I'm one step short of a full blown panic.  More than a year ago we decided on the perfect stud for our bitch for a mating this MAY.  Well, he suddenly died about 5 weeks ago.  So the panic was on to find a new stud.  Finally, after four weeks of searching, digging, ringing, and negotiating, we have one in Europe. 
I contacted a fertility clinic local to me and placed everything in their hands. He was confident that they would use the office in the country the stud is at for the collection (happens to be the European breeders vet as well), and then ship it here for us.
FRI late afternoon I got a phone call telling me it's going to be impossible to bring it in.
Supposedly it's because the all the cargo shipments for the couriers come into Stansted, but all the inspectors are in Heathrow or Gatwick.  They can not guarantee me that the semen will be in usable condition because there may be a thirty-six hour or longer delay in clearing.

I can't believe this. I'm already a basket case, this is our first ever litter, and I feel so out of my depth with all these developments.  Timing is going to be critical for a variety of reasons.
For ease I wanted to use this clinic for the entire process, paperwork, liaising with the European office, etc., but I am really getting nervous.  From the sound of it, even though their website is specifically for canine fertilty, it doesn't sound like they've ever done this before!

I just Fedex the semen.....no problem at all..... have you borrowed the flask? It is easy to return with Fedex.

I do presume this is frozen semen?

No, we've been advised by the breeder, the clinic and various others that it is to be chilled, not frozen.  According to them the frozen would be far more costly and more of a hassle to get in.

We have just brought in semen, and have an excellent contact please pm me if you wish further details..

I didn't think you could bring fresh/chilled semen into the UK, I always thought only frozen was possible?

Just looked at the KC site and seems you can import frozen semen now, learn something new everyday, as long as the chosen sire has naturally produced litters too.

http://www.thekennelclub.org.uk/cgi-bin/item.cgi?id=1206&d=pndpr&h=pnhpr&f=pnfpr

Yep, he has fathered natural litters, he has a pet passport, and he hasn't been out of his country for 6 months.  He is up to date on his shots, and there is nothing to legally stop importing the semen.  Except of course them telling me that it won't clear in Stansted in time.
You can bring in chilled and frozen.

> I didn't think you could bring fresh/chilled semen into the UK, I always thought only frozen was possible?
>

That was the case but changed fairly recently.

It is an option I am very interested in, so would welcome your experiences and also the fertility peoples details.

Well, I'll certainly let you know how this goes. I honestly pray this can be sorted with a minimum of problems.

Does the semen have to be chilled at a specialised clinic, or can it be done by the stud dogs owner with some sort of DIY kit and the flask?? I think I have seen DIY kits in the USA, but maybe I am not correct.

can you not take your bitch to the stud?? I know it is in europe, but I and other people have travelled many miles to a studwhether it will be U.K or Europe.....?

When I travelled with my bitch for mating in 2006 it cost me over £1200, I would hope that importing chilled semen and insemination would be less expensive and time consuming, otherwise I too would opt for travel.

Travelling can throw a bitches cycle out so it isn't always the best option.

but are there not rules and regulations with the KC about registering a litter from AI?? I thought you always had to do natural mating if the dog was still here alive and well? As for the cost of things that is just part and parcel of being a breeder. I'm not saying it is cheap to travel as i know full well it isn't, but when you find something that compliments your bitch so well surely cost shouldn't come into it??

>are there not rules and regulations with the KC about registering a litter from AI??

If the dog's living in this country as well, then permission for AI is very unlikely to be granted. If the dog's abroad then it's a different matter.

Obviously if you can reduce the costs it is something worth taking into account.  Surely when travelling to a stud gos you prefer to take the most inexpensive travel option and accomodation etc if available? Unless money is no object?

The costs of travelling with a bitch are not just financial, to avoid the issues of disruption to ovulation you are best to stay away for a week or more to ensure getting the right days and maximising your chances of a litter.

Arranging flights and returns can be difficult as most of the airlines require 14 days notice, I booked the day my bitch came in season to arrive on day 11 and stayed a week.

You then have to arrange for care of the dogs at home, children, possible time off work etc.

It worked out for me as I was down to three dogs, so leaving two at home with a doggy neighbour coming in and walking the dogs with teen children there in the evenings worked OK.  I was also able to stay with the stud dog owners, otherwise accommodation would need to be arranged that took dogs.

In the event I was lucky and got a litter, but mostly the wrong sex, and only two bitch pups, one of which was mismarked.

Yeah my last planned trip with Xena to the stud she didn't take.....very disappointing after all the hard work, travelling expense etc, but then thats all part of it :-)
Hope the OP gets it all sorted out anyway and would be interesting to hear how it all turns out. Sorry to hear you got a wrong sex litter brainless....sods law isn't it after all the effort ;-)

Due to a clerical error we've had to start from square one with our bitch's Pet Passport.  We can't travel until SEP - well okay, we could travel, but we couldn't return with her until SEP. 
So taking her out of the country is out.
In addition, the dogs have to be aggressively wormed and ticked before making the journey back into the UK, and that's not something I really want to put her through.  People who have been that route advised it's not the best idea on a newly mated bitch, including our vet.

There is no impediment to using AI on her as she is the product of a natural mating, the dog is outside of the UK, and he has sired a natural litter.  Now if we kept a bitch, we couldn't use AI on her for the first litter.  But I need to get the pups on the ground first! ;)

Bringing the semen is certainly less expensive than making the trip.  It's just the fine points at the moment that the clinic doesn't seem to be capable of ironing out.

The semen will have to be shipped via animal health at Heathrow as it is quarantine material,once it has been cleared by them you can either collect it yourself from Heathrow or have it sent to the clinic via courier.Fedex will ship it to Heathrow for you and clear it with animal health and then deliver it to you.This process is the same whether the semen is chilled or frozen.You will also need a DEFRA import licence.I brought in a shipment of frozen last week from Australia and I have a chilled shipment from France arriving Wednesday

All sounds very complicated!! But good luck plushpup and keep us updated with the progress. That is a big downside to the pet passport having the worming etc done, I can understand you not wanting to do that as I disliked it when I took my bitch to europe.

ive brought two newly mated bitches in on passport system without a problem. Likewise Ive had a stud dog come to me from Eastern Europe!! my experiences of AI have been 5 times out of 6 unsuccessful.

> my experiences of AI have been 5 times out of 6 unsuccessful

This has been the experience in my breed with frozen AI, very low success rate (only two successes in 30 years).

In theory with chilled the success rate is almost as good as with natural service.

Fresh express very common in the USA due to the long distances, and unfortunately now many people use it as routine.

Used frozen semen twice and both times this has failed, success though with a dog from Scandinavia.

Some friends have just used frozen semen for the first time resulting in 8 lovely puppies :)

Unfortunately, as stated previously, our going out of the country is not viable.  For the stud to come physically is not a viable proposition at this time.  It has to be via AI.

We are going the chilled routine as we were told it has a much higher success rate; in addition to being almost 4.5 times less the cost of frozen to bring in!

Still not further along with solving the problems foreseen the clinic locally.

Well, just an update.
We sorted everything out, got the license, imported the semen, inseminated last THU and FRI, so am now waiting ro see if it has taken.  The specialist (I found another one and I had every confidence in her) has said that every thing looked good.  Time will tell!

Good luck! Hope all goes well.

yes good luck and do keep us updated

Hi,

Just wondering who you used to import and inseminate in Ireland. Would love to know the cost and if it was successful.

Thanks
Leah

Our dog is due to whelp on 14th July, she was scanned for 7-8 time will tell. So far insemination very successful..
More news to follow in due course.