Blog - Sirius Canine Fertility

2025 TCI success rates are in!

February 17, 2026 By Arabelle Leave a Comment

We’re proud to share our TCI success data from 2025, representing over 250 transcervical inseminations performed throughout the year here at Sirius. While many clinics talk about experience, very few publish their actual annual outcomes. We believe our clients deserve to see real numbers backed by real cases. For us, transparency matters, and so do results.

✨ 2025 Overall TCI Success Rates

• Overall pregnancy success: 88%

• Following our timing protocol: 95%

❄️ Frozen Semen

• Overall success: 84%

• With Sirius timing protocol: 93%

• Average litter size: 6 puppies per breeding (including both single and dual TCI protocols)

🧊 Fresh Chilled Semen

• Overall success: 84%

• With Sirius timing protocol: 94%

🐾 Fresh Semen

• Overall success: 95%

• With Sirius timing protocol: 98%

We did not think we could do much better, but somehow our success rates from last year are even higher than the year before! These numbers reflect hundreds of procedures, meticulous progesterone timing, and a team that is deeply committed to reproductive excellence.

We are incredibly grateful to the breeders and veterinarians who trust us with their programs year after year. Your success is our success, and nothing makes us happier than seeing those puppy photos roll in with the pupdates we receive. 🐶💕

If you’re planning an upcoming breeding, give us a call at 530-273-9123, we’re here to help you maximize your chances.

Brucellosis FAQ

February 2, 2026 By Arabelle Leave a Comment

What is it?
Brucellosis- AKA Brucella Canis or B. Canis is a highly contagious incurable disease caused by the bacterium Brucella Canis. Meaning, this is a bacterial infection that cannot be treated. It is the ONLY bloodborne pathogen recognized by OSHA in veterinary medicine.

What does it do?
Infection in male dogs can cause lead to testicular atrophy and infertility. Female dogs can abort in late gestation and have vaginal discharge. It can also result in litters that include dead, infected, and apparently healthy puppies. Dogs can also develop an infection within their spine, inflammation of the eyes, or non-specific signs such as lethargy, decreased appetite, and enlarged lymph nodes. Some dogs have no obvious clinical signs and cause infection for other dogs.

Why do we care?
Brucellosis is highly contagious, and resistant to antibiotics, making it untreatable. Brucella Canis can be present in saliva, urine, feces, and reproductive fluids and can live for several months in the right environment, as it can survive high humidity, low temperatures, without sunlight, dry surfaces, and can even survive the semen freezing process. With this, dust, dirt, water, clothing, and any other objects the infected dog may have been in contact with pose a risk of transmission. There is no cure for canine brucellosis, and dogs are considered infected for life, and there is also no vaccine available.

Brucella is zoonotic- which means you can get it too! Once in the human, the disease may never be eliminated – it hangs out in the bone marrow of the unfortunate recipient for the rest of their lives, causing symptoms that include fever, aches, and symptoms similar to that of influenza. It is of particular concern in the very young, the very old, patients who are immunocompromised. Women who are pregnant can lose a pregnancy – and when you consider most caretakers of dogs in shelters, humane societies, rescue organizations, dog breeding kennels are young females of child-bearing age, this is especially worrisome.

This is a reportable disease, and treatment is left up to your county officials- many will require that the entire kennel, and any dogs exposed, be euthanized.

The Society for Theriogenology recommends that all breeding dogs be tested based upon risk factors and frequency of breeding and found to be negative prior to breeding. This means both male and female dogs be tested prior to each breeding, and prior to semen freezing, all male dogs should be tested and found to be negative.

In addition, the Society for Theriogenology recommends that all dogs and dog semen imported into the United States are negative for B. canis.

There have been an increasing number of outbreaks throughout the United States, particularly in commercial breeding operations. As infected dogs move out of these facilities and co-mingle with other dogs as breeding stock and rescued dogs, brucellosis may easily spread into other breeding facilities and client’s homes. Dogs may be exposed by routes other than venereal transmission, such as through casual contact with urine and genital discharges at dog events and breeders who rescue dogs from breeding facilities. Veterinarians and breeders must be less complacent about testing for this important and devastating disease.

For these reasons, we, and many other facilities, are now requiring brucellosis testing once a year for any studs being frozen with us.

Questions To Consider When Choosing a Potential Stud

February 2, 2026 By Arabelle Leave a Comment

Has the stud passed all health clearances (both physical & genetic) recommended for your breed? Health should always come first when planning a breeding.

Does the stud have a current brucellosis test? Always be sure both the stud and the bitch have been tested for brucella prior to breeding, regardless of whether it is a natural tie, side by side, or shipped semen.

Has the stud successfully sired a litter with the type of semen you are planning to use (fresh, chilled, or frozen) in the past? If no, it is always a good idea to request an evaluation report from a collection done within the last 4 months when planning a fresh or chilled breeding. For fresh or chilled semen, the stud dogs semen count should be around 100 million sperm cells for every lolbs of body weight.

If you are looking at frozen semen, a report for the particular collection date you are purchasing should be requested. Be sure this report includes post thaw, abnormalities, and the number of live, motile, normal cells in each unit. When using frozen semen, the recommended dosage vary based on the breed, please feel free to reach out to us if you have any questions regarding recommendations for your particular breed.

Does this stud’s pedigree meet your needs? Is this stud’s temperament desirable and appropriate for for his purpose? Is there a family history of health, longevity, and performance titles? Always check the stud’s pedigree against your bitch’s to be sure it fits your needs and there is no overlap.

How many litters has this stud dog sired? Choosing a proven stud is always a good idea, however, breeding a stud too frequently can reduce genetic diversity, and increase chances of inbreeding in the future. Overusing a particular stud can negatively affect the breed’s longevity.

