hybrids - Page 2

Maybe he didn't spend any time with his dog.  That alone would create behavioral problems. 

 Luv, of course not all recessive genes are negative.  But some are.

Increase the number of recessive genes, and you increase the number of negative recessive genes.

Even if you increase the number of positive genes.  So you have some new color combos, or maybe better eyes, or who knows what.  You also have the epilepsy of one breed PLUS the HD of the other, for example.

F1 hybrids are "predictable" in the sense that you know what you will get.  A wolf x dog litter will be more standard than a dog x dog litter (uniformity across pups is higher). 

Predictability in temperament (uniformity of a single pup or dog over time) is another matter entirely.  I think wolfdogs may be more unpredictable in this sense, but it may actually be that raisers/trainers are not skilled enough (as I pointed out) to understand their idiosyncracies so the behavioral product is not reliable. 

 You did not understand me correctly.

Of course the number of genes is determined by species.  I am not a geneticist but I do know *that* much.  I didn't say the number of total genes is increased or decreased.  What I said was:

 cross breeding one purebred dog to another purebred (different breed) dog, as I understand it, produces fewer "matches" between recessive genes.  So fewer genetic flaws show up in that first mixed generation.

So there will be fewer MATCHES between *recessive* genes the 1st generation.  In subsequent generations, however, there will be *more* matches than in the original pure breeds.

For example, a cross between one breed with higher rates of HD and another breed with higher rates of epilepsy.  Voila, you now have a cross breed that has tendencies toward both epilepsy and HD.

This is a sweet boy that I boarded last year.   He was shy and an escape artist, yes......didn't walk well on a leash, disliked confrontaion from my female (non alpha)GSD's.    He was an awesome dog that pretty much had raised himself.   I had him for 2 1/2 months.       He said he paid $1600. from a hybred breeder here in California.    Neat guy who could run for hours.   I was not used to the fact that when I threw a ball, he would duck and run.    That left him watching all the others at play, and he would never pick up any of my dog games.  He was just over 1 year old.   Lots of layers in that coat.   The owner told me there were 3 different kinds of wolf in him.   Dad was Artic, Mom was Mexican Grey and something something red.   You can see the lack of confidence in his tail.   Great boarding experience for me though.

The mention of homozygous pairings of deleterious alleles is important, in that it reveals faults in the bloodline, before they become prolific throughout the population, because of continual crossing of unrelated lines which will obscure the genotype.  Identified earlier by linebreed testing, instead an alternate course of breeding can follow, which can save generations and potential thousands of progeny from suffering an affliction that will likely never be purged from the breed once it becomes too widespread.

 How does line breeding compare with completely "random" (natural "selection", i.e., mates selected naturally, in the wild) breeding?  Assuming there are no unusual constraints such as geographic isolation, etc.  

Would wolves (wild ones) be good examples of "random" breeding, or is each region's population essentially line bred?

 MVF, I think my reply to you sounded snippy.  I didn't mean to come across that strongly.  I apologize.  I was just trying to emphasize the part where I said "matching"; I wasn't trying to say that what I wrote was for sure correct.  It's hard to tell "tone of voice" online.  Plus it's late, I shouldn't be posting!

(I could've just edited my post but that doesn't seem honest; plus, you may have already read the "snippy" version and not see a retraction unless I put it down here.)

I loved your series of posts re. economics of puppy prices.