Why Breeders Struggle To Make Improvements

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74 – August, 2015

Eight Skills of the Breeder

By Dr. Carmen L. Battaglia

BACKGROUND

In the world of dogs one of the secrets to success is knowing which skills are needed. History teaches us that those with special skills tend to make improvements faster than others. Handlers, owners, breeders and judges all use identifiable sets of skills. They have learned what they are and how to use them. An introspective look at breeders who fail to produce what they want to produce suggests that they lack an understanding of the importance of skills needed to solve their problems. Thus it is not surprising that they do not have a good grasp of the eight breeder skills. For example, when they begin to examine their pedigrees they cannot explain the strengths and weaknesses of their sires and dams (skill #4).

Skills

If we take the dog sport as a whole, the skills needed to succeed can be divided into three skillsets. One set is needed to breed, another to judge, and a third to exhibit. One set will not suffice for all three activities. For example, if you judge, you must know the breed standard, how it is interpreted, dog anatomy, ring procedure, AKC guidelines and what to do if things go wrong. If you exhibit, you must learn how to feed, handle, groom and manage the dogs you keep and exhibit. This also includes knowing how to pick shows and judges and how to network and collect information.

This article will focus on the eight skills of the breeder.

1. The Breed Standard – This skill requires a good understanding of the virtues and faults described in a breed’s standard and how they are interpreted. This requires knowing the basic principles of structure and movement and how to recognize correct breed type. Breed standards are not check lists of things to know. They serve as “word pictures” of the ideal dog and focus on the characteristics and traits that make a breed unique. AKC states that,

“The purpose of a standard is to be a guide for breeders and judges. As such, it is important to keep in mind the features that make each breed unique. These are the qualities that are characteristic of the breed. Standards emphasize what is important in the breed. Conversely the qualities of little importance are many times not mentioned at all.”

Breed standards are used by judges, breeders and owners to evaluate breeding stock. They discuss the important traits of a breed which include the following traits:

General Appearance Hindquarters Gait

Size, Proportions & Substance Coat Temperament

Head and Skull Color Major Faults

Forequarters Disqualifications

The architecture of a breed’s body is often associated with breed type, which focuses on four general factors: silhouette, head, coat and color. In this regard, breed standards describe the virtues and faults of a breed. The term “breed type” means that a dog looks like its breed, therefore each breed will have only one “type”, but several variations in type. When a dog is lacking in breed type it is considered a poor candidate for breeding.

2. Breed Knowledge – This skill involves knowing a breed’s history, place of origin, function, purpose and the lines (pedigrees) that work best. Breed knowledge includes a broad range of knowledge such as the dreaded diseases which are disorders that can kill, cripple, and cause early death or blindness. This skill includes knowing when to use line and inbreeding and how they were used by the early breeders to establish breed type and the special traits and characteristics that made each breed unique.

3. Selection of Sires/Dams – This skill focuses on selecting breeding stock. It requires knowing the strengths and weaknesses of the sires and dams used in each breeding, and the traits they have produced or failed to produce. Over the years breeders have learned to use the results of breedings as the basis for selecting future breeding stock. Knowing how to “breed up” when large amounts of information about the ancestors are missing is central to this skill. “Formula breeding” (Figure 1) is another method used when breeders want to emphasize the traits of one important sire that has many desirable traits. “Formula breeding” requires that one sire appear twice in the same pedigree on both the sire’s and the dam’s side of the pedigree. This method was established in the early 1900s and can be stated as follows, “Let the sire of the sire become the grandsire on the dam’s side”.

When selecting sires and dams, their relationship to each other must be considered. For example, outcrossing brings together two animals less related than the average for the breed. It promotes more heterozygosity, and usually produces many variations in the traits appearing in the pups. For example, outcross breedings typically produce pups with many variations in their traits. Some will be short, others tall, some with eyes that are light, dark, round or oval-shaped, etc. One reason to outcross is to bring new genes and traits into a breeding program. Outcrossing can also mask the expression of recessive genes and allow their propagation in the carrier state. (Bell 2005) Learning about the advantages of line and inbreeding is a key part of knowing how to select sires and dams. Line breeding means breeding cousins to cousins, inbreeding means breeding closer than cousins to cousins. Both methods can be used to concentrate the genes needed to produce certain traits. These methods are used when consistency in size, shape, color coat and other traits are desired.

4. Evaluating pedigrees – This skill requires knowing about the 14 ancestors in a three generation pedigree. Contrary to popular belief, most of the genes needed to make improvements will be found in the first three generations. For analytical purposes, there are two ways to evaluate pedigrees. The first is called depth of a pedigree which involves having a good understanding about the strengths and weaknesses of their traits. This is a vertical evaluation and requires collecting information about the fourteen ancestors in the first three generations. The second method is called the breadth of the pedigree. This is a horizontal evaluation which involves collecting information about the littermates of each ancestor. This is the second best method used to evaluate a pedigree. Breeders use both methods depending on whether the needed information is available for each ancestor. Regardless of which method is used, collection of the right kind of information is important. In this regard, there are three pedigrees to consider. The first is called the “Traditional Pedigree” (Figure 2). It is popular because it associates the names, titles and certifications of each ancestor with what can be remembered.

