A friend of mine has used their male a few times now, with no result. I said that they could have him fertility tested. They asked at their vets about this and were told that it is a complicated, expensive course of action to take and that it may just have been bad timing. Has anyone here had this test? could you please advise as to type of treatment and cost. Thank you.

The basic test is very simple test.  Obtain a sample, look under a microscope for viability.  Many people do it themselves or you could ask another Vet. :)

It never ceases to amaze me just how much of a fuss some vets seem to make about this! As WestCoast says, it's really very simple to do a basic screening :)

If it was me I'd rather spend the money - whatever it took - to know for sure one way or the other.  If the male is fine you have the proof and people will stop talking. If he's not you know not to waste anyone else's time and people will appreciate that.

I had this same problem, or should I say the males owner did the vets were very squeamish about getting a sample to test, in the end we chanced ti and after a very long 8 hour journey to her and back a week later no puppies for the second time round to two different bitches from a once used veteran champion Male.

I had to do this with my male when my bitch didn't take after 3 attempts. My own vet couldn't get a sample so we had to travel to a specialist who eventually told me my male was infertile. Not a single sperm was found. :-( Very disappointed but at least I knew he had a problem.

Dead easy way to test, but you do need an in-season girly to help. Cost around £45. Bear in mind most vets have very little experience re reproduction issues! At whatever level.

Have to disagree with you there, Trialist - my boys over the years have obviously been very co-operative and haven't needed an in season girly in order to produce the required sample :)

With experienced stud dogs it shouldn't be too difficult to get a sample without an in-season bitch. I've done it myself and had a look under my microscope, fascinating to see the little wrigglers but no way of counting like the specialists can.

In the USA they routinely sample males and of course take semen for AI, a teaser bitch is preferable but you can get bitch pheromone and use a stooge bitch.

It's a bit much that some 'Pet' vets refuse to do it.  After all they are trained to do all sorts of possibly distasteful things so getting a sample from a male should not be causing so much angst.

Hey, you're not disagreeing with me, you're disagreeing with the specialists I've dealt with :-)  The few people I've been in touch with have all requested an in-season girly, that includes people regularly working with collection of AI samples & working in fertility testing. It apparently makes it a lot easier to collect (fairly obvious I guess :-) ), and apparently gain a better sample.  Anyway, inseason girly or not, to the OP it's relatively straightforward. Yes, if you're experienced enough and know which fraction you're looking at and which fraction is being delivered and have a very good microscope you can do it yourself. But bearing in mind there is an opportunity to cause injury if you are not experienced and do not know what you're doing. I've only taken a boy once & I hope I never have to take another again for testing, but I'd rather pay this relatively small amount and get the job done properly by someone with experience.

It's a bit much that some 'Pet' vets refuse to do it.  After all they are trained to do all sorts of possibly distasteful things so getting a sample from a male should not be causing so much angst.

:-D

My vets were positively horrified that I should ask them to do such a thing!! They were even more horrified that I ended up going to a couple of specialists to have it done!!

Having gone through this just last year with one of my dogs I can confirm that there are a few specialist reproduction vets around who will do this for you. My dog had mated two bitches with text book matings and ties each time so I just knew something was wrong. I was still advised to keep using him as it is very rare to have an infertile dog, but I wasn't happy about this and found a specialist about an hour away from me.

It was certainly worth the trip and the cost was reasonable. The result was that he does not produce any sperm, so I would have been wasting everyone's time continuing to mate him. I do know of a few places around the country that do this if your friend would like to know where they are just send me a message.

Just as an aside I was pretty devastated at the result and the specialist I saw was pretty good at dealing with upset humans too!!

The point is the most basic investigation based on looking at a sample under a microscope can be done by any competent vet so there should be no reason why your GP vet should come over all coy about it.

After that if sperm are seen then a repro specialist (who are not numerous and available easily for many) can ascertain their normality, quantity, motility etc. 

Having the first test done would save the owner and dog a lot of travel if basically the dog is shooting blanks.

I don't understand the need for a specialist either Brainless.  Obtain a sample, look under a microscope.  If they look like tadpoles and are moving then they're fine.  If their tails look like a tick or catherine wheel or they're not moving at all, then they'll not be able to swim and do their job!  Simples.
If treatment is required THEN perhaps there is need for a specialist.

Brainless, do you think we've found a niche in the market for a new enterprise??? :) :) :)

With marigolds on or bare hands ;)

Oh lace gloves dear! :) :) :)

Well I'm happy to say that I wouldn't use a general vet as they would charge too much and normally know practically nothing about reproduction in dogs. Correct me if I'm wrong but I believe they spend half a day training on this side of things?

So a half an hour drive and a very sensible fee for a lady vet who specialises in this side of things is well worth it in my view. It cost far less than the purchase of a microscope would!!

You can freeze cotton buds which have been used on an in season bitch and use them defrosted either on the males nose or on the back end of any dog to get him going.

How strong a microscope do you need to see sperm, my nephew has one?

My friend tried that with her stud dog who was lacklustre in the show ring, she wiped a handkerchief on an in season bitch and got him to sniff it in the ring. He just looked at her as if to say 'that's not a bitch, this is still boring, I can't mate that!' :-D

thats made me laugh lucy :):) xx

"It cost far less than the purchase of a microscope would"
Probably not if you get one from Ebay!