We're sending A.I. to Finland this weekend, and have been quoted £315 by the courier who works with the specialist.   As I think this is an awful lot of money - has anybody got an alternative?

Jo and the Casblaidd Flatcoats

We brought ours in from the USA via FedEx, they were very good, but cant remember howmuch it cost - will see if I can find the bill.
bye
Gwen

Sorry to jump on your post Jo but is it as difficult as the k.c would have you believe to use A.I  here?? There is a dog abroad that I would like to use and the only way is by A.I.
Thanks, Debbie.

No, wouldnt actually say it was a doddle, but it wasn't too hard.  Important thing is to have permission and all paperwork in place before the mating!  It was simply a matter of getting the KC forms to the dogs owner and vet in the USA, who filled in the relevant bits about health checks, progeny success etc, and then the collection details.  Our container arrived at Manchester and was realeased straight away (still by Fed Ex) and delivered to the Vets.  then Vet at this end had to fill in the paperwork after the insemination.
bye
Gwen

Debbie,

You have to provide a 3 gen pedigree of the intended donor dog too plus details of all "natural" mating litters he has sired.   A friend of mine has got KC permission to use a Munster dog's semen from Australia on a bitch she owns - that I bred - and I can't wait to see the results!!!!  :D

Think I'm going to deliver it myself to the Finnair cargo place in Heathrow after all.    Just a bit concerned that they might X-ray it, although I'm assured it does no harm, I would feel happier if they didn't.   I maybe concoct a little note to go on the outside.

Mind you - we've still got to get him to 'serve' the teaser bitch still, and she's got to stand!

The Finnish Kennel Club wanted reams and reams of papers and certificates, all with his ID on - seemed to be no end to it.  We had to have a special eye test done - the new forms have got a space for ID - the old ones didn't.    Then the bitch came in season a month early, so caught us a bit on the hop!

Jo and the Casblaidd Flatcoats

Hi Lily Munster, we didnt have to supply details of all the dogs litters, just proof that he had sired quality - do you think this is a new addition to the requirments, or is it Australia specific?

bye
Gwen

Thanks Gwen and Lily Munster. I do now feel that perhaps this is an option. How far in advance of your bitch coming into season did you apply for permission from the k.c?  also are there only certain vets in the country that will do A.I.
Thanks.

We left it really late, and applied just as she was about to come in, the KC were very good, and "hand held" at every stage, but we had one or two scary moments when we though things wouldnt arrive in time (including the Semen container!).  so, my advice would be - apply as much in advance as you possible can.  WE would have been totally stuck if any paperwork had gone astray or needing correcting.  Although thanks to the wonders of the WWW and fax things can be corrected/forwrrded almost instantly, cant they?

There are a handful of Vets doing the procedure.  We used Gill Averis at Leeds, and the result was a litter of bouncing Yankees, now almost 7 months old:).  We also store the semen from our Ch dogs at her surgery, and our shipping container (we splashed out on one last year, as the rental/deposits seemd quite steep.
bye
Gwen

Hi Gwen,

All I can go by is what Marie - my friend - needed as info for the KC. She had to ask the stud dog owners for the dates of the litters he had sired naturally for the KC form, she's had permission for over a year, it was the hold up of getting the semen here and then the container turning in transit that has caused the most headaches, the KC permission went through  at lightening speed!

Prof Gary England is another top AI person, he's based at the GDBA in Warwickshire.

We've just been up to Prof Gary England, and I can't speak highly enough of him - nothing was too much trouble. 

  The sample was taken twice, and I delivered it myself to Heathrow.   Worst part was handing it over - it was like sending a child off to school for the first time :-)  How sad can you get!!

The Finnish girl was inseminated this morning, and they actually froze some over there for future use, but I wouldn't think it was guaranteed after it had been chilled, but be interesting to find out.

Another point - a friend of hers wants to possibly use it on another bitch - should I ask for another full stud fee less expenses which they should share?

Jo and the Casblaidd Flatcoats

This is all quite amazing stuff really!  I can't even begin to imagine how you harvest the stuff in the first place!! ;)

you should talk to my Puglet about that jacky!  She was used as the teaser when Englebert was "collected"  - she was insensed about the whole procedure, and bit the Vet, an assistant, and a passing nurse who just wanted to admire her.  And this was all just for lettingn Englebert sniff her, you understand!  As she is less than 10" tall more intimate "relations" would have been difficult even if they had been required!
bye
Gwen

Hi Joe, will be fascinated to read you follow ups  - we have not used fresh chilled yet, but lots of friends in the USA report much higher success rates than with frozen.  there are 1 or 2 dogs in Scandinavia we are very interested in, this could be the way to go!  Was the bitch inseminated surgically or vaginally?
bye
Gwen

jo
you stated another stud fee less expenseswhich they should share

the argreement i had with carin the owner of the swedish fcr that i got at the moment,is if i did the collection and freezing and paid for and the expenvise of get him over here which was the stud fee agrement,what i did with the sprem which was frozen was mine and all payment from that collection was mine beacuse of the pay out in the beginng,

so if there was any straw left for the other bitch then the owner pays the person who got the sprem over,beacuse of the layout she had none and she already pay you for the ai weather it 5 to 10 straws,

i may be wrong about this hopefully some one whos done it help.
plus have you got gary england tel number plus dose he store frozen sprem.just incase i do it for the boy i got here.for a later date.

terri

wispa temp drop to 98 and a bit of a mucus discharge so i think i am in for a long night thank god for champdogs to keep me awake.

ps was it easy to do the couring to the airport,???

