Detailed Analysis and Explanation of Dog Breeding Theory

Basically speaking, there are three main schools of breeding theory, namely Inbreeding, Linebreeding, and Out-crossing / Out-breeding. However, note that no matter which breeding theory is used, the dogs must be of the same pure breed for it to count as purebred dog breeding.

What You Need to Know Before Breeding

Before deciding which theory to use for dog breeding, you should pay attention to:

(1) Balance of strengths and weaknesses: that is, the strengths and weaknesses of the male and female dogs used for breeding must be balanced. If both the male and female dogs have the same weakness, then these two dogs must be avoided for mating. At the very least, among the male and female dogs used for breeding, there must be some strength in one dog that is a weakness in the other, so that they can complement each other (Compensation).

For example, if the standard for the breed being bred requires small ears, and the male dog used for breeding has slightly larger ears while the female dog has small ears, then the two can be mated. But if both the female and male dogs have large ears, then the offspring produced will still have large ears, so these two dogs should not be chosen for breeding.

However, when two dogs whose strengths and weaknesses can all be balanced cannot be found, then one must know how to make trade-offs. For example, if the standard for a certain breed requires both ears to stand upright, but the ears of the dogs used for breeding both droop, then these two dogs should be avoided for breeding. On the contrary, if this weakness is not a major weakness for that breed, then in this situation where there is no choice, these two dogs must be used. Therefore, balancing strengths and weaknesses demands the breeder's wisdom and understanding of breeding.

(2) Strictly speaking, a purebred dog will have a pedigree certificate (Pedigree), and this pedigree will list the registered names of the dog's previous generations. In fact, if this pedigree is correct, it can not only serve as proof of the dog's identity, but also help analyze whether its own bloodline has any special strengths and weaknesses. For example, if the pedigree certificate shows that this dog was bred around male VA1 and female VA2, then one must understand the strengths and weaknesses of these two dogs, 1 and 2 themselves, as well as the bloodline of the dogs bred by the breeders who bred these two dogs. If the breed of 1 and 2 requires small ears, although the offspring of 1 and 2 are already good dogs, if their ears are slightly large, then it is necessary to use a small-eared dog to mate with the offspring of 1 and 2, so as to compensate for the shortcomings of the offspring of 1 and 2. After understanding the above two points, one can decide which method to use for dog breeding.

What Is Inbreeding

So-called inbreeding is when the blood relationship within the breeding combination is very close, such as father to daughter, son to mother, full siblings sharing the same father and mother, and half-sibling mating (divided into two types: one is a male dog and a female dog sharing the same father but different mothers, and the other is sharing the same mother but different fathers). Among the above combinations, full siblings sharing the same father and mother have the closest blood relationship, because in theory: dogs sharing the same father and mother have the same inheritance.

"The better become better, the worse become worse"

"The better become better, the worse become worse" is a major characteristic of inbreeding. In inbreeding, because the blood relationship between the female dog and the male dog is very close, when the two mate, all their genetic factors will be further strengthened and further purified. Under such circumstances, it is possible that within one litter of puppies, one dog's inheritance may display all the strengths of its own bloodline, which is the so-called "the better become better." But relatively speaking, just as good inheritance can be concentrated together, poor inheritance can likewise be concentrated, so among the offspring produced, there is also the chance that a dog may appear that combines all the weaknesses in one body and whose appearance does not resemble that breed.

What Is Good, What Is Poor

This is actually determined by the standard for that breed. For example, the German Shepherd Dog must have firm, upright ears, so if the offspring produced has a pair of firm, upright ears, then this is an excellent genetic factor. Conversely, because the Bulldog's ears need to be separated and twisted backward, if its offspring's ears are upright, then for the Bulldog breed this is extremely bad. Therefore, when using any breeding method, the standard for that breed is the foundation. By understanding the standards of different breeds, one can know what is good and what is poor. In inbreeding, both strengths and weaknesses will be concentrated together, so in theory, among the puppies born from the same father and same mother, there are three probable groups: one group concentrates the strengths, one group has half strengths and half weaknesses, and the other group concentrates the weaknesses. Under such circumstances, it will be found that the chance of "the better become better, the worse become worse" is equal.

In order to avoid the worse becoming worse and the genetic diseases brought by inbreeding, the German dog association (SV) stipulates that breeding is prohibited within the three generations of the bloodline listed behind the pedigree certificate (the paternal line, the grandfather line, and the great-grandfather line).