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Hey, your vet COULD be right, but I don't care for the inference that Whippets are more easily stressed than some of the other breeds you named.Ms Molly said:
I guess I would need to see an assay of the cortisol levels--you know--hard DATA in order to accept this explanation without skepticism.
Here in the US, there are a number of bitches who are conceiving very well by frozen semen. I really think it's a matter of technique. It is more likely to me that Whippets, with their often drawn-out estrous cycles (how many other breeds are typically able to be productively bred naturally on day 19 or 20 (I've had a lot of Whippets which fall into that category)), are more difficult to PINPOINT ovulation on. That to me seems much more likely as an explanation for the failure rate you are seeing. I would not say that high failure rates with GOOD frozen semen or even fresh-chilled have been typical over here with Whippets. They are very expensive but so long as done by someone who is really good at doing the frozen implants and timing that surgery, and handling frozen semen, the success rate isn't that much less than fresh-chilled, and may be the same.
This was a very high-risk breeding because of the nature of the sperm itself and the time at which it was collected and frozen (I believe only two years after AKC even started allow frozen litters to be registered). There was quite a large litter out of Reign and Moxie shown at our National--another Reign litter of six was just born in North Carolina, and I know the Tatros had a decent-sized litter by Oscar, who has been deceased since the late 90's. All of that is from much more recently collected, more high-percentage viable/motile semen. Iva saved some breedings with Sav, and I think at least one of those frozen Sav straws resulted in a good-sized litter. I don't know if the Broadfoots used frozen or fresh-chilled in their two litters out of Pauline Oliver's dog Spyanfly Say No More, but they had good-sized litters, too.
I wouldn't say your vet is WRONG about the stress factor; I just have a lot of skepticism that Whippets are so much more sensitive. Some undoubtedly are, but I don't think it's a breed characteristic to be difficult to inseminate. Not based on what I'm seeing over here. Now, what I HAVE seen is that a lot of males don't collect very well. A lot of male Whippets just don't have sperm that freezes and thaws very well. So not every sire is a good candidate for storage.
Karen
