IVF puppies: Where are they now?

Red and Green, now Jubs.

In 2015, the Cornell College of Veterinary Medicine introduced the world to seven very special puppies – the first dogs born as the result of vitro fertilization. Three separate pairs of beagle and cocker spaniel parents contributed embryos, which were transferred to a fourth female. Genetic testing confirmed that all three breeding pairs contributed at least one puppy to the litter, but the surrogate mom did not.

The keys to successful canine IVF eluded scientists for decades because of unique features of canine reproduction. It took a team of veterinary researchers from Cornell and the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute to crack the code. The process can now be used to rebuild populations of endangered canine species.

March 23 is National Puppy Day, so an update on the magnificent seven seems in order. The puppies will turn two this summer. All seven were spayed or neutered before they were adopted. Color-coded at birth, most have been renamed by their owners.

Dr. Alex Travis, who led the IVF project at the college’s Baker Institute for Animal Health, has Red, a female beagle, who was and still is named for the Cornell Big Red; and Green, a male beagle his children renamed Jubs. Travis sighs: “The thing they like best is chewing on just about anything that we don’t want them to chew on.”

Jennifer Nagashima went home with Cannon (Purple), a male cocker spaniel/beagle named for the late Cornell scientist Patrick Concannon, a pioneer in dog and cat reproduction. Yellow, a male beagle, was originally nicknamed Pete, and lives with IVF team member Nucharin Songsasen, a research scientist at the Smithsonian who renamed him Buddy. Blue was called Beaker at Cornell, but his adoptive family changed his name to Kiwi. The new name of Zebra, Ivy LeFleur, is a play on IVF.

- Claudia Wheatley