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Canine Reproduction

The doctors and staff at Applewood Animal Hospital are proud to work with responsible breeders to aid in producing happy and healthy puppies. As such we perform ovulation timing and insemination services for bitches we believe to be sufficiently healthy, both physically and mentally, to sustain pregnancy and whelping. The breeders we work with understand and support our goal of bringing the healthiest possible puppies into the world!

Requirements

To be considered for the breeding program at Applewood Animal Hospital all dogs and bitches must meet the following criteria:

All breeding animals must had had health testing as specified by their national breed club. Required and recommended tests for each breed can be found at https://www.ofa.org/recommended-tests . “Designer” breeds must have the minimum testing required by either their breed club or by the foundation breeds used to create the designer dog.
- If under the age of two years, preliminary testing will be considered acceptable for one breeding. Final testing must be completed before we will assist with another breeding.
- All breeding animals must be over 12 months of age in order to have done at least preliminary testing.
Have a temperament that permits a physical examination, blood draw, semen collection and/or insemination without the use of a muzzle or sedation.
Must be in a healthy body condition, neither over- nor underweight.
Must have proof of current rabies vaccination.
We reserve the right to refuse breeding services if we do not feel it would be in the best interest of the dog or bitch.

If your dog does not meet the above criteria

Ovulation timing (progesterone tests) will be performed on bitches not meeting the above criteria, but neither insemination nor planned caesarean sections will be done at Applewood Animal Hospital for these girls. For inseminations that will be performed elsewhere we will do semen collections and freezings on stud dogs that do not meet the above criteria, but of course recommend that all dogs used for breeding have all appropriate health testing done.

Exam Requirements

All dogs coming to Applewood for reproductive services must have had a physical examination by one of our doctors within the previous 12 months. As our doctors are typically scheduled at least 7-10 days in advance, we encourage all breeders to schedule these exams well in advance of the planned breeding or semen collection needs.

Services for Males:

Applewood Animal Hospital is proud to be the only small animal veterinary hospital in Arizona utilizing SpermVision technology to analyze your dog’s semen collection, providing detailed analysis including sperm concentration, motility, morphology and more.
We are a certified Canine Semen Freezing Center affiliated with Zoetis, and collections done here have produced puppies all around the world!
Chilled semen collection and evaluation (including longevity testing).
Brucellosis testing

Services for Females:

Breeding soundness evaluation
Breeding Management (including ovulation timing (in-house) and inseminations using fresh, chilled or frozen semen)
Ultrasound pregnancy diagnosis
High-risk pregnancy management (in conjunction with Whelpwise veterinaryperinatalspecialties.com )
Caesarean sections
Medical management of uterine disorders
Medical pregnancy termination
Brucellosis testing

Regarding Caesarean Sections

Please note that we schedule caesarean sections based on the date of ovulation, not on breeding dates. We will schedule c-sections only for bitches who had ovulation (progesterone) timing testing done by a licensed veterinarian. Testing results obtained by laypersons will NOT be accepted and while we are happy to perform daily “reverse progesterone” testing to aid in determining the optimum date for the c-section, we unfortunately cannot guarantee doctor availability to perform the surgery when it becomes necessary.