Inbreeding - Page 4

LOL I can not even beleive that someone is so stupid that they would compare breeding Dog's to having sex with their own father. Get a grip these are dogs and at the end of the day the axis of the world would not shift if we let every dog in our kennels inbreed every heat cycle.

                                                                                                                                                            Gerald Roach

The SV doesn't allow line breeding closer than 2,2  without special permission which, as I understand it, they never give.

Mr. Roach,

while I do not know Tighe personally or "cyberwise", I have to correct you here. He/she never said anything about pets. It is very presumptous of you to think that every puppy buyer is a pet buyer! Not every GSD enthusiast breeds!

I consider myself a very tolerant person, but I have to say that health aspects are the minimum every breeder should worry about. Especially when it comes to hips! Being from Germany, I would like to throw in a little monkey wrench here. People always talk about Germans not giving a sales contract. What these people do not know is that German Consumer Law  protects puppy buyers. Breeders have to take a defective puppy back during the first year. A court case would be decided  in the buyer's favor if the buyer can prove that the parents were not healthy and/or