Reproduction Services

Watch Video of Ultrasound & Echocardiography

Frances O Smith, DVM, PhD became a Diplomate of the College of Theriogenology in 1986. Since that time she has been in private practice as a small animal practitioner specializing in canine reproduction. Dr. Smith is the only board certified theriogenologist in private practice. Her expertise in genetic counseling, chilled and frozen semen and reproductive infertility of the male and female canine are known throughout the United States.  Dr. Smith frequently speaks to breed groups, veterinary associations and the general public.

For more information on our breeding protocol, click here.

Infertility Counseling
Define problems which develop while attempting to breed individual animals through a comprehensive examination and appropriate laboratory workup.

Semen Freezing
After a complete semen evaluation, an individual’s sperm can be frozen in pellets and stored in liquid nitrogen. This process involves extending the collected semen in an appropriate media, chilling the semen for four hours via refrigeration, dropping 100 microliters of the extended semen on the dry ice to form pellets and plunging the pellets into liquid nitrogen.

Transcervical Insemination
Through the use of a Stortz laparoscope, a small catheter is passed through the cervix. Semen can then be directly deposited into the body of the uterus.

Extending semen for shipment
By collecting semen and extending the semen into the appropriate media, semen can be shipped by Fed Ex overnight delivery anywhere in the United States.

Obstetric Care

Providing counseling regarding the maintenance of pregnancy gives the owner of the female dog the best chance of obtaining the maximum litter size, maintaining a healthy mother, and producing healthy, viable puppies. This counseling begins with the onset of heat with the utilization of vaginal smears and in house Immulyte run progesterone values. After a successful breeding thirty days later, the female is ultrasounded. At approximately 55 days, the female’s abdomen is radiographed for numbers of puppies. After appropriate counseling about whelping of the female and good communication with the female’s owner, a cesarean section could be required. Cesarean sections are performed only after careful evaluation of the female’s whelping progression or past history of a failure to whelp properly.

Pediatric Care
Counseling on the appropriate care of newborn puppies gives the puppies the best chance of survival. This counseling includes proper weight gain for the breed, feeding techniques, heating of the puppy and ends with appropriate vaccination counseling to provide the puppy with the best immune response available.

Deworming Protocol for pregnant dogs and newborn puppies