Today is the day!

Harriet has been to visit Dr. Callahan today and her insemination was completed without any issues!

Here is a picture of Harriet waiting patiently to go inside this morning:

Canine semen is frozen in two different forms, 1) pellets and 2) straws. Our semen is in the straw form. Both are extremely successful in achieving conception, however, it is essential that the doctor doing the insemination follows the thawing instructions precisely. Most thawing techniques require that the person using the semen has a form of warm water bath available. A form describing the semen's quality pre thaw and post thaw, should have accompanied the shipment. The semen after thawing, can be observed under a microscope to ensure proper motility. The doctor is looking for 85% or higher motility.

In many cases, the semen will appear to be normal. However, as the semen drop warms gradually, side to side motility becomes noted. The continued warming eventually shows the cells to have achieved a normal forward progression. However, if no motility is noted after 15 minutes, the sample is most likely non-viable.

This is a video of the semen from Gabriel used for Harriet today.

This is the pre-insemination evaluation of the semen. The frozen semen is held in liquid nitrogen vapors at a temperature of -196 degrees Centigrade or approximately 300 degrees below zero Fahrenheit. This temperature is maintained and keeps the semen viable indefinitely.

This semen has been frozen for over three years, and as you can see (you have to look closely at the round white section of the video) the motility is excellent!

We are very pleased with the procedure today, and Harriet is glad to be back home so she can get some well deserved rest. We hope to have an update on the pregnancy by Monday, August 10, 2020.