The effect of the age of dogs on their ejaculate

• Main Authors: Radek Filipčík, M. Vágenknechtová, M. Hošek, L. Jarinkovičová
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Mendel University Press 2011-01-01
• Series: Acta Universitatis Agriculturae et Silviculturae Mendelianae Brunensis
• Subjects: dog ejaculate; volume of ejaculate; sperm activity; sperm concentration
• Online Access: https://acta.mendelu.cz/59/3/0045/

The effect of the age of dogs on quantitative and qualitative parameters of the ejaculate was explored. We evaluated 43 dogs; from each dog we collected three samples on three successive days. The dogs were divided into three age categories: 1.5–2 years; 2–3 years; and 3–5 years. The maximum ejaculate volume was collected from dogs of 2–3 years of age; the average volume of ejaculate from 3 collections was 9.1 ml. Microscopic examinations of the ejaculate of this age category of dogs showed that the highest average sperm concentration was 153.62.103.mm−3. In older dogs the ejaculate volume decreased considerably with increasing frequency of collections (8 ml > 5 ml > 2 ml at the 3rd collection). The amount of motile sperm was the highest in 3 to 5-year-old dogs (76%) and was related with the highest proportion of morphologically normal sperm (66.8%). However in the 3rd collection of this age category we saw a significant (P < 0.05) increase in the amount of pathologically changed sperm (29.5 < 28.8 < 41.2%), mostly in the structure of the flagellum. Significant differences in the quantity and quality of the ejaculate were discovered not only among the age categories of the dogs but also among the individual collections.