frozen semen

[BigBear]

I was wondering if anyone had used frozen semen? I have always thought that the best breeding would be a natural breeding with a solid "tie". I have weighed the options of using this... and its save the time and money for a trip and get the frozen specimen and see what happens, or take the trip... and get a solid tie with the stud dog and have better results? I dont know anyone that has used frozen semen so I am curious to how good it actually is. Like the ratio of live sperm to dead sperm.... is it the same...less.. ??
Thanks in advance... curiosity has gotten me!

[Orville Story]

I have a litter on the ground now that is a result of AI with chilled semen. The sire was collected on a Monday morning and the semen was shipped via Air Freight from California to Alabama. The AI was preformed on Tuesday morning. 61 days later I had nine puppies. This is much better than sending my bitch to California and putting her under the stress of the flight back and forth. The most important factor is to find a vet that is an ICG vet that does not dabble in AI's but is very experienced. The stud fee aside the cost of this type of procedure will run around $400.00 to $600.00 depending on many factors.

[BigBear]

Thanks for the reply. My friend has AI'd several dogs but that was with her own dogs. Im with you on the fact that I dont want to ship a dog anywhere... so the trip factor is a strong thought.
It sounds like a equally adequate way of doing things.
May I inquire to how many pups she had with this breeding using the chilled semen?

[Orville Story]

Nine pups total, 4 boys 5 girls.

[Baren]

Is it kept in a thermobottle during the flight?
If you want to keep it frozen after you recieve it do you keep it in a thermobottle inside a nitrogen bottle? How much does a nitrogen bottle cost?