Can a Female Dog breed with two Studs - Petmeetly

Can a Female Dog breed with two Studs?

Dog breed Dog Breeding Studs dog

As per the research, a female dog can have two studs during her mating period and produce a dual-sired litter having characteristics of either stud. Scientifically, this phenomenon is called Superfecundation and is common in stray unspayed canines. The litters come out in large sizes but without harming the overall health of the female dog.

When conducted in a planned manner, it is referred to as outcross breeding. It is conducted to ensure pregnancy in the female dogs or while experimenting for hybrid dogs.

Some Basics About Studs

Stud Dog is the term used to describe a male canine in the dog breeding process. While the standard age for using a stud dog is approximately two years, the breed and the temperament of the male dog play a crucial role in determining their eligibility as a stud.

For example, smaller breeds are sexually mature at 8-10 months but larger breeds like the Great Dane take a longer time of two years to sexually mature. They also have a shorter reproductive window. That’s why using more than one stud is important to increase the fertility rate and improve the probability of having a litter.

Interestingly, domestic dogs have mate preferences and often go for dominant males in the pack. Potential breeders use this quality to introduce multiple studs to the female for the ready availability of a breeding partner in case they refuse to mate with one stud. Sometimes, breeders go for multiple studs to produce a genetically diverse litter having the best qualities of either parent.

Factors Impacting Parentage Ratio When Using Two Studs

A study was conducted to evaluate the factors that impact the parentage ratio while using two studs. The data was collected from 28 individual bitches over a period of 10 years. The comparison was conducted by

1. Using the frozen semen from a genetically compatible stud and artificially inseminating the female.
2. Using fresh or frozen semen of the backup stud and artificially inseminating the female dog or naturally getting the second stud to mate with the female.

The DNA parentage of the pups, whelping rate, and litter size in the bitches from individual studs were taken as the control factors.

The study revealed the following outcomes:

Out of the 29 dual-sired breedings, 26 bitches whelped (gave birth). Mixed parentage was observed in 8 litters out of which 73% of pups were from the second stud and 27% of pups were from the first stud.
In litters recording single-sire parentage, 50% of the pups were from the first stud and 50% from the backup stud.
In the remaining litters containing a mix of single and combination paternity pups, there wasn’t any marked difference in the average litter size.
Overall, researchers observed that the whelping rate or birth rate with the size of the litter was greater in females that had been inseminated by two studs than in females inseminated by a single stud.
The study proved that using two studs for a female can produce genetically diverse litters of mixed paternity while at the same time enhancing the fertility rate in a single estrous/heat cycle. This can prove useful in breeding older females or those with reduced fertility in producing healthy pups.

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Does Engaging Multiple Studs Impact the Fertility of Dogs?

Breeding with multiple studs does not impact the fertility of the female or the stud in any manner. Instead, breeders prefer multiple studs when they are uncertain of the fertility status of the first stud and like to use a second stud as a backup to get success.
Female dogs produce multiple eggs and give birth to several pups. They remain in heat for around 10 days. When finally they get sired by two studs, they have their eggs fertilized by two different partners.
But the semen quality, timing, and breeding methods play an important role in influencing the genetics of the ensuing litter. If the female is inseminated by two dogs at the same time, then the dominant sperm wins and there is a 99% chance that all the pups will get the DNA of only one father.

Similarly artificially inseminating the females with the frozen sperm of two studs can impact the quality of fertilization as artificially injected frozen sperms survive for less time than sperms introduced through natural copulation methods.

However, experts advise that maintaining a semination gap of 24 to 48 hours between both stud partners with natural copulation yields best results.

Is there a proper way to breed a female dog with two studs

Unfortunately, there is no vet-certified way of breeding a bitch with two studs. That said, the AKC allows the registration of litters with more than one sire (stud). It also recommends owners to determine the parentage of the litter with the AKC DNA Profile Program before registering the litter.

It is further required to have the DNA profile of the studs and dams used for breeding multiple sire litter (puppies produced through two studs ) on file and associate the pups with the registration number.

 If the two studs used for breeding are related then further DNA Operations are mandatory to determine the correct parentage of the ensuing pups. The litter registration fees are determined based on the number of studs used and the puppies produced by each stud in addition to the DNA processing costs.

 The breed of the stud plays an important role in the AKC registration procedures. If the second stud is of a different breed than the female dog the resulting pups need further DNA tests to confirm the parentage and identify their purity in the best possible manner.

Things that we should remember

Pairing a female using two studs is an accepted method of producing a litter and is even more preferred if either of the canines is of an increased age or has a reduced fertility status. Despite the efforts of the breeders, the success rate of the breeding program also depends on the breed of the dog.

The BBC has recently produced a list of stud dog breeds like Basset Hounds, Bloodhound, Bulldogs and others to be banned from its popular television coverage ‘Crufts‘ as it stated them to be having genetic issues and stated that breeding them could risk their skeletal system and put their lives in danger.

Before introducing your female dog to studs, research the breed and consult with a stud breeder to ensure healthy litter without putting the health of dogs in risk.

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