The bitch determines the size of the litter by the amount of eggs she produces that cycle. Sounds to me like you might be breeding too late when some the fertilized eggs have expired and he is not interested. Do progesterone levels to get an optimal breeding date, do one AI on that date, and then try a natural breeding 2 days after that. If you had a more reliable stud I would do 2 natural breedings and no AI but with his limitations I would want to be dure I got a good amount of sperm inserted on that best day for breeding and AI helps insure that. I would worry more about timing to get the most available eggs than I would worry about sperm quality if he is a young healthy boy.
Not only can you increase litter size but you might increase your # of girl puppies as supposedly the "girl sperm" are faster travelers and will reach those ready to go eggs first.
Using progesterone testing (two tests each at $60 per test) I have two litters now, one of three and one of six, total of 7 girls and 2 boys. |