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20 Principles of Breeding Better Dogs
by
Raymond H. Oppenheimer
1. Remember that the animals you select for breeding today will have
an impact on the breed for many years to come. Keep that thought
firmly in mind when you choose breeding stock.
2. You can choose only two individuals per generation. Choose only
the best, because you will have to wait for another generation to
improve what you start with. Breed only if you expect the progeny to
be better than both parents.
3. You cannot expect statistical predictions to hold true in a small
number of animals (as in one litter of puppies). Statistics only
apply to large populations.
4. A pedigree is a tool to help you learn the good and bad attributes
that your dog is likely to exhibit or reproduce. A pedigree is only
as good as the dog it represents.
5. Breed for a total dog, not just one or two characteristics. Don't
follow fads in your breed, because they are usually meant to
emphasize one or two features of the dog at the expense of the
soundness and function of the whole.
6. Quality does not mean quantity. Quality is produced by careful
study, having a good mental picture of what you are trying to
achieve, having patience to wait until the right breeding stock is
available and to evaluate what you have already produced, and above
all, having a breeding plan that is at least three generations ahead
of the breeding you do today.
7. Remember that skeletal defects are the most difficult to change.
8. Don't bother with a good dog that cannot produce well. Enjoy him
(or her) for the beauty that he represents but don't use him in a
breeding program.
9. Use out-crosses very sparingly. For each desirable characteristic
you acquire, you will get many bad traits that you will have to
eliminate in succeeding generations.
10. Inbreeding is a valuable tool, being the fastest method to set
good characteristics and type. It brings to light hidden traits that
need to be eliminated from the breed.
11. Breeding does not "create" anything. What you get is
what was there to begin with. It may have been hidden for many
generations, but it was there.
12. Discard the old cliché about the littermate of that great
producer being just as good to breed to. Littermates seldom have the
same genetic make-up.
13. Be honest with yourself. There are no perfect dogs (or bitches)
nor are there perfect producers. You cannot do a competent job of
breeding if you cannot recognize the faults and virtues of the dogs
you plan to breed.
14. Hereditary traits are inherited equally from both parents. Do not
expect to solve all of your problems in one generation.
15. If the worst puppy in your last litter is no better than the
worst puppy in your first litter, you are not making progress. Your
last litter should be your last litter.
16. If the best puppy in your last litter is no better than the best
puppy in your first litter, you are not making progress. Your last
litter should be your last litter.
17. Do not choose a breeding animal by either the best or the worst
that he (or she) has produced. Evaluate the total get by the
attributes of the majority.
18. Keep in mind that quality is a combination of soundness and
function. It is not merely the lack of faults, but the positive
presence of virtues. It is the whole dog that counts.
19. Don't allow personal feelings to influence your choice of
breeding stock. The right dog for your breeding program is the right
dog, whoever owns it. Don't ever decry a good dog; they are too rare
and wonderful to be demeaned by pettiness.
20. Don't be satisfied with anything but the best. The second best is
never good enough.
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Last updated: July 23, 2009
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