"Study demonstrates rapid decline in male dog fertility, with potential link to environmental contaminants. 

The fertility of dogs may have suffered a sharp decline over the past three decades, a new study has found. The research found that sperm quality in a population of stud dogs studied over a 26-year period had fallen significantly. A study led by researchers at The University of Nottingham has discovered that the fertility of dogs may have suffered a sharp decline over the past three decades.

The research, published in the academic journal Scientific Reports, found that sperm quality in a population of stud dogs studied over a 26-year period had fallen significantly. The work has highlighted a potential link to environmental contaminants, after they were able to demonstrate that chemicals found in the sperm and testes of adult dogs -- and in some commercially available pet foods -- had a detrimental effect on sperm function at the concentrations detected. ....... The same chemicals that disrupted sperm quality, were also discovered in a range of commercially available dog foods -- including brands specifically marketed for puppies"

Article HERE

That's another reason to feed raw then

Look at the bright side of this - BYBs may give up if they start getting small, or no, litters

This doesn't surprise me. I firmly believe (Though have never seen any research to back it up ) that we have so many cancers now because dogs are walking our streets with their heads and mouths at exhaust level and must breath in so much crap. I would love someone to do some research into this to see if those dogs walked regularly on roads have a higher level of cancers than those walked more often in open spaces. And yes I too think a natural diet is less harmful but of course it does somewhat depend on the way the raw food is sourced.

Doesn't surprise me, hasn't there been various studies/reports that sperm counts have significantly fallen in men during the last few decades.

I wish they named the chemicals that are possibly implicated and then we could avoid them being in our dog food

It's not just dogs, so presumably not just dog food at fault. An extensive study of 26000 human males found the same thing, with sperm counts falling by an average of a third over a 15 year period!

Edited to add, found the link to the human study report.

It's a worrying trend for the human race with sperm counts falling by an average 1.9% per year.

and it makes you wonder how long this has been going on, after all medical science only started measuring these things since the 20th century, by which time I think damage may already have been done.

Yes indeed

Isn't oestrogen from the female contraceptive pill, which is now apparently is getting into drinking water meant to be a major cause?

>

> Isn't oestrogen from the female contraceptive pill, which is now apparently is getting into drinking water meant to be a major cause?

I read an article about that recently Lacy and yes it is thought to be considered a factor and some of the studies they have done are now linking this to the decline in the number of freshwater fish.

"Study demonstrates rapid decline in male dog fertility, with potential link to environmental contaminants. 

The fertility of dogs may have suffered a sharp decline over the past three decades, a new study has found. The research found that sperm quality in a population of stud dogs studied over a 26-year period had fallen significantly. A study led by researchers at The University of Nottingham has discovered that the fertility of dogs may have suffered a sharp decline over the past three decades.

The research, published in the academic journal Scientific Reports, found that sperm quality in a population of stud dogs studied over a 26-year period had fallen significantly. The work has highlighted a potential link to environmental contaminants, after they were able to demonstrate that chemicals found in the sperm and testes of adult dogs -- and in some commercially available pet foods -- had a detrimental effect on sperm function at the concentrations detected. ....... The same chemicals that disrupted sperm quality, were also discovered in a range of commercially available dog foods -- including brands specifically marketed for puppies"

Interesting to know, thanks for posting.

Not very helpful when the chemicals are not named.  I would imagine the same chemicals are present in the human food chain,  including the animals eaten.

Not very helpful when the chemicals are not named.  I would imagine the same chemicals are present in the human food chain,  including the animals eaten.

The fertility has not gone down amongst the local Staffie population - there are more puppies around than ever.

I have noticed a drop in the number of pups for sale in general on other sites though. Looking on Epupz, there was only one page of pups in my county, compared to the 5 or more that there usually is