Opinion of breeding - Page 2

 AlabamaEliteK9

You are starting with two very nice dogs and most likely some of their pups will be more like mom and some more like dad.  I would keep them all and raise them until about one year of age so that you can check hips and know their temperaments and physical capabilities.  You may get what you want in the first breeding but if not I would pick the ones closest to your ideal and line breed them on their ancestor that has those characteristics the dog is not sufficient for (size, speed, temperament, etc.).  See if linebreeding improves the result in the second generation.  From their you can breed out to another line that has the characteristics that you want or I like to come back to the center with the dogs I started with if not too much inbreeding is the result.  From my viewpoint diversity in the first litter between your two foundation dogs helps you because it gives you something to work with in future breedings for the second, third and fourth generations.  If the first generation offspring are great then you are done but odds are there will be room for improvement whatever the first generation offspring turn out to be at one year or older.  I think the reason the Europeans produce better dogs is because they don't expect to hit a home run on every pitch and they are willing to breed for 5-6 generations before they get the dog they are looking for from their breeding program.

Thanks for the info