Companion AnimalsCompanion Animals

An article in the February issue of In Practice discussed the benefits of artificial insemination in dogs and explained how to collect and preserve canine semen (In Practice, February 2014, vol 36, pp 77-84). This second article discusses the practicalities of performing artificial insemination in dogs, giving advice on keeping the risk of adverse effects to a minimum. This article is the second of three that describe practical aspects of artificial insemination (Ai) in cats and dogs. in the first article (England and others 2014), methods for semen collection and preservation were described, along with the many advantages of Ai. Despite the large number of benefits of Ai there are also some disadvantages. These include: the potential to cause physical and psychological trauma during the insemination process; undertaking Ai for inappropriate reasons (eg, where reluctance to breed is caused by an underlying inherited disease); allowin