Does your stud owner work with a reputable fertility clinic? Proper collection and processing of the semen, whether it be side by side, fresh chilled, or frozen, is the first step towards a successful artificial insemination.

Does this stud meet breed standard? No dog is perfect, however, you should try to choose a stud who compliments your bitch’s weak points, vice versa. Overdone studs with extreme features should be avoided.

Can you meet this stud in person? While this is not always possible, it can be helpful to meet the stud you are considering in person, to be sure they are a good fit for your breeding program.

What is the stud fee? Whether it is pick of the litter, or a fee, it is always good to be sure this is something you’re comfortable with.

Sirius Canine Fertility’s Tips for Importing Frozen Semen from Another Country

January 30, 2026 By Arabelle Leave a Comment

Thank you for considering us for your canine semen import. We are frequently asked “how much semen should I ask for” or “what is a breeding unit”?

These questions can be confusing, especially since there is no real standard between countries or even between veterinarians.

The following are the requirements we would like for our clients, to obtain the best chances for successful breeding. These parameters are optimal, but it is certainly understandable if you are purchasing semen from a deceased stud dog, or if the semen is in short demand, to need to work with smaller numbers.

Semen is frozen by different methods, resulting in either “straws” or “vials”. Vials are simple math, as they are usually divided into individual breeding units. One vial= one breeding unit.

Straws are generally 0.5 ml straws with a set amount of sperm in each, and the number required will depend on variables such as morphology and post thaw motility. Generally, we see a breeding unit of 3-5 straws.

Breeding units are where it gets extra tricky and there is no set standard. The following is the recommended protocol for any imported semen.

A complete sperm count is done on the collection, and both morphology and post thaw motility being accessed when determining how to package the breeding unit.
We request a copy of the completed semenalysis prior to the importation to help with recommendations on how much semen to have sent over.
Regardless of the breed, we would like to see a minimum of 150 million live, normal, motile sperm cells, with the POST THAW MOTILITY included in the calculations. The preferred number is 200 million, but in smaller breeds, or when there is only a small amount of semen available, we can work with 150 million live, motile sperm per breeding unit.
We require the same number of live motile sperm per breeding unit, regardless of if the semen will be implanted via Transcervical insemination, or surgical implant.

When doing Transcervical insemination, optimum protocol is to do two inseminations, one breeding unit per insemination. With this in mind, we ask for a minimum of 2 breeding units, regardless of the method used to freeze the semen, whenever possible. Due to the cost involved, it is worth having a discussion between the stud owner and purchasing bitch owner about sending an extra unit or two, in case the bitch does not take on the first breeding attempt.

If doing Surgical insemination, one breeding unit is used for the insemination. In many cases, a second breeding unit will be used for a follow up transcervical insemination.
If the semen is needing to be registered with the American Kennel Club, please note that we will need a small amount of semen to send in for DNA, if a swab is not included with the shipment, or if the stud dog is deceased. The DNA process requires 1 straw or 3 pellets to complete the DNA profile, so please send additional semen for the DNA testing.

Occasionally stud owners will send additional semen to us for storage in case of a missed breeding attempt. We ask the stud and bitch owners to work out who’s account it will be stored under and who will continue with payments on the storage account going forward.

We hope this information is helpful when negotiating how much semen you will be purchasing. If everyone works with the same numbers and information, it increases chances for successful breeding and also keeps expectations uniform for all involved.

Please do not hesitate to ask us if you have any questions. We can be reached at export@siriuscaninefertility.com

Bridgett and Arabelle

Sirius Canine Fertility, Export Department

Choosing A Protein Source for Your Dog’s Diet

November 21, 2016 By Bridgett Higginbotham Leave a Comment

by Linda Montgomery DVM

Whether you prepare your dog’s food yourself or purchase a commercial raw or kibble diet, your choice of a protein source is very important. Considerations include whether the meat is organically raised or not, any allergy issues your dog might have and whether it is meat or meat “meal”. Another, less commonly considered, aspect of choosing a meat source for your dog, is choosing one based on his or her constitution and/or current TCVM (Traditional Chinese Veterinary Medicine) pattern.

The focus of today’s newsletter is feeding according to your dog’s TCVM pattern. While many dogs are in balance, patterns of imbalance are present in most disease conditions. Keeping your dog in balance is important in preventing and helping treat common disease conditions such as arthritis and skin problems.

Dogs who are Yang deficient or bothered by cold, damp weather benefit from warm meats. Examples of warm protein sources include chicken, pheasant, beef kidney, chicken liver.

For dogs who are Yin deficient or bothered by heat, cool protein sources should be used. These include duck, rabbit, turkey and white fish.

Dogs who are Qi deficient are generally weak and can have a Yin or Yang deficiency in addition to a Qi deficiency. Qi tonic foods include beef, chicken and rabbit.

Blood deficiency is not the same as being anemic. Blood deficient dogs have dry skin, and brittle hair and nails. Beef, liver and heart are all blood tonic meats.

For dogs who are in balance, neutral foods are recommended to help keep them that way. Neutral protein sources include beef, beef liver, eggs, pork and tripe.

Some protein sources are very hot or very cold, and should only be used for short amounts of time or avoided completely. Lamb, venison and trout are hot, whereas crab and clam are cold. This is important because many commercial dog foods are lamb based and should be not be fed long term.

Commercial kibbles are highly processed and impart heat, which can be a problem for dogs with Yin deficiency or other heat related conditions. Home cooked diets or commercial raw diets such as Honest Kitchen are preferred over kibble for most dogs.

2025 TCI success rates are in!

Brucellosis FAQ

Questions To Consider When Choosing a Potential Stud

Sirius Canine Fertility’s Tips for Importing Frozen Semen from Another Country

Choosing A Protein Source for Your Dog’s Diet

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