Four Steps to Breeding Success

Today, the preferred methods of breeding greyhounds are A.I., and Frozen Semen.

How did such a big change come about?

Owners of breedable quality bitches know that they only come into “heat” a few times in their reproductive lives, and thus the importance of getting pups on each such occasion, and that the most expensive part of breeding is a missed conception.

Studmasters have learned that bitches are “multiple” ovulators and that the health and number of puppies resulting from a mating is determined by control of infection, semen quality, ovulation timing, and proper insemination technique.

Studmasters have taken the responsibility for a successful mating as their reputation is at stake, as is the reputation of their stud dog. Bitch owners will not go to a stud dog that has many “misses”.

Counting days is no longer used to determine the “date to mate” as progesterone testing tells the timing of ovulation. Research has proven that there are five types of bitch cycles, and that every bitch can have a different type of cycle on each such occasion.

Studmasters and veterinarians have been trained in semen quality, infection control, ovulation timing, Artificial Insemination, and Frozen Semen.

The best greyhound stud dogs are only available by surgical implant of frozen semen. This provides more economic benefit for all. The studmaster and dog owner get more revenue from “splitting” the semen ejaculate when frozen. The veterinarian makes more revenue from doing more surgical implantations. The bitch owner gets many benefits: more availability of the best dogs, better conception rates and larger litter sizes, and many dogs are available “locally”.

The rules and regulations of the NGA Frozen Semen program insure that only qualified persons can establish a licensed Frozen Semen center by proving they are capable of producing puppies. The publication of each breeding and it’s results in the NGA Review provides valuable information to the breeders.

Free market forces assure competition in the method of breeding, the available choice of stud dogs, and the availability of semen in areas of the country where the bitch owner resides and the stud dog is not present.

These changes make more economic and genetic sense for the production of better quality greyhounds.

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