Introduction

Biotechnology of dog semen has increased the interest of dog owners due to advantages such as genetic material storage for long period of time, genetic exchange without the need of animals traveling, and minor risk of diseases. Besides that, those techniques can be used to evaluate the reproductive status in these animals, and that is a valuable tool, especially in breed dogs such as Shar-Pei. The aim of this study was to perform an andrologic evaluation in dogs from the Shar-Pei breed.

Methods

Twenty-four ejaculates from 5 Shar-Pei dogs, adults and pubertal, were used. Volume, aspect color, motility, vigor, sperm concentration and defects were evaluated. No formal analysis were done and data was described subjectively (color and aspect) and mean ± standard deviation (SD) (volume, vigor, concentration), and percentage (motility and defects).

Results

All ejaculates had light yellow color and presented normal aspect. Volume and vigor mean ± SD were 2.05 ± 1.34 mL; 3.71 ± 1.1 mL, respectively. Motility percentage was 69% (0–95% variation), sperm concentration was 115 x 10⁶ ± 87.36. We observe a 24% mean of sperm pathology (most of it minor tail defects). Literature concerning andrologic evaluation in the Shar-Pei breed is rare, but it seems that semen characteristics in this breed are similar to others breeds.

Conclusions

Andrologic evaluation in Shar-Pei dogs demonstrate that these dogs had good semen quality, similar to other breeding races.