As a breeder, concern for the bitches health and ability to whelp a litter of pups is usually forward thinking when working through issues. To this end we, at times, seem to neglect the stud dog in sharing dog issues. After all, a dog at stud just does his half and it is only his fault if the puppies do not fit the breed standard (yes, I am being cynical).
There seems to be a consensus that a small litter is due to the bitch having small litters, or her mother only had two pups in her litters, so there is no further expectation. Our thinking is based on past experiences instead considering the possibilities for future litters. It seems to make more sense to work through the latter half of the previous statement, as we incur great expenses in shipping our champion bitches cross country to engage the best stud without ever asking the stud owner about the health and the dog’s virility. Should we be asking how many pups per litter he has produced and how many bitches he serviced in the last year? Use does not equal higher sperm count and, in fact, could mean less. As stud owners, we need to take responsibility for the usability and vitality of our dogs.
The stud dog has responsibilities in litter size, this end is accomplished not only in the density of sperm (sperm count), but in the motility of the sperm (the sperm movement), including the morphology. This would be the actual structure of the sperm, such as the length and shape of the tail or size of head. These three issues together with good health and vitality would help to produce a larger litter. The ability for the sperm to travel to the released egg depends upon its ability to overcome obstacles of environment such as the PH and viscosity (thickness) of fluid within the bitches’ vagina. With this information you can understand how important it is to not only have a greater sperm count but to have healthy vigorous sperm to obtain this goal.
One of the questions needing an answer is can we increase density, motility and morphology of the sperm, as well as the ability to handle the rigors of standing at stud, to aid in our goal of reproduction? The answer to this question is yes. A very simple solution in adding COENZYME Q 10 to the evening meal. This will help with all 4 areas of virility in less than 6 weeks and this includes stud dogs that are older, too. Research was done with dogs first and then humans and it was done for the benefit of humans, so while reading this you may easily insert yourself in the place of the word dog.
COENZYME Q 10 can be described as a vitamin or perhaps more as a vitamin-like substance; there are disagreements amongst the researchers about where this should fit in the nomenclature of bioscience. It is known to be a fat-soluble substance that is present and needed in every cell of the body, dog or human. In the shortest way of explaining this, it is a participant in “aerobic cellular respiration” (that which causes breath and activity at the cell level and being “energy”), generating energy in the form of “ATP”. For all of you who work out or get adrenalin kicks, this is for the fastest energy coming straight from the muscle during workouts. “ATP” is the first energy called upon for “flight or fight”, and is only available if you have COENZYME Q 10 to produce this before the need. The same goes for the production of sperm before you need the use of the sperm. COENZYME Q 10 is also one of the main components of the “electron transport chain” (messages sent to all of the cells). Research has shown that 95% of any species energy is generated this way. We need to remember that one of the greatest energy outputs is accomplished in reproduction, therefore drawing the conclusion that COENZYME Q 10 is required for this activity in the greatest amount. The organs that use the greatest energy on a daily basis would be the heart and the liver and coincidentally research has found the greatest concentrations of COENZYME Q 10 in these organs. If you look at the opposite side of the coin, it has been shown that in humans and dogs with metabolic disorders you find equally deficient amounts of COENZYME Q 10 accounted for. There also has been research done on dogs first and then humans that as we age we have less COENZYME Q 10 in our bodies and thusly affording the aging process to take place and slowing down all portions of the body. This research has taken place under the term “Bioenergetics” and, as stated, it is the study that specifically researches cell energy and its production. Now for those of you looking for the “fountain of youth” for you or your canine charges it skirts on the related field of “free radical chemistry”. COQ10 has been studied with impressive results as a potent antioxidant that lends itself to reversing the aging process as well as staving off many forms of cancer by neutralizing the free radicals that cause damage to cells.
