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Breeding Principles
By Scot E. Dowd Ph.D.
If you want to be an ethical breeder ( Reputable breeder ) you must have a working understanding of the underlying principles of genetics. It is a complex science but of extreme importance when making selections for breeding pairs and foundation stock. You must have correct and complete understanding of ideas and concepts involved in inheritance. So far we have touched on only the Basics of Genetics? from a mendelian perspective, seen what a complicated mess breeding really is, and hopefully realized that without considerable and logical knowledge of genetic theory our only hopes for producing good dogs lie in one thing = luck = . If I were a puppy buyer I would not want to rely on breeders luck without a lot of knowledge there to improve my chances!
Regarding breeder defined type: There is within our breed a devastating occurrence that is ultimately creating a sham, distorted view of what an APBT looks like. The UKC started as a show venue about 30 some odd yrs ago when dogs were still chosen for working type. Relatively recent we started with a standard and a vision that would preserve working type. Now based upon vision of a few breeders the working and functional aspects of the breed are being replaced by exaggeration and preference for a particular look and not a functional type.
The same thing that took the working type out of so many other AKC breeds is now doing the same for the UKC APBT.
My own conviction is that within a set boundary defined by a set standard each breeder should strive for that which is ascetically pleasing to them. This asceticism should however start with maintaining working ability, temperament, increasingly stringent health criteria, intelligence, and working drive combined with and equal to the outward “type”. We must adhere and maintain those characteristics which made this breed successful. See the Working Type page for information on what this actually means. Hopefully there is an equal consideration for all of these aspects. If a breeder is breeding a specific line of dogs that are pleasing to their eye, have working ability and drive, fit within the original working type but most of the puppies have serious faults or health problems then there is a definite problem. On the other side of the coin, if a breeder is breeding massively overdone dogs that win in the show ring but are unable to jump an Obedience regulation height because they are too “big boned” then there is another serious problem.
We as breeders have taken on the responsibility of preserving not redefining the breed of dog we have chosen. The American Pit Bull Terrier was above all a working breed and as stated in the first line of the standard. They are capable of performing and excelling at a wide variety of tasks. Today we are moving toward defining a new type that is verging on substance and head type of American Bulldogs. I am now seeing GR CH APBT show dogs that could compete in the AB Conformation ring. This is the fault of the judges and the APBT community for not providing a reference and visual tools to utilize.
The following are descriptions of methods utilized in breeding programs to improve our breed. My hope is that the honest essays presented on this site will help breeders honestly look at their breeding programs. All similarity to actual events and people are merely coincident and not directed at anyone who might actually read this.
There is often confusion and questions regarding the definition of these terms. To a geneticist there is less of a distinction but to most animal breeders, particularly dog breeders, there is a defined distinction between inbreeding (mating mother/son, father/daughter, brother/sister) and linebreeding (mating say grandparent/grandchild, aunt/nephew). Clicking on a particular term will provide you with more details.
By Scot E. Dowd Ph.D.
If you want to be an ethical breeder ( Reputable breeder ) you must have a working understanding of the underlying principles of genetics. It is a complex science but of extreme importance when making selections for breeding pairs and foundation stock. You must have correct and complete understanding of ideas and concepts involved in inheritance. So far we have touched on only the Basics of Genetics? from a mendelian perspective, seen what a complicated mess breeding really is, and hopefully realized that without considerable and logical knowledge of genetic theory our only hopes for producing good dogs lie in one thing = luck = . If I were a puppy buyer I would not want to rely on breeders luck without a lot of knowledge there to improve my chances!
Regarding breeder defined type: There is within our breed a devastating occurrence that is ultimately creating a sham, distorted view of what an APBT looks like. The UKC started as a show venue about 30 some odd yrs ago when dogs were still chosen for working type. Relatively recent we started with a standard and a vision that would preserve working type. Now based upon vision of a few breeders the working and functional aspects of the breed are being replaced by exaggeration and preference for a particular look and not a functional type.
The same thing that took the working type out of so many other AKC breeds is now doing the same for the UKC APBT.
My own conviction is that within a set boundary defined by a set standard each breeder should strive for that which is ascetically pleasing to them. This asceticism should however start with maintaining working ability, temperament, increasingly stringent health criteria, intelligence, and working drive combined with and equal to the outward “type”. We must adhere and maintain those characteristics which made this breed successful. See the Working Type page for information on what this actually means. Hopefully there is an equal consideration for all of these aspects. If a breeder is breeding a specific line of dogs that are pleasing to their eye, have working ability and drive, fit within the original working type but most of the puppies have serious faults or health problems then there is a definite problem. On the other side of the coin, if a breeder is breeding massively overdone dogs that win in the show ring but are unable to jump an Obedience regulation height because they are too “big boned” then there is another serious problem.
We as breeders have taken on the responsibility of preserving not redefining the breed of dog we have chosen. The American Pit Bull Terrier was above all a working breed and as stated in the first line of the standard. They are capable of performing and excelling at a wide variety of tasks. Today we are moving toward defining a new type that is verging on substance and head type of American Bulldogs. I am now seeing GR CH APBT show dogs that could compete in the AB Conformation ring. This is the fault of the judges and the APBT community for not providing a reference and visual tools to utilize.
The following are descriptions of methods utilized in breeding programs to improve our breed. My hope is that the honest essays presented on this site will help breeders honestly look at their breeding programs. All similarity to actual events and people are merely coincident and not directed at anyone who might actually read this.
| Inbreeding Matings involving parents and siblings. E.g. of inbreeding Brother/Sister (closest most dangerous) Father/Daughter (useful for testing foundation and F1 genetic soundness or setting specific traits) Mother/Son (useful for testing foundation and F1 genetic soundness or setting specific traits) Half-Brother/Half-Sister (most useful and considered line-breeding depending on the non-shared parents) | Linebreeding Matings involving relatives other than parents and siblings. Cousins (have one or two Grandparents in common) Nephew/Aunt (most rationale line breeding) Niece/Uncle (most rationale line breeding) G. Granddaughter/G. Grandson Grandchild/Grandparent NOTE: shared relatives past the 4th generation has little effect except in rare instances | Backcrossing Breeding an outcrossed animal back into one of its original lines. This assumes the outcrossed animal was derived from two specific germ-lines | Outcrossing The breeding of unrelated animals. Only considered outcrossing if both are inbred or linebred and from separate lines. | Scatterbreeding Do not share any common ancestors in the first 4 generations. Matings involve unrelated animals.) |
There is often confusion and questions regarding the definition of these terms. To a geneticist there is less of a distinction but to most animal breeders, particularly dog breeders, there is a defined distinction between inbreeding (mating mother/son, father/daughter, brother/sister) and linebreeding (mating say grandparent/grandchild, aunt/nephew). Clicking on a particular term will provide you with more details.
