Line Breeding how far effective? - Page 1

I would like to know how far is line breeding effective in deriving a certain type of good dogs form yester years and bringing out those similar qualities ahead in more of springs. or is the litter dominated my the sire and dam. rather than thier ancestors. for example onix von milesevac is line bred on the topmost VA dogs like Jeck Noricum Ulk arlett Yaggo wildstiger land but now how much of this will have an influence on this dog he is posted in this database you can see the picture and send your comments to bontzf1@yahoo.com

Genes are inherited in pairs, one half of each pair coming from each parent and each of those parents have, in turn, inherited from their parents in the same manner. So, if you do the math you can see the only correct answer to your question is - it depends. It depends on which half of each gene each parent passes on, the half from their sire or the half from their dam. It varies from littermate to littermate and no two littermate will ever carry the exact same genetic makeup. Then you have to factor in whether or not a specific trait is recessive, dominant, polygenetic (as many think about HD). Adding in the penetration factor, some genes are inherited with complete penetration, some partial, it's not hard to see that breeding dogs is not much more scientific that the toss of a coin. The more offspring any dog produces, the better the opportunity to analyze its reproductive value. It's Mother Nature's way of keeping dog breeders humble and until we decided that cloning is the way to go, it's mostly a crap shoot. Those dogs that produce well and consistently are very highly prized by breeders and rightfully so. If you want to get into this more, there are a number of sites on the internet regarding the inheritance of genes in the canine. As much as we might like to think it, this breed is not special in that regard, it inherits it's genes the same way as all other dogs, mixed or purebred. Ain't it fun to breed dogs?

Blitzen, a great answer. This issue of how animals that are closely linebred off off the same ancesters can produce such different looking and acting offspring intermixed with some uniformity has interested me for many years. You are so correct. It's what each actual animal carries genetically that is separated in half into the sex cells, how these cells combine after breeding and which genes dominate over others. So even if some dogs look the same from the same linebreedings they can throw divergent type and vice-versa. A very inexact science right now without gene mapping. I suppose that the breed wardens and top judges and breeeders in Germany have immediate access to producing trends as to which lines mix well with others, etc. and this is a huge advantage.

The breed wardens and judges definitely have the advantage; they see many progeny from the stud dogs and, to a lesser degree, the reproductive ability of the mother lines. I doubt that even the most popular stud dog in the US ever produces nearly the number of offspring as a Va or high rated V dog will produce during it's breeding tenure in Germany. Is there a limit in Germany on the number of offspring a dog can produce?

thank you Blitzen & Preston for thoughtful, informative answers--I appreciate the information. Can anyone recommend any websites/books in particular? ginabean

Blitzen, I believe a male cannot be breed more than 60 times a year in Germany, with quite even time intervals between breedings. I bet the only limit on the NUMBER of offspring is market, though.

Ginabean, Log on to www.workingdogs.com/genetics.htm for a list of good books on canine genetics. You might also want to try to find a copy of "Planned Breeding" by Lloyd Brackett. Brackett is recognized as the father of the breed in the US. Not meaning to be patronizing by stating this to other GSD people, it's just that I've found that some with imports are not always aware of interesting articles written by American breeders. It is out of print, but I see it on ebay now and then. You can read some of Brackett's articles on the internet. Try www.nylana.org/RRACI/brackett.htm or do a search with "Lloyd Brackett". Although these articles were written in the 60's, his theories are still considered to be quite sound and I'll bet you will find it all very interesting.

60 times A YEAR? That's 5 times a month, more than once a week. That's a lot compared to what goes on here, isn't it? Are there any Am bred dogs used that often? Thanks for that information, Makosh.

60 to bitches that reside in Germany plus 30 to bitches that reside outside Germany. Do the math on that!

Gawgies, that's a lot of puppies LOL.