Hi everyone,

Has anyone ever used this method rather than actually importing Salukis?

It's seem a far easy and cheeaper way to get new blood?

Regards

Mark

mark how is the semen protected during the import process

I could'nt tell you :HMMMMM:

I would imagine some sort of specialized thermos flask?

I believe your right Mark it is kept in a thermos with something like liquid nitrogen i could definitely see this being the way to import no costs as such and a litter at the end of it.

Frozen semen is shipped in a sort of cryogenic lunch box, at least for horses. When I lived in Florida I was in and out of the local Fedex office quite often and there were always people coming in with frozen semen from the horse farms in the area. It's not cheap. Just the shipping is expensive, and there are sometimes import problems, depending on the country.

Some links (these relate to dogs):
http://www.ik9sb.com/icsbintro.htm
http://www.caninecryobank.com/frozen.html

Thanks for links, it's certainly something to think about.

Would you use CCO afghan semen on your bitches if it where available?

Yes, if I could get semen from a good hunter and it was through channels I could trust. It would be hideously expensive, and would likely go through so many hands between the dog and my bitch that the risk of it not being handled correctly might outweigh the value of having new blood. I don't think importing semen would bypass the need to make friends in the COO that would trust you with one of their dogs (or it's semen!) I would also gladly breed one of my bitches to a good Saluki or Tazi or whatever you'd like to call that particular breed complex. My dogs are 'purebred' but I place no value on their papers and don't particularly care if the pups would be eligible for registration or not. Salukis, Tazis, Aboriginal Afghans, Khalag Tazis, Taigans, they are all just regional variations of the same breed. It's stupid to divide them up and isolate breeding populations the way modern kennel clubs do.

Yes I agree you would really need to get out there and make the contacts, before even remotely considering it.

I also would breed my KC reg Saluki bitch to any of the regional variants, Like I have mentioned before If I could find a good hunting Afghan I would use it over my Saluki to add more substance and seasonal coat. There goes my Northern Saluki Club membership :rolleyes:

Do you have any photos of your Afghans?