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| The future of this breed is in your
hands. You, the breeder, have taken over for nature and
must now fulfill a challenge to keep this breed strong
and vital. In nature, survival of the fittest would
occur. In the wild, nature would weed out the unfit and
preserve the best. Now, you are the one who will control
the destiny of this breed. You have the power to design
new patterns of heredity and you must have the knowledge,
the intelligence and the integrity to use that power the
right way. You have the power to mold your dream of the
standard. Everyone has their own way of deciding on a breeding program. Some prefer to buy and show a good dog and don’t particularly care about the breeding end of it. Others decide to breed and maintain an okay line. Then, there are the dedicated few who want both, to develop their own breeding program with exceptional dogs and show them so others can see the sum total of their hard labor. These people, then, are the builders of our breed and every time they decide on a stud dog or breed a bitch they control the destiny of the breed. The breeder must select good breed type with strong genetic background. It is a must that these dogs be sound of mind and body; have good temperament; are able to produce with no fertility problems, are hardy dogs who have longevity. Remember it is the inheritable matter that produces — not the dog. If possible, put together a picture pedigree of several generations with photos of each dog selected for breeding. This would be of much value. The virtues, faults, consistencies and inconsistencies could be traced and recognized. Photos of littermates would be of further value. You would then be able to tell what lines, within the pedigree, brought specific conformational excellence or faults to light in your own dogs. The genetic influence of ancestors beyond the third generation is not of much importance unless the same dog is used again and again in this pedigree. In dogs we talk about dominant and recessive genes. We must make a list remembering that the term Dominant means a trait that conceals its twin recessive character. In other words, Dominants are generally visible and can conceal a hidden recessive. A Recessive is hidden or concealed by a like or matching dominant character. The only exception is when no dominant is present and recessive genes pair up for a given trait. In Great Danes, for example, the fawn dog is the result of a double recessive. These paired recessives equal the visible. Following are condensed forms of various directions one can go when thinking of breeding. Total outcrossing is the breeding of unrelated dogs to unrelated dogs. If you are outcrossing, breed to a dog whose good dominant traits are already seen in his progeny. This means breeding to an established sire. And, if this dog is prepotent he will reflect his genetic qualities in the progeny — not the dam’s. If this outcrossed dog is tightly linebred or inbred and his phenotype (the actual appearance of the dog - the visual outward makeup) is what you want then this is the way to go. Outcrossing can produce excellent dogs since this way of breeding tends to hide recessives. Also, an outcrossed dog can be used with a tightly bred bitch for corrective measures. If we take our tightly bred bitch to a superior dog who is magnificent in type - a dog whose qualities and virtues we want to infuse into our line and we produce excellent progeny, then we must keep the best bitch from that litter and eventually breed her back to her sire. Linebreeding means the breeding of two animals who have common ancestors. The pedigree will show repeats of certain dogs within four or five generations. Linebreeding with two strains is created when you develop two different lines which, in breed type, compliment each other. Then, if you need to repair your genetic makeup in one strain you can go to your second strain rather than doing a raw outcross. Inbreeding is the breeding of father to daughter, half brother to half sister, son to mother and, the closest of all, brother to sister. Inbreeding concentrates both the good and the bad; it strengthens your dominants and brings those recessives out of the closet where you can see them. A breeder has better control with inbreeding. Inbreeding never degenerates! Instead, it concentrates strength and weaknesses so they can be seen and kept or eliminated. Selection is always important and the best way is to use a sire or dam who is inbred or tightly linebred and as faultless as possible. This dog then represents your picture of the standard and what you want to reproduce. The neat part about inbreeding is it brings to light all the inherent factors the dog may carry. However, bear in mind that true inbreeding would take at least five generations to purify. And remember, if that produce carries a lethal fault, one direct outcross would bring back complete normality to an inbred line. Inbreeding does not create virtues and faults, it strengthens and fixes them in the result. Last, are
you truly breeding to create your dream of the standard?
Or, are you breeding to sell puppies. If you want to
better the breed and build a strain which you are proud
of, you will breed for a purpose other than the quick
sale of expensive stock. When selecting a dog don’t
be misled by titles. Just find the best dog. Good
breeding is a learned knowledge, tempered with much
patience. Good luck! |
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