At Cliftwood Animal Hospital, we are proud to offer a wide range of cutting-edge canine reproductive services in Sandy Springs. Dr. Kestle is an expert in dog breeding, and she is passionate about sharing her knowledge and expertise with professional breeders. If you are seeking expert canine reproductive care, you are in the right place.

Reproductive Services

Our reproductive services include:
  • Canine semen freezing
  • Surgical insemination
  • C-sections
  • Fresh chilled semen
  • Trans-cervical insemination
  • Breeding soundness evaluations
  • Infertility workups
  • Artificial insemination
  • Semen analysis
  • Whelping consultations

Dr. Kestle has been freezing semen with Zoetis since 1992 and has extensive experience in the field because she has been raising champion Akitas since the 1980s. Her largest litters have always been from surgical inseminations performed with frozen semen.

She enjoys working closely with professional breeds and helping them with pre-breeding exams, OFA, and Penn-HIP. She happily refers patients to other specialists for genetic testing. Dr. Kestle spoke at the 2008 Theriogenology Conference for Breeders and penned the article “Breeding Options In The Bitch.”

Contract

The contracts below must be completed for each dog having semen frozen and stored at Cliftwood Animal Hospital for the first time or if a client is transferring frozen semen to Cliftwood Animal Hospital from another location.
*Seven days’ notice is required to ship/transfer any frozen semen. If you do not provide adequate notice, fee will be added to any and all bills.

Canine Surgical Insemination FAQs

What is canine surgical insemination?

An abdominal incision is made after the patient has undergone anesthesia and aseptic preparation. Once the uterus is located, semen is directly injected into an anterior horn of the uterus using a small needle.

Why is canine surgical insemination a useful procedure?

Breeding is most successful when semen can be placed in the anterior of the uterus at exactly the right time. This is especially useful when semen quality is low, when the female has fertility issues related to the cervix, and when using low-dose frozen semen.

What are the benefits of canine surgical insemination?

Semen must traverse the cervix to enter the uterus for fertilization to occur in natural breeding. With surgical insemination, the semen is exposed directly to the developing egg. This method has an excellent success rate, especially among sub-fertile females and instances where the semen’s quality is questionable.

Does my bitch need any testing before insemination?

Only a single breeding is typically performed using surgical insemination due to the cost and time involved. To maximize litter sizes and conception rates, ovulation timing is crucial. We always recommend a comprehensive pre-surgical exam and pre-anesthetic laboratory screenings before surgery.

Is there any other way to use frozen semen if I don’t want my bitch to undergo anesthesia?

Transcervical insemination also allows for intrauterine deposition of semen. However, surgical insemination is still recommended in circumstances with poor semen or a female with known cervix issues. Surgical insemination is the recommended and preferred technique for frozen semen.