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Most would say pot luck, others would say it takes line breeding. Some might even agree that you have to continually use the best animals, but most would agree that complimentary breeding is an important factor. The simple reasons being that if you do not use dogs with the virtues your bitch lacks or complimentary type you have no chance of correcting the problem. Breeders will tell you they have tried everything from line breeding to the top animals to complimentary breeding, but the results still seem to be in the hands of the Gods. Furthermore have you ever meet a dog breeder who could tell you what the puppies would look like from a planned mating, besides "we expect to produce good pups"? you certainly don't hear them saying this mating is going to produce big powerful dogs with great movement. Then there is the scenario where a great specimen of a dog or bitch just can't produce the goods in the nest. Why is that so? Is it poor mating selections on the breeder's part or just bad luck? Oh, and what about the poor or mediocre specimen that produces that cracker of a dog. Surely breeding cannot be this difficult and frustrating. It's the 90's where we can reproduce animals DNA sample, send information around the world in minutes etc. I suppose if breeding were that easy everyone would be doing it and it just wouldn't be fun if we could all produce great winners. Each breeder out there has his or her theory as to how to breed. However I would like to stimulate some thought out there by challenging how we think. For example: 1. Is complimentary breeding the best way to breed? By this I mean if your bitch lacks down turn of head or bone, you must use a dog with these virtues to correct the fault. For me the answer is NO! For every breeding where it does fix the fault I will show you 20 where it didn't. I will also show you breedings where neither parent had the virtue, but produced it in over 50% of the offspring. If you disagree with me ask yourself the question, if you have a small light boned bitch and use a big heavy boned dog with lots of substance - do you expect the bitches of the off-spring to have the bone, size and substance of the sire? surely not - or soon we would see all our bitches the same size as our dogs. Secondly, how often have we seen the dog that throws great bitches but cannot produce good dogs? This tells me something. Complimentary breeding alone is only the first step to successful breeding and that in reality; we also need to consider the male and female sex traits. In other words, we need to plan our breedings to produce good dogs or bitches or both, if sire and dam selection allow for it. 2. Why don't breeders today talk about TYPE anymore? Such as Bull, Terrier, Dalmatian and Middle Of The Road. Yes, I know there is only one correct type. However - you still see all the types and combination of type out there. Furthermore, what about the newcomers to our breed. If they do not learn and understand type, how can we ever expect them to breed successfully? For it is the breeding of complimentary type, that corrects faults and leads to a balanced animal. You can tell me that they do not talk about type anymore overseas. This might be so, however have you also considered that the greatest period of breed improvement in the world was during the Oppenheimer era when the various types were not only recognized but preached. Has Europe moved forward in leaps and bounds since Silver Convention, or do we see similar TYPES of dogs to him now on the scene in Europe? Do the USA and Canadian Bullies lack the power and substance of their English counter-parts, and visa versa do the English dogs lack the quality and finish of the American dogs? Maybe it is time to read McGuffin & Co and After Bar Sinister again and see how real breed progress was achieved. 3. Line breeding is the key to success. Well I have heard breeders say that you must stay within a line, and I have heard others say that you must line breed to a specific dog or bitch of outstanding quality. Family traits are important, as it does allow for some predictability. However - I believe it is just as important to breed to the best animals, as it is to line breed. If a specific dog has what you are looking for, use him. Breeding better animals must be the first goal. Line breeding to a specific dog or family of dogs to maintain predictability, is obviously preferred however, it is meaningless to line breed if you are not progressing or breeding top animals to continue with, or in a line that produces poor heads or movement etc. Personally I believe the most important dogs in your breeding are the sire and dam you choose, and just as important is their sire and dam. Now that I hopefully got you thinking, consider complimentary breeding, but with a difference. Instead of looking to compliment the dog with the bitch, aim to compliment the bitches in the breeding. The same goes for dogs. In so doing you are now trying to breed good dogs and bitches rather than good Bull Terriers. Enhance your selection skill by studying past breedings and comparing the results. Look at other people's selection of matings and try to predict the result. Let me explain the selection process. Say I am looking to breed good and better bitches than the bitch I plan to mate. First I study the bitch, making note of her virtues and faults. I do the same for her mother. I then look for a stud dog that has a mother that compliments my bitch. I can then expect the female offspring to look like one of the three bitches, or a combination of them. The more I can pack in a specific virtue, the greater my chance of producing that virtue in the female pups. For example if the bitch, her dam and the dam of the selected dog all have great heads, then I can expect female pups with great heads - even if the sire of the pups doesn't have a great head himself. But be careful in your selection and understand that some virtues are not sex linked, such as good and bad mouths. The same applies to breeding good dogs. Look at your bitches' sire and then try to find a stud dog that not only compliments him, but whose sire also has the virtues you are looking for. You will never find the perfect mating - particularly if you are trying to breed good dogs and bitches, as you will always have to make compromises in your selection. It does however allow for greater predictability in offspring and also emphasizes the importance of selection and type in breeding. As the dog you use today will influence your future offspring as well as your selection options. The key to your success is in the selection process, so it is important to study past matings and the offspring produced. This will allow you to get a feel for the selection process and the predictability process. Choosing puppies also becomes easier. Recently I had one bitch in a litter and five dogs. The dogs completely overshadowed the bitch, to the point that all who saw her, didn't give her a second look. Her head was plain, compared to the dogs and she was smaller. Her mother had a great head and so did the sires mother, secondly all the bitches reviewed in the selection process were very good all round. Needless to say - at her first show she won best Puppy In Show. For those of you who are skeptical, cast your mind back to dogs you have known, who produced good or outstanding bitches in litter after litter - but rarely produced good dogs. Now look at his sire and dam and you will probably find that this fact is enhanced simply due to him having an outstanding dam and a mediocre sire. Too often I see mating selections, where the breeder has chosen a dog because he has a great head. When I look at the planned breeding, I find that the bitch being mated, doesn't have a great head (probably the reason for the mating), furthermore - both the selected dog's sire and bitches' sire have mediocre heads. This means in reality the breeder is hoping that the dog's head is so dominant it will come through in the puppies. Wouldn't it have been better to select a dog who has a great head and whose sire also had a great head? Remember selection is critical and learn to predict the result. If you are line breeding, or if the mating is an outcross it will also affect the results. Remote line breeding or out crosses normally produce a greater variation in progeny, while close line breeding or in breeding, can result in virtues or faults from a distant relative in the pedigree, making an appearance in the progeny. For
those of you that have ventured into this form of selective breeding -
Good Luck! |
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