 |
Minimizing Genetic Disease Breeding of dogs is quite frankly a crap shot. You need to consider strcture, the standard of your breed, temperament, and health. Of course if the breeder shows dogs, the breed standard and winning in the show ring is of paramount importance. It may alter a breeder's choices if winning is all they care about. I feel this is very wrong as most of our puppies go to pet homes. We as breeders should be most concerned with producing healthy, structurally correct puppies that have good temperaments. I like to win as much as anybody but since dog showing is so subjective and political that is not my first concern when I breeding. Health Testing So as a reputable breeder what can I do to minimize this overwhelming task and produce healthy happy puppies. First each breed club recommends what health tests should be done in their breed. It will be different for each breed. In the Great Dane all breeders should be tested for heart, hips, thyroid and eyes. Also breeders should be temperament tested to determine if they are the proper temperament for their breed. Health testing is where most breeders fail, whether this is from ignorance or just not wanting to spend the money. An example in my own breed is the requirements of health testing in order to be listed on the Great Dane Club of America's website as a breeder. The membership voted a couple of years ago on whether you could be listed on their site without doing health testing. The final vote was that you only had to test for one disease but what about the other three. I was disappointed. You would not consider members of the GDCA to be back yard breeders and yet they were not required to do health testing. How are we suppose to decrease the incidence of genetic disease if we do not health test? |
 |
CarefulBreeding The second way we as breeders can minimize genetic problems is by carefulselection of mates thereby picking the right stud for the right bitch. Because two dogs are there does not mean they should be bred. A lot of backyard breeders get a male and a female and just breed them because they are there and they can sell the pups. Most dogs should not be bred and great care should be taken to get the right combination. In todays world where chilled and frozen semen breedings are available, we no longer have to be concerned with geography. So if we look we can find that dog who has just the right things to compliment our bitch. |
 |
One Final Thought As I said most breeders who show are looking to win in the ring and breed accordingly. This is why we have so many fads in the breeds because breeders breed what the judges put up and those judges may not know the breed standard at all. As a breeder who is more concerned with the breed than just winning, I feel that I must breed to the standard no matter what the judges put up. The Great Dane breed is a head breed which means that the head is given an out of proportion importance by most judges. Judges started putting up big enormous heads with big floppy lips so everyone started breeding this even though it is not to the standard. A lot of these dogs had these really big heads but with terrible rears and straight shoulders so could not move correctly. One judge told me that Danes do not run on their heads. We are a working breed and should be able to move. Now I think to myself what would be most important to me as a puppy buyer a dog that had this enormous beautifulhead but a body which could not run with me by the time he was four or one whose head was not as great but he could still run with me at eight because he was structurally sound and healthy. You choose. |
