Artificial insemination in the dog

Abstract

Extract

Little could the Abbe Spallanzani have known the extent to which artificial insemination would develop when in 1780 he successfully inseminated a bitch with semen siphoned from the vagina of a second bitch. Three live puppies were reported to have been born to this insemination after a 62-day gestation. A long period elapsed before the possibilities of this technique were refined to their present state and it is only during this century that the full potential of the method as a means of animal breeding is being realized. Although the initial success utilized the dog as the experimental subject developments have been more restricted in this than in other common domestic species and critical research reports are still relatively few. It is the purpose of this paper to summarize progress achieved to date and to raise questions to which we still await unequivocal answers.