THE TESTICULAR LENGTH AND WIDTH AND THE S EMEN QUALITY OF FERTILE DOGS OF DIFFERENT BODY WEIGHTS

In the present study the testicular length and width as well as the se men quality of 243 fertile stud dogs of different breeds are related t o their body weight. The testicular measurements and the correlated to tal sperm number (p < 0,001) show significant differences between the weight groups (p < 0,001). The same can be said about the total ejacul ate volume, at which a functional dependency on the size of the prosta te gland is taken into account. For the qualitative parameters percent age of progressively motile spermatozoa, percentage of eosin-stained s permatozoa, and percentage of morphologically altered spermatozoa no d ifferences are found between the weight groups. The results show that anamnestically fertile stud dogs can have relatively small gonads and considerable semen deficiences. Thus one can assume that beside other causes, they are due to an insufficient consideration of fertility rel evant criteria during the selection for breeding permission. On accoun t of extremely low fertility results in different breeds, the authors recommend a thorough andrological examination of stud dogs before the first breeding.