Freezing of dog semen after cool storage: preliminary results

MANUEL HIDALGO; JOSE MANUEL PORTERO; NARCISO DUARTE; LUCRECIA ALCARAZ; ISABEL ORTIZ; DANIEL ACHA VALLS; SEBASTIÁN DEMYDA PEYRÁS; JESUS DORADO

Antalya

Conferencia; The 15th Annual Conference of the European Society for Domestic Animal Reproduction (ESDAR); 2011

ESDAR ( European Society for Domestic Animal Reproduction)

The aim of this study was to assess the effect of cryopreservation on dog sperm motility after 24 h of cool storage using a low cost Styrofoam box. Semen samples were collected weekly by digital manipulation from four dogs of different breeds. After collection, three ejaculates from different dogs were pooled. The experience was replicated four times. Semen samples were divided into two aliquots. One of them was immediately frozen after collection (control) following a commercial procedure (CaniPro Freeze). The other one was cooled for up to 24 h in a Styrofoam box and then frozen following the same procedure. Total and progressive sperm motility was assessed by CASA and compared between fresh and frozen-thawed semen samples by ANOVA. Cryopreservation caused a significant (p < 0.05) decrease on post-thaw sperm motility both in control as well as in samples that first underwent cool storage for 24 h. However, no differences were found (p < 0.05) in post-thaw sperm motility between the control and the previously stored samples. In conclusion, dog semen can be chilled for up to 24 h in a Styrofoam box and then frozen obtaining similar post-thaw sperm motility as semen samples frozen immediately after collection.