Hi Terri - wondering how Wispa is now????

Gary England really was the tops - the Finnish AI person said she'd never had such a professional package come from GB.   He did a full count of live sperm, dead sperm, and all stages between, plus a health certification for Noof for the import to Finland.

The actual delivery to Finnair Cargo at Heathrow was actually very straightforward, but I expected the chap who handled it to be as excited as I was - he wasn't.   It got there fine, and they didn't X-ray it, though G.E. said he'd written a paper which said their was little harm from X-rays.

I can give you his PA's number at Guide dogs if you e-mail me privately.

Yes, he does freeze, but it costs more than chilled AI - the bitch was inseminated vaginally, intra-cervically under sedation/anaesthetic  (not sure which).

Jo and the Casblaidd Flatcoats

Hello,
       I was wondering who is the nearest AI vet to me, i live in Cumbria. We are planning to get some semen sent from a US champion JRT end of this year beginning of next, this is all quite new to me & i'd prefer the real dog to come over & do the job! But thats not possible at this stage.
How successful is AI?
I don't need to apply to the KC here as the JRT is not a recognized breed but all my dogs are now in the process of being registered with FCI so will i need to inform them?

No idea about FCI requirements, I am afraid, but the closest AI specialist to yo is probably the one we used, Gill Averis, who is just outside of Leeds (Twee House Vet. Practice).  She was great with us, very helpful, and Arrabellas beautiful litter are testimony to  the success.
bye
Gwen

I would love to know why we still can't bring in fresh chilled semen in for use in AI.  With this method if it is collected and used within 48 hours it is nearly as reliable in getting a bitch in whelp as a natural service.

The odds of conception are way down to about 20% with Frozen semen.

I recetnly emailed DEFRA and they still say that semen has to be frozen :(

I didn't know that, Brainless.   Seems pretty stupid regulation to me - the stuff will eventually be thawed out via being chilled anyhow (if you get my drift).   Will ask Gary England and also my son, who are both local  vets for DEFRA .

Jo and the Casblaidd Flatcoats

The last time I asked I was told it was becsue of the quarantine regualtions - apparetly we could bring in fresh - if it then spent 6 months in quarantine!  Dont know if they will consider extending pet passports to semen, and doubt if those abroad would understand why we needed their dogs to fulfill these requirements before we could ship!
bye
Gwen

But that makes no sense at all, as I could take and get the bitch mated abroad, thereby producing the pups here out of un quarantined semen, and the dog could also come over here from the pet Passport countries, as long as it had titre test.

It would really help if this could happen, as AI is so commonly used in USA because of distances, whcih are probavbly similar to those we have to Europe or Scandinavia.

I agree it is completely senseless reasoning, but neverthless, those are the facts  I was given!  We sent a bitch out to the USA to be mated, and she came back just as Pet Passports came in from the USA, as we had pet passported her (well, fulfilled all the conditons) she was realeased from Quarantine after about 2 or 3 weeks, the day after the regulations came into force.   No-onme said DEFRA had common sense rules ;)
bye
Gwen

I would love to know, as I would love to AI my Champion bitch Jozi (not the easiest bitch to mate).  I had considered taking her abroad, but with her being so fussy it is a lot of money. 

I am mating her again in September to the dog who succeeded with her last time, and hope she will be more into the idea.

Gary England was the man who managed to AI only the second AI litter in our breed in this country for 30 years, all other attempts have proved useless.

Now if I could get fresh chi8lled it would be hard work getting timings etc right, but chances of success being higher would make it worthwhile.

The timescale I would be considering would be November 2005 or the foollowing season.

It jus occurred to me that I had still got Noof's pedigree endorsed 'not for export' - had taken off his breeding restriction, but not the export one.  Does this extend to AI?     Maybe I should  phone the KC to confirm or otherwise - it would be very embarssing if the bitch conceives and the export restriction were still on!!!

Jo and the Casblaidd Flatcoats

Thanks for the info, i shall have to check with the FCI.
I have a pet passport on my bitch so i may well just take her to the states to be mated as i really need a litter from her with this dog as she is nearly 5, this will be her 2nd litter.
The trouble we go to for our dogs eh?

Not sure about that one Jo.

However, a couple of years ago I was asked to send Semen to Australia.  In the end after a long chat with 2 experienced people I didn't.  The reason was ownership of the semen.  If they have frozen some semen then have you given permission to go on using it until it runs out.  Most people have a contract now on exactly how many straws can be used at anyone time and when an additional stud fee is payable.  If you get a chance have a chat with Rosalie Brady  - she is quite up on these facts.
Becky