SAN MARCOS —— For dog owner and breeder Mike Cullen, visits to Canine Cryobank have become a family tradition for his Mastiffs.

On Tuesday afternoon last week, Cullen and Susan Obeji brought their 3-year-old, 210-pound Mastiff named Bones into Cryobank for his first visit. The visit took less than an hour and seemed to barely phase the calm-tempered Mastiff, as he lay on the floor and enjoyed a doggy treat while Canine Cryobank co-owner, Carol Scott Bardwick, performed the semen evaluation.

"Bones' great-grandfather and uncle are stored here," said Cullen, as they waited for the results. "His great-grandfather is scheduled to be used in September —— and he's been dead for five years now."

While storing canine sperm may sound like a new concept to some, Bardwick and her business partner Steve Broder, have been making advancements in the field for more than 20 years.

The process is relatively short and painless for the dogs, said Bardwick, and after the DNA is extracted, Bardwick separates the sperm and makes a count. A liquid preservative called an extender is then added and the fluid is left to sit for a little more than 30 minutes. She then adds more of the extender and places the samples in slender tubes called straws, which are frozen and held in liquid nitrogen storage tanks.

Bones' recently collected straws will join his relatives' at Cryobank until they are needed later for breeding.

Each straw is able to hold 1 million sperm and the San Marcos cryobank is capable of holding tens of thousands of straws, according to Bardwick.

Bardwick said she believes that it was "serendipity" that she got involved in the business. "I was in the right place at the right time," she said.

Now a resident of Lake San Marcos, Bardwick first ran into the business in Pacific Palisades when she lived across the street from what was at the time the country's only for-profit dog sperm bank. After talking to employees there, she said she and Broder decided to open Canine Cryobank.

They opened in the Los Angeles area in 1981 and she said they surprised even themselves with their advances. Bardwick said she and Broder were able to prove that the process of DNA extraction and preservation could be done easily and inexpensively, though she declined to talk specifically about the cost.

Over their past 20 years in business she said they have contracted with clients from all over the world. "We recently had a litter of 15 Irish setters in Finland," she said.

The Canine Cryobank at 120 N. Pacific St., which has been open for the past five years, has not been as globally busy recently because of the increasing number of service providers, Bardwick said. Most of her clients now come from California and surrounding states, she said.

Bardwick said many breeders choose to store their dogs' sperm to make the breeding experience less expensive and easier on all parties involved. Breeders can ship the straws instead of their dogs, which is cheaper for the breeders and safer for the animals, she said.

DNA preservation also allows breeders to use the system of eugenics —— picking high quality traits to use in certain litters.

"Many people have dogs that are great performance dogs," said Bardwick. "You want to preserve that part of their capabilites for the best genetics."

Because the straws can be stored forever, the process allows "the best to produce forever," according to Canine Cryobank's Web site. The oldest straws that Bardwick has had success with were 22 years old.

Bardwick also recommends the process for owners who are considering breeding their dog later, but do not want to worry about unexpected litters now.

"This would solve the problems that I see when I go to pet clinics," she said, refering to the large number of homeless animals that they house.

Jake Minger, communications coordinator at the North County Humane Society in Oceanside, said he supports the idea of a cryobank because it allows people to neuter their dogs, even if they want to breed them. He said the humane society takes in around 6,000 stray animals a year at its location, which breaks down to about 500 a month. Between 40 and 50 percent of those animals are dogs, he said.

"I definitely think it's a better idea than not having them fixed," said Minger. "Animals tend to be more aggressive when they're not fixed. It also lowers the risk of certain kinds of cancers in some breeds."

Cullen and Obeji said they plan to have Bones neutered after his second visit to Bardwick's office. "We're hoping it will extend his life and prevent any cancers," said Obeji.

Canine Cryobank also provides educational services to its clients and Bardwick said that she likes to keep the owners as involved as possible.

"They want to know what's best and how to better take care of their dogs," said Bardwick. "They're like sponges when it comes to information about their dogs."

Contact Danielle Cadieux at 760-761-4410 or dcadieux@nctimes.com