at club last night someone said they gave their male dog i want to say evening primrose oil (but i do not think it was this) to increase her dogs fertility some people said that it works other said if he has a low sperm count it will always remain low, so just wondered what anyone thought about this, would giving a male dog some form of additives in their meal make better or more sperm.

health/vitality and diet can effect sperm counts, just like in humans, not sure if there is much in it with suppliments but when i was looking at fit&fertile's website they dog stud dog formulas etc.

one way would be to get a count if its low give on of the supliments sold to help, then check again....

theres lots of tips online ;-))

A healthy diet no beer or spicy food helps the man's sperm so if you have a stud, the highest fresh quality food plenty of exercise and water. If the sperm count is low as in numbers supplements may help I haven't needed to try. But there is more to sperm than just numbers motility structure and genetic content. If it has 2 heads or tails or no faulty chromosomes its no good.

I recently had my 6 year old male sperm tested before being used on his first bitch.  He has been confirmed as having 1st class sperm in terms of the amount, the motility and the quality.  The person testing it said it is relatively unusual to have such excellent results with a large breed of his age especially never having been used before.  He believes the omega oils can make a difference to sperm quality.  My lad is fed raw with plenty of omegas, I don't use pesticides or conventional wormers of any type.  Also, no beer or spicy food! He is looked after as "naturally" as possible with plenty of exercise and work.  Whether this has made a difference I will never know but that's what happened in his case.

On the other hand I used a 2 year old dog on my bitch last year.  He was on Fit N Fertile supplement to help sperm quality and production and when he was tested had zero sperm!  He was fed kibble and had been on antibiotics for a few weeks a couple of months previously.  Did that make the difference?  Who knows, probably all coincidence.  I suppose if the dog was tested again and was found subsequently to produce sperm then maybe we could consider the fact that the antibiotics contributed.

Sperm counts can alter some times depending why its low.  Have they been ill or off food.   Did read somewhere it can take 2-3 months to replenish.  If not studded for a while can have dead sperm for a false reading (so you know what to do lol :)  )

I've always 'milked' a male once a wk for a mth before he's used  then daily for a couple of days before the bitch arrives, having checked my studs sperm before and after this method have found it to be pretty useful, something my gfather taught me many many yrs ago with the sheep and cattle - the more they're used the more they produce.

I have spoken to a vet about sperm collection recently. The male intended to be used is to be on a course of antibiotics for at least a fortnight. The vet said that he would need at least 6 weeks after the ab's were finished for the semen to be back up to quality for use. The ab's DO have an effect on sperm.

ETA: the vet also said to put him on omega 3, though it could be difficult finding just omega 3 on its own, so omega 3 and 6 tablets would do just as well.