Semen Evaluation

Semen Evaluation

Semen evaluation can help you plan for your male’s success as a breeding dog. Reasons for performing a semen evaluation include upcoming breedings, missed breedings, chilled shipments, or to have a baseline of current status. Multiple aspects of the semen collected are examined and used to provide an overall picture of the dog’s fertility.

Volume – measurement of the amount of semen collected.
Color – should be a cloudy white.
Progressive motility – the amount of sperm cells moving normally.
Concentration – total number of sperm cells in one milliliter of semen. Used to calculate total sperm count.  
Morphology – evaluated the actual physical structure of the sperm cells. Sperm cells can have defects such as no tails, abnormal head shapes, droplets formed onto them and more.

There are many factors that can contribute to semen quality. Some of these factors include: genetics, age, size of pet, past or current illness, medications, trauma, infection, or inflammation.