervical inseminations which is by far the best method, but a difficult method to master. Fiber Optical Insemination is also used in certain places but demands an expensive investment in equipment. Surgical Insemination is used where there is no skill of Trans-cervical Insemination and no Fiber Optics available and can be very stressful for the bitch.

CHILLED SEMEN INSEMINATION

The unique, professional Fresh Chilled Semen Kit was developed by CLONE, so a regular vaginal insemination could be performed since most of the inseminators would be breeders or veterinarians which would not have the equipment or technology to inseminate other than vaginally.

This CLONE Chilled Semen System is so improved and successful that conception rates of 94 % are being obtained in Labrador retrievers. With natural breeding, conception rates are approximate 83%. Artificial Insemination has greatly improved the conceptions in dogs by:

1. Improving the semen quality via the use of semen enhancer.
2. Testing the bitch to pinpoint her most fertile period

THE CLONE KIT

PINPOINTING THE TIME OF INSEMINATION

There are many systems available for the breeder to calculate the most optimum time for inseminations, but most accurate by far is Blood Serum Progesterone levels attained by RIA (Radio Immuno Assay) or EIA (Enzyme Immuno Assay). CLONE highly recommends the RIA method as you do not have to test the bitch every day or even every other day which is very costly and time consuming. CLONE uses only this method because it is the most accurate and you can pinpoint the time of ovulation with only a couple of progesterone tests.

There is no set progesterone value for breeding a bitch such as 8, 12, 18, 25 ng/ml etc. Some bitches must be bred at 6 ng/ml and some bitches as high as 50 ng/ml. Each bitch has to be treated as an individual and should be bred between 48 and 72 hours after you calculate the day of ovulation. The reason for this is that when a bitch ovulates her ovum are immature and can not be penetrated by sperm until they are mature, which in the dog takes between 40 - 60 hours.

CLONE, the first company to use progesterone testing in bitches, with over 25 years research and experience, show that the majority of bitches ovulate between 3 - 5 ng/ml and a few ovulate between 6 - 8 ng/ml. However, there is only a 24 hour period of difference between these two groups of 3 -5 and 6 -8 ng/ml. (the earliest and the latest ovulating bitches).

CHILLED SEMEN INSEMINATION:

Since chilled and fresh semen live far longer than thawed frozen semen in the uterus the best time to breed with fresh chilled semen is
36 - 48 hours after the blood serum progesterone level shows ovulation as the semen can be inseminated in advance of the maturation of the ovum. If you are going to breed twice, breed first time 24 - 36 hours after ovulation and then again the next day. There is no reason to skip a day as you did with a natural breeding, because you have pinpointed the time of the most fertile period. If there are complications with shipping and arrangements due to holidays you could also breed at 48 hours after ovulation and then again 24 hours later.

CHILLED SEMEN

INSTRUCTIONS FOR KIT

FROZEN SEMEN INSEMINATION:

With frozen semen, the semen is deposited directly into the uterus and you breed a little bit later - that is approx. 60 - 72 hours after the blood serum progesterone level shows ovulation. This is the time when most of the ovum are mature and ready for fertilization. Thus the sperm can immediately penetrate the ovum as the sperm are not depended upon to live an extended period of time. Since the cervix dilates at the optimum time of insemination, trans-cervical inseminations with the Norwegian Catheter is by far the best insemination method as the cervix can be palpated to see if it is dilated, thus confirming if the insemination is being performed at the optimum time. This palpation can not been done with any other method not even endoscopic inseminations.

FROZEN SEMEN