Artificial insemination in dogs | Kennel Club (2024)

Breeders may choose to use artificial insemination because:

• It allows two dogs that live long distances apart to produce puppies, eliminating the stress of travel and reducing the cost of transportation
• It opens up new possibilities for introducing previously unused genes into a population of dogs from another country. This could be to improve genetic diversity in a breed or to introduce/enhance certain traits or characteristics
• It enables dogs that have died, but had specific desirable traits, to contribute to a gene pool
• It prevents the spread of sexually transmitted diseases

AI can have its disadvantages and can, in certain situations, create welfare and ethical concerns, including:

• Risks of complications and infections, especially if AI is performed by someone with little or no experience
• Enabling a stud dog to father considerably more puppies than from natural mating alone. Overusing a stud dog may spread unseen genetic faults throughout the breed and will have an impact on genetic diversity and inbreeding
• Introducing hereditary diseases or undesirable traits, especially if using sem*n from a stud dog in a different population. It’s important that all dogs be tested for breed specific health conditions before they’re used for breeding, even when using artificial insemination
• Continuing a reliance on artificial methods of conception, especially if repeatedly used for dogs that can’t mate naturally, either for health or conformational reasons. These dogs will then pass on their genes to their puppies, reinforcing the problem and possibly affecting the health and welfare of future dogs. As such, dogs that cannot breed naturally due to conformation should not be bred from using this procedure

For these reasons AI should only be used in exceptional circ*mstances and where natural matings are not possible.

There are three types of sem*n that can be used for artificial insemination:

• Fresh sem*n – this is usually used when the bitch and the stud dog are geographically close to one another
• Fresh chilled sem*n – chilling sem*n allows you to prolong how long it can be stored for, which means it can be transported further or kept for longer than fresh sem*n
• Frozen sem*n – freezing the sem*n, usually in liquid nitrogen, allows it to be stored for a very long time. During the freezing and defrosting stages some sperm may be damaged. This can affect how long the sperm is viable for once it’s been defrosted

There are three methods of artificial insemination:

• Trans-vagin*l (also known as intra-vagin*l) insemination - Fresh or chilled sem*n is inserted into the bitch’s vagin* using an insemination pipette. This is the most commonly used AI technique and is the least invasive. From July 2023 the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons changed its guidance and confirmed that this will need to be carried out by a veterinary professional in order to reflect the law, as an exemption for ‘suitably qualified lay people’ to carry out the procedure has not been forthcoming from Defra
• Transcervical Insemination - Any type of sem*n can be used for this technique. During the procedure, sem*n is inserted directly into the uterus using a catheter and/or an endoscope. This technique is more invasive than trans-vagin*l insemination and so must only be carried out by a veterinary surgeon.
• Surgical insemination - This type of insemination has been banned in the UK since 2019 by the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons. We do not accept litter applications for puppies that were conceived using this method.

Artificial insemination should always be carried out by a veterinary professional.

You should never let someone with little experience or knowledge try to artificially inseminate a dog as this could hurt or injure them and may lead to difficulties or anxieties around future matings, or in some cases lead to a prosecution for a welfare offence.

All AI litters must meet our current existing registration regulations. We accept applications to register a litter produced by AI from both overseas dogs and those living in the United Kingdom, but the AI must be declared by downloading and completing the Artificial insemination form PDF (form 2) and send it to us together with the litter registration form.

You do not need prior approval from us to register a litter produced by AI.