NC center is largest on the East Coast for helping breed tomorrow’s championship dogs
For 30 years, Gail Boyd has been breeding whippets in western Wake County to pass their affectionate nature and elegant look down through each bloodline.
The British sighthounds look like small greyhounds, come in different colors and love to relax beside their owners. They can also run up to 35 mph.
“They’re just the most perfect breed,” Boyd said “They’re quiet, clean, fairly healthy. They’re just an all-around, wonderful family dog and great with kids.”
After each litter, Boyd decides which males she wants to collect semen from later. When they are between 1 and 3 years old, she takes the dogs to Infinity Canine in Cary, the largest canine-semen-storage facility on the East Coast.
The practice is a delicate and expensive one, but Boyd, the owner of the Town & Country Animal Hospital in Apex, knows how beneficial it can be: 111 of her whippets over the years have become champions, their health being a factor in their success.
Since Infinity Canine opened 10 years ago, hundreds of dogs bred or cared for there have gone on to compete in local and national shows, like the Westminster Dog Show, the longest-running dog sporting event in the country. The four-day show begins in New York on May 11.
“It’s a neat business,” co-owner Stephanie Parker said. “We sometimes can point and say, ‘We did that litter!’ It’s a fulfilling feeling.”
‘The Sperm Girls’
You have to have a sense of humor when you’re in the business of collecting and storing dog sperm, Parker said.
Every stud, or male dog, is different. Some require a level of trust with the technicians collecting the semen, while others just need the presence of a female dog, even if they don’t breed with her.
Marvel, a demure, tan and white Borzoi, greets the studs and their owners at Infinity Canine and often serves as “temptress,” said Parker, who owns seven Borzois and a Brittany spaniel. One of her Borzois just had a litter, with seven puppies going to show and performance homes and three others to pet homes.
Parker and co-owner Amy Burleson-Thompson are registered veterinary technicians while Gina Hartless is shipping manager. Together, they’re called “The Sperm Girls.”
Recently, they helped facilitate two breedings from sperm collected in 1994 and 1997. On Wednesday, Hartless was preparing to ship sperm to Germany.
When frozen, dog sperm can last hundreds of years.
Some breeds like French and English bulldogs, pugs and Boston terriers have small bodies, big heads and narrow hips that make mating and delivery difficult. Semen collected from male dogs is used to inseminate the bitches, or female dogs, in heat, who will later deliver by c-sections.
But even dogs that can procreate normally sometimes need assistance with natural breeding. Some aren’t sure what to do, especially if it’s their first time.
“It’s a very unnatural thing that we’re doing but we’re trying to make it as natural as possible,” Burleson-Thompson said.
How does it work?
“How we get (the sperm) is exactly the way you think,” Parker said.
The sperm is collected with specimen cups and stored in straws placed in tanks filled with nitrogen gas.
Once thawed, the semen only remains viable for 24 to 48 hours.
“Timing is everything,” Parker said. “A breeder’s life can be centered around the girl’s ovulation.”
Few veterinarians specialize in theriogenology, or animal reproduction. Infinity Canine partners with Cary’s Homestead Veterinary Hospital and Creekside Animal Hospital in Mebane, whose veterinarians perform artificial insemination procedures with the sperm they collect.
Michael Adams, a veterinarian at Homestead, said before semen is collected and insemination begun, dogs need to go through multiple health examinations, including ensuring that the bitch can carry a litter of puppies successfully.
“Unless we’ve got a really strong base for good health for the bitch, we’re not going to get healthy puppies no matter what,” Adams said. “Producing the best quality of offspring for them is extremely important for us as medical providers.”
How Adams breeds the dogs depends on the type of semen being used.
Artificial insemination is the most basic and non-invasive procedure as it just requires depositing semen that has just been collected.
A surgical insemination, where an incision is made through a female dog’s abdomen to inject the sperm into her uterus, and trans-cervical insemination, which involves a camera-guided implant through the cervix, are typically performed when the semen is frozen or chilled and then thawed.
‘You spend a lot’
Semen collection has been popular among dog show participants. Breeders looking to make quick cash on puppies are less likely to spend money on testing, semen collection and storage.
“You rarely make any money in dog breeding,” Boyd said. “You spend a lot. And if you’re lucky you break even, and what money that you might make, you invest it back in your dogs by their health testing.”
Breeders pay for multiple tests, and there’s no guarantee the bitch will get pregnant. Boyd pays about $90 for each progesterone test to tell when her female whippets are ovulating.
Prices vary based on location, the collection agency, and the best chances of successful insemination:
Semen collection, known as the stud fee: over $200 (Infinity Canine charges $487)
High-quality semen: up to $2,000
Insemination: $500 to $1,000-plus
Echocardiogram (heart test): $300-$600
Brucellosis test: $65-plus
Semen storage (frozen or chilled): $100-plus per dog annually
Shipping nationally: $500-$700
Shipping internationally: $2,000-$3,000
‘Dog shows are like family’
Dog show season begins in March, and two or three times a month, the Infinity Canine team is traveling around the country competing with their show dogs or collecting sperm for other breeders.
The Parker family shows their brown and white Brittany spaniel, Flynn, and next year hopes to attend Westminster.
Burleson-Thompson has two American bully pups who will soon compete in shows. Boyd’s whippets will be competing May 10-12 in a Mid-Atlantic Hound Association of Central North Carolina event at the N.C. State Fairgrounds.
“Dog shows are fun,” Burleson-Thompson said. “The people are amazing; they love their dogs so much. They’re different people because they’re very passionate and quirky.”
Infinity Canine clients can’t wait to share the news when their dogs win in shows, Parker said.
“Dog shows are like family,” she said. “The animals are at the center of it all.”
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