Unfortunately, this pedigree does not capture the heritable kinds of information needed to plan a breeding. For this reason it is ineffective as a breeding tool. Two other pedigrees serve the breeder’s purpose better. The first is called the “Stick Dog Pedigree” (Figure 3, next page) which is used when making improvements in the traits of conformation. The second is called the “Symbols Pedigree” (Figure 4, next page). It is used when health, performance and other special traits are the breeder’s interest. The Stick Dog Pedigree uses stick figures to represent each ancestor rather than names, titles and certifications to represent each individual. Each stick figure is drawn with seven structural traits: ears, head, neck, front, back, rear and tail. Each trait is color coded to signify it’s rank for quality. Four colors are used to evaluate the traits of each ancestor. Green is used to signal that the needed information has not been collected.

CODES RANK FOR QUALITY

Blue Correct based on breed standard

Black Could be improved

Red Is a fault

Grey A serious fault or disqualification

Circle/Green Missing information

Color coding is straightforward. If a trait is viewed to be correct or ideal based on the breed standard, that trait is colored blue. If they were faulty, they would be colored red.

The second pedigree is called the “Symbols Pedigree” (Figure 4). It is used to make improvements in health or some special trait of interest. This pedigree gets its name because symbols, rather than names or stick figures, are used to identify each ancestor. The Symbols Pedigree uses two symbols. Squares are used to represent the males and circles the females. This pedigree includes the littermates of each ancestor. The health traits found about each ancestor are color coded. Carriers are noted with a dot. For example, if a dog is affected with a disease its symbol is shaded with a specific color that is determined by the breeder. If another dog is a carrier of the same disease, a dot of the same color is used to indicate it is a carrier. Because breeders are interested in many traits and diseases, several colors will be used in coding this pedigree. The repetition of a color signals that a genetic problem or trend may be present.

5. Choosing the Best Puppy – This skill should not be confused with Skill # 6, “Evaluating Litters”. In most breeding programs choosing the best puppy occurs between 8-16 weeks of age. The methods used by breeders and their levels of success vary considerably. As a result, this author conducted an unpublished study involving more than 60 breeds. The findings show that more than 70% of the best dogs in those breeds were not owned by their breeders. Reasons given were pressure from buyers to sell early, too many pups to manage, recommendations of others, etc. The most popular method was to choose the best puppy first which did not prove to be the most reliable method. A better approach focused on ranking and sorting the litter based on each pup’s individual qualities. This method minimizes risk and reduces the chances of error. It is called “From the bottom up”, meaning that the litter is evaluated and each pup placed in its rank order. Finding the worst puppy first is generally the easiest one to find because it lacks the qualities seen in its littermates. This is the pup with the most faults and is the one least likely to become the best pup given that all of its littermates are growing at somewhat the same pace. When the worst pup has been sold, those that remain will be the better pups. Repeating the process of eliminating the pups with the least amount of quality first reduces error because the better ones remain.

6. Evaluating litters – The quality of a litter cannot be known until the pups have grown up and had time to develop. Evaluating a litter means following the development of each pup over a long period of time. Breeders do not know at 8-10 weeks of age the quality of a litter. Only after the pups have had time to grow and develop will their structure, appearance, adult character, health and soundness be known. In most breeds the majority of the unwanted faults and disorders do not express themselves until a pup is six months of age or older. Missing teeth, head planes, top lines and movement cannot be properly evaluated at 8-10 weeks old. Therefore following individual pups over time is central to learning about this skill.

7. Record System – Breeders need a library of information about their pedigrees, the reasons underlying the selection of breeding stock, and the results of each breeding (litter evaluation). A close look at the records for many breeders shows the absence of the right kinds of quality information. Typical records include: rosettes, ribbons, trophies, photographs and the Traditional pedigrees. None of these include heritable kinds of information. Effective record systems must also be cumulative and easily retrieved.

8. Manage, feed and develop dogs you keep This is an all-encompassing skill that extends into many aspects of dog ownership and breeding. It includes nutrition, management and development. Three examples serve to illustrate the importance of this skill: The use of supplements such as DHA – fed to females throughout gestation and then to their pups for up to 14 weeks – enhances brain development which improves puppy test scores and their trainability. Stimulating the neurological system of pups with five exercises between the ages of 3 and 16 days of age also enhances their development. The use of training activities that involve maternal influence provides pups the opportunity to observe their own trained mothers work or perform a learned task, and when combined with daily handling, socialization and enrichment experiences during the first twelve months of life is known to foster superior adult performance. Grooming of the feet and coat are also part of this skill.

Conclusion

Those who take the time to develop the eight breeder skills discussed in this paper are known to have an advantage over those who don’t. While this paper only highlights some of the important aspects of each skill, more information about this discussion can be found in the materials located on www.breedingbetterdogs.com and in the book Breeding Dogs to Win.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Carmen L. Battaglia holds a Ph.D. and Master’s Degree from Florida State University. An AKC judge, researcher and writer, he is a respected leader in promoting ways to breed better dogs. He is the author of many articles and several books and is a popular TV and radio talk show guest. His seminars on breeding dogs, selecting sires and choosing puppies have been well-received by breed clubs all over the country. Those interested in learning more about his articles and seminars should visit the website http://www.breedingbetterdogs.com

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