How to Artificially Inseminate a Dog: 9 Steps (with Pictures) (2024)

Co-authored byJohn Jess

Last Updated: October 31, 2023Fact Checked

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   Determine whether or not to use artificial insemination. Dog breeders use artificial insemination for a variety of reasons. Some breeds suffer from a diminished gene pool, especially if the country has a small number of breeding dogs.^[1] If the male and female dog are separated by great distances it may be cheaper to AI than to pay for transportation for the dog and their handler.

   • Artificial insemination can also make the sem*n from a desirable male dog more widely available.
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   Evaluate the male dog for suitability for breeding. Only dogs that are healthy and meet breed specifications for conformation and type should be bred. This helps assure that the offspring will be healthy and display the desired breed traits.^[2]

   • In addition to a general health examination, a breeding soundness examination is done to make sure the male dog’s reproductive tract is healthy and sound.

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   Evaluate the female dog for suitability for breeding. Much like the male, the female dog needs to be examined to make sure she is healthy for breeding and that she meets breed standards. A female dog that is in ill health or who has reproductive problems could have problems getting pregnant, even with AI, or could suffer severe health problems due to a pregnancy.^[3]

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   Collect the male dog's sem*n. Once the male dog has been deemed acceptable for breeding his sem*n will need to be collected. Male dogs will become aroused in the presence of a female dog in heat, which is the prime time her body emits pheromones or chemicals that excite the males. When he attempts to mount, or breed, with the female the penis is redirected into an artificial vagin* into which he ejacul*tes.^[4]

   • In some cases a female at the correct stage of heat is not available. Frozen cotton swabs that were wiped in the vagin* of a female dog at the peak of heat can be thawed and swiped on the tail end of any dog, which causes the male dog to respond.
   • In some cases sem*n can be collected and stored before a dog dies to be made available after his death; in others injury may make it impossible for a male dog to breed naturally yet he may still be able to produce sem*n.
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   Have the sem*n evaluated. After the sem*n is collected, the sperm cells in it will be examined under a microscope to make sure they are normal. This means that there will be sufficient numbers, shape, and activity.^[5]

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   Chill or freeze sem*n that it not used immediately. Chilled sem*n is used within 24 hours or else it will need to be frozen. sem*n is stored in liquid nitrogen containers at subzero temperatures. This way sem*n can be used years later.^[6]

   • The best success rate comes from use of fresh sem*n. With chilled sem*n the success rate drops to 59-80% and with frozen it falls to 52-60%.

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1. 1

   Make sure the female dog is in the correct stage of her estrus cycle. Unlike the male, she needs to be in the receptive stage of her heat cycle in order to breed successfully. Females typically come into heat twice a year.

   • Each heat cycle has a preparatory proestrus stage, where the female’s vulva (visible to the outside) swells and she bleeds or spots blood for seven to nine days. The uterus (womb) is being prepared to make a suitable environment for the embryos to develop into puppies.^[7]
   • After this, the bleeding slows and she becomes receptive to breeding. This stage is called estrus. This is also called standing heat, because it is the period when the female will stand to mated with the male dog. It is only during this stage that she will be able to become pregnant. The most fertile time will be at the end or just after standing heat occurs.
   • Veterinarians can determine the stage of heat the female dog is in by collecting swabs inside the vagin* and examining the cells.^[8] The swabs will collect cells which have distinctive shapes and sizes depending on the stage of estrus. This is especially helpful in those female dogs that don’t swell or bleed much.
   • The best time to inseminate is going to be at peak ovulation, which is determined based on the progesterone numbers. Monitor the levels with your vet and wait from 48 to 72 hours after the spike in progesterone to inseminate.
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   Insert the sem*n into the female dog's vagin*. Insemination is fairly straight forward once the sem*n is collected and the female dog is in estrus. The female is stood on the examination table with her back legs slightly extended beyond the pelvis. A pipette is used to deposit the sem*n inside the vagin* near the cervix.^[9]

   • The insertion of the pipette takes special skill as the female dog’s vagin* is quite long. The pipette is withdrawn and discarded.
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   Keep the dog standing after the sem*n is inserted. She should be kept standing for 10 minutes after depositing the sem*n. She should not sit or urinate, or the sem*n may run out.

   • After 10 minutes she can walk around normally, but jumping and urinating should be avoided for about an hour.

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