Just for you long time breeders out there.?

Question

You have all heard someone say, "We should breed for the betterment of the breed." Now how do you measure your success in this? Here is another ?. For you who have bred 8, 9, 10, or more generations are your last generations better then say your third?

Maybe this is a dumb ?, but I would like to hear some thing on this. Thanks

Answer 1

I've never been comfortable with the term, "bettering the breed", because that implies that there is something wrong with the breed the way it has been/is, and that I'm going to "fix it" with my 1-2 litters a year. I like my breed the way it is, and I have no illusions about some great impact on the breed.

I prefer to say that I am "preserving the breed", and that I am bettering what I have in my kennel, based on my own goals and my interpretation of the breed standard.

How do I measure my success? Two ways: How well the dogs I produce conform to the standard, and how well they can perform their original function...if they look like a Siberian, and they can do a Siberian's job, then I think I am moving in the right direction.

As Bassetnut so accurately pointed out, there is no "perfect" dog. But trying to get there is balancing the art and the science of dog breeding.

I haven't bred 8-10 generations, but I can honestly say that the dogs I'm producing now are better than the dogs I produced 15 years ago. I know more, now. That's a huge part of it. I've learned a lot more about my own goals, and what I want to see in a dog with my kennel name on it.

I know more about shoulder layback, length of upper arm, and leg-to-body proportion, which are all a big deal in my breed. In 20 years of running dogs, I've learned a lot more about what makes a good sled dog, and I've applied that to my breeding program.

My point is this: As long as you keep learning, keep listening, keep watching and trying to expand what you know, your breeding decisions will continue to mature in scope, and you will continue to improve what you have.

You ask some excellent questions! I always look forward to them. Don't ever worry that something sounds "dumb" -- at least you're not afraid to ask!

Answer 2

It's not dumb at all. "Success" is judged more by keeping the breed fitting the standard. Breeders should breed dogs that both fit the standards and whose genotypes/phenotypes compliment each other. The betterment of the breed is to keep it as it originally was, so hopefully there will be very little change, if any at all. One generation should be the same as the one before it, because you would aim for the breed to have good, strong conformation. Excellent specimens will emerge from every generation (and those may have just tiny almost non-existent differences from the other dogs) and these are the dogs that should be bred to produce the next generation. It's very complex, but I hope that helped.

Answer 3

You raise a good point. If all breeders bred for the betterment of the breed, and if those same breeders actually had success improving their breed; purebred dogs today could be quite different than they were say, twenty years ago.
I do believe that most folks who have been breeding purebred dogs for quite some time are better at it now than they used to be. That is to say, they're probably more selective about their breeding stock, and they've learned through experience what they do and don't want out of a particular breeding.
Perhaps most of today's dogs are close to the best they'll ever be. Perhaps there's still a ways to go.

Answer 4

It's not a dumb question at all. I no longer breed, but when I did, there was a specific reason for selecting the parents of the litter. Perhaps I wanted to improve shoulder layback (a huge problem in my breed), or get darker eyes, whatever. That litter was a success if there were a few who got the characteristic I was breeding for.

I would, hopefully, have a female who was better than her mother. When she was old enough to breed, if she could reproduce that quality I was striving for, it really was a success. Because achieving it in a dog isn't worth anything if that dog can't reproduce that quality.

Answer 5

Im not a breeder but I can answer.

Yes it is to better the breed. Someone may start out with a nice looking dog that maybe doesnt quite have a deep enough chest. The breeder will choose a mate that compliments that and try to correct that in the next litter of pups. No dog will be "perfect" but a breeder tries to get his or her pups to be as close to the breed standard as possible.

Some of it is simply about preserving the breed. You start out with dogs that meet the standard and only use dogs that meet the standard. If you just throw 2 "pet quality" dogs together, thats all you will end up with.. the end results of several generations of "pet" breedings is purebred dogs that dont really look purebred.

Health issues are the biggest. The point is to try to breed away from them, and hopefully breed them out all together. health testing is very important to assure that your breeding stock is free of genetic disease. You can get a nice looking dog, but it wont do your breedings any good if he has luxating patella or hip displasia.

Answer 6

I breed my dogs because they are darn good dogs. They are champions and I want them to produce champions. I better the bred by not breeding the pet quality dogs that I see all the time. BUT not ever puppy from my litter will be champions. In this case I spay and nueter them and sell them as pets so that they are not allowed to breed more poor quality puppies. I hope my cardis will be a great champion team out there some day.

Answer 7

This in my opinion, is NOT totally limited to improving type, certainly producing pups with top prospects in the peformance sports (be it field trials, herding, terrier ground work ect) or the "training' venues of agility obedience tracking ect is a breed improvement also! I have been lucky enough to get a foundation female from a line with a rare degree of sucess in both peformance and bench shows. The dual titled dogs in the breed can be counted on one hand with another handfull that came close. Too few.. IF I can increase the number with any future progeny even if they are not the best in any individual venue I would consider that breed improvement.
PS that includes good home temperment and lack of health problems too!!!!

Answer 8

There is always room for improvement, the perfect dog has not yet been born.

Remember, we say that our AIM is to better the breed. This means it is our goal. We are striving towards perfection, even though it cannot be attained. When you aim high, even if you don't attain your goals the results are going to be pretty darn good.

OTOH, if you don't have a goal, if you're just breeding willy-nilly to whatever, or if your goals are very low, then the quality of what you produce tends to be low as well.

EDIT: ragapple is correct, it is NOT limited to breed type but includes the whole dog: temperament, health, intelligence, ability to do the job it was created for, longevity etc.

Answer 9

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