How many breeders do natural breedings vs. AI?
I do not hear of any natural breedings, only AI,
curious to know!

We have had 2 litters, both live covers. We had the advantage of using our own stud dog the first one and the next litter, the stud dog was in our area so our bitch went there for a week. We weren't limited in the number of times they were together which was nice. We had 6 the first time and 9 the second. There seems to be so much involved with testing, timing and shipping that it isn't surprising so many miss. It is too bad that it is the only was sometimes to have the stud you want to use. My choice would always be live cover if it is an option.

When using my own males, or when using a stud service within driving distance, I always prefer natural.

I have only used AI when having samples shipped or when the male was unable to preform on his own.

Just like nautral delivery, natural breeding is prefered in my book.

If either a male or a female have trouble mating on their own, I consider that an issue, an flaw / fault in a dog. If we just go ahead and do AI as common practice without trying natural first, we don't know if the animals are even capable of natural breeding.

Purebreds are man made dogs. We have created and designed them each for a unique purpose, and to look and behave in a certain way, so not much about them is really "natural," yet I still think it's important to keep them as natural as possible, under the circumstances.

In my opinion, there are far too many males that can't or won't produce with out help--the same goes for females. I also see far more C sections in this breed than I care for. These should be easy whelpers and good mothers.

If we breed out these all-important natural instincts, that would be sad. If we're going to do everything scientifically, progestone, AI, C sections, etc, why not just breed them in a Lab, so to speak.

Like any other "fault" in the breed, weather it be conformation, temperament, field/retrieving ability & drive, health, etc, natural breeding, whelping, and mothering should be taken into consideration as well. Not to say that any dog who can't should automatically be cut from a breeding program, just that it should be a part of the equation, and when we don't give them the opprotunity and we just take over, that part of the equation is unknown... Just something to think about.

A stud dog that I just used is from a litter of 16. The breeding was an A-I with both dogs present. I own the sire. I think there is alot riding on just how many eggs the female has to fertilize, and how healthy those eggs really are - and of course timing. If the girls don't conceive the blame usually lies on the stud dog, or the extender, which extender it was, if it was a live cover or A-I, or problems with the sperm. The girl has alot to do with it too. When it comes to conception success, I tend to believe there are many other factors involved, but usually not whether it is a live cover or A-I.

There are several reasons why I won't do live cover with my boys unless it's with my own girls.

JMO

My boys would love to breed naturally, but I will not let them. I AI, in my opinion it is safer for both the dog and the bitch. I have been around the Standardbred horse indusrty and they AI all the time.
Believe me it has not taken any drive away from those stallions. I respect your opinion but without a
controlled study over a period of time I have to say your remarks are just that, opinions. 30 years ago
we were doing c-sections on dogs and they were all
covered naturally. I can't think that we can blame
AI's for all that.

What are the reasons Laura? I would love to know, we only do AI. I believe it is safer too.


There are several reasons why I won't do live cover with my boys unless it's with my own girls.

Naturals are out. AIs are in. That is just the way it is right now. An argument can be made for either one. That doesn't change the current fashion.

P.S. That does not hold true for all breeds of dogs, though it certainly is true for labradors. In some other breeds, the current fashion is the opposite. And those who rarely AI think we are nuts.

*Because I know of two boys that went sterile because the bitches they were bred to harbored undetected infections (per: repro doctor). STD's
*Strange girls are not always receptive and I don't want my boys scarred physically or emotionally. A soft tempered young boy can be very influential.
I don't see the advantage. In fact, I had one girl here last week that did this very thing. The progesterone testing said she was right on but she wanted to take my boys face off. We did the A-I.
*The last natural I did with my own dogs was horrible. She was screaming, pulling him around and it went on for almost a half an hour. This girl had a litter previously (by A-I) and she was not a beginner.
*My males could care less if it's natural or not. I have good success collecting by any means.
*It's incredibly safer, easier,and convenient.

Why do breeders claim that a certain procedure is more successful because of a litter count?

A healthy male might produce 2, 000, 000, 000 (that is 2000 MILLION) or TWO BILLION sperm.

The bitch may ovulate up to 10 or so.

Whether the sperm swam the entire way - or got a push with a 60cc syringe - the overwhelming majority of bitches will conceive using either method.

A litter of 6 vs 10 is not due to breeding technique - it most likely has to do with how many eggs are there. Because 2000 Million (I like saying it that way to emphasize the gigantic number) will more than adequately fertilize the eggs.

A dog who does not - nor ever has - bred naturally still posesses the instinct to breed naturally. Why does Candyheart and others think if we do not let them do this - the offspring will not know. That sounds ridiculous.

And besides - who cares if a dog does not know how to breed a bitch - it is not something which is prized in a dog. They tend to get in trouble that way.

Using the AI process you can.........
#1 - Be more safe concerning deseases
#2 - Evaluate the semen quality
#3 - get prepared for the mating days before
#4 - safe the stud and the bitch from some inconveniences, like timming, etc.

Also, using AI, you can also, select the semen, and introduce as much as you can, discarting bad quality semen.

AI's Are just fine. I do chill mostly and have had from 6 to 11 pups. Side by side AI's still 8 or 9 pups. Have not done naturals in years. Won't do it with my stud and don't care about the girls since we always have a nice litter. Think those having 2 or 3 pups is more due to timing.

Directly quoting, "Think those having 2 or 3 pups is more due to timing"

I think we all tend to lose sight of the fact that we are dealing with living, breathing creatures......not machines. With all of our testing done to the highest standards and measures of time, there is NO perfection in creation. The explanation for litter sizes is a virtual impossibility since it can be attributed to ANY of these factors: timing, egg maturation, number of eggs present, abnormal hormonal levels, extreme hormonal fluctuation, poor uterine condition, semen motility (more so than count or morphology), the bitch's own antibodies and how they react to the introduction of foreign fluids, and the list goes on and on. My point is that it is impossible to exact one specific cause or hypothesis in relation to litter size. It can only truly be judged on a case by case basis.

I do think this would be an excellent area of research though; comparing the hormonal levels of a girl who has just been AI'd versus one who has just been bred naturally. I think we would be able to shed some much needed light on this topic. In fact, I just watched a special on the human birth process that discussed the fact that we are taking away the "love cocktail" of hormones from women by doing epidurals and elective c-sections. One PHD even theorized that we too are in danger of being bred away from the maternal instincts necessary to insure the survival of our species. Very heavy stuff but interesting to ponder none the less.

Now having said that, there *isn't* selection available unless one is willing to AI. And for me personally, I don't want to paint myself into a corner and live by the "if I can't drive to him" theory of reproduction. So if one wants to insure the best possible selection, AI is the only way to go. Until the research proves differently.....???

Since I started doing my own AIs, we've had better luck with our girls conceiving. We had more misses and smaller litters when I was letting my vet do the AIs and Transervicals. This vet is a reproductive vet to. I found out he was warming the semen up before inseminating it in our girls. Don't warm up the semen when you get it shipped to you,,,I don't let it sit out on the counter for 10 minutes either. It goes directly into my girl and she warms it up on her own. Also, I have found that kibble we feed our girls can play a role in how healthy or how many eggs they produce. I switched from Kirkland Lamb and Rice to Eagle Power Pack 5 months before I bred our 2 girls and they both had big litters. We were getting small to no litters before I made the switch.