There have been many studies using therapeutic amounts of COQ10 and documenting their effects on the maladies they affect. This includes some research on athletic performance including deep free diving athletes. These people dive to depths beyond your imagination. Japan was the first to send women underwater diving for pearls. This is done in shallower waters but uses extended dive times. (please note the Japan has fewer issues with COQ10 deficiencies than anywhere else in the world.) Remember that COQ10s’ main function is respiration and that lung capacity gives us the best visual in the macro image of things as to how it works at the cellular level. There is ongoing research in the area of fatigue and recovery from stress as well as the dynamics of every type of heart disease and how the use of COENZYME Q 10 can slow or even reverse many different types of damage to the heart as well as heart failure to the point that several studies have suggested that the function of the heart improves after major surgery such as coronary artery bypass if the patient is given therapeutic amounts of COQ10. Remember that many of these research studies started off with dogs and progressed to humans. Migraine headaches have been prevented with use of COQ10 and/or diminished significantly for chronic sufferers. For dogs that have gum disease and excessive tarter, COQ10 has supported the gum tissue and reversed the effects of tooth loss. Last but not least there seems to be a correlation between levels of COENZYME Q 10 and high cholesterol. Those with good blood serum levels of COQ10 have lower cholesterol and those with high cholesterol levels have low blood serum levels. An easy way of finding this information on a clinical level is to get a blood test done by your health care provider for you or your dog and determine a course of action. With all of the above there is ongoing research that is funded by the USA for research within the USA and abroad. We (the USA) currently fund more than 80% of all ongoing research on COENZYME Q 10 around the world.
As for a short history of COENZYME Q 10, Dr. Crane isolated the very first finding of COENZYME Q 10 in beef heart in 1957. In 1958 Merck, Inc. was able to map the first chemical structure of COQ10. Then, in Japan, in the mid-’60s a professor was the first in the world to use a related compound called COENZYME Q 7 to treat congestive heart failure. Later in the ‘70s researchers were documenting deficiencies of COQ10 in the human heart that was diseased. It was the Japanese that perfected the technology to produce quantities of COQ10 that supported large clinical trials. Then in 1978 it was the American Peter Mitchell who received the Nobel Prize for his contribution to the understanding of the need for COQ10 in the “energy transfer system”. After that the research on this amazing “vitamin” accelerated around the world with countries like Japan, Germany, the USA and Sweden taking the lead in research. It is interesting to note that all COENZYME Q 10 available today in the USA is manufactured in Japan and then distributed to companies in the USA who make it into tablets, capsules and liquids. Much of the COQ10 comes from fish and seaweed, or in kelp form.
When you are feeding whole foods to your dog, there are certain foods that have a higher density level of COENZYME Q 10. Some of these foods would be organ meats such as heart, liver and kidney, as well as sardines, mackerel, beef, and peanuts. With COENZYME Q 10, my preference would always be to eat whole foods so as to allow the dog to use everything within concert, such as a sardine. This will already have all the vitamins and minerals and essential fatty acids to allow the use of COQ10 at its greatest level. COENZYME Q 10 has shown to need at least 7 vitamins for the biosynthesis to occur. These are B2 - riboflavin, B3 – niacin amide, B6, B12, folic acid, C and pantothenic acid. Most foods that are eaten will have all the needed vitamins. Since COENZYMEQ 10 is listed as a “safe” (meaning that it is not-toxic and does not have side effects), I would also recommend using the supplemented forms that come in gel caps and/or liquid. When reading your labels to see which one to purchase, you can look for those COENZYME Q10 products that add Vitamin E and the B’s. The liquid is easy to keep, as most of the products do not need refrigeration, just storage in a cool dark place, and with a pump to make it easy to dispense. One word of caution, this product is generally bright orange in color and sticky, so for a show dog in coat I would advise to squirt a little on bread and give it as a treat with a meal. When deciding how much to give to your dog, it would depend on what other additives are being given. If you are already giving fish such as sardine, mackerel, herring, or salmon you may not need to add anything at all. If you are not adding fish regularly you would add 10mg for a small breed dog and 30mg for a medium breed dog and up to 60mg for large breeds.
