Frozen Canine Eggs

Petside Blog
|
Poll Archive
|
A-Z
- AAHA
- Beds
- Bones
- Books
- Bowls
- Carriers
- Cat Food
- Catnip
- Collars
- Crates
- Dog Food
- Grooming Tools
- Leashes
- Pet Food
- Pet Picture
- Pet Store
- Pharmacy
- Toys
- Treats

| Print | By | October 1, 2008 10:23 AM

A Labrador retriever gave birth earlier this month to what are claimed to be the world's first puppies born from transplanted frozen fertilized eggs--births that could lead toward alleviating the current shortage of guide dogs in Japan.

A research team led by Prof. Hiroshi Suzuki, a specialist in developmental engineering at Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, transplanted frozen fertilized ova of a Labrador retriever guide dog into another.

It's important for guide dogs to be gentle and take easily to people. Even after about a year's training, only 30 percent to 40 percent of dogs pass a test to become a service companion.

Potential guide dogs must be neutered before training to prevent them from becoming distracted by sexual urges. So even if they are later judged to be excellent workers with a good temperament, they are unable to produce offspring.

Eggs taken from a female dog before it is spayed can be stored indefinitely before being used for artificial insemination.

This makes it easy to draw up a long-term breeding plan and could solve to the current guide dog shortage.
Frozen fertilized eggs from guide dogs in training and breeding dogs were transplanted into 3-year-old Maro, bred for experimental use at the university in Obihiro, Hokkaido.

Maro gave birth to three puppies on Sept. 8. Though one was stillborn, the experiment was judged to have been a success.
According to Suzuki, the survival rate of fertilized eggs after freezing is low, and there have been no other successful births to date.
To increase the survival rate of the eggs, Suzuki employed a method of rapidly freezing them to -385 F to minimize cell damage.
The research was conducted in conjunction with the Sapporo-based Hokkaido Guide Dogs for the Blind Association.
Send your comments to stories@petside.com

RELATED TOPICS:

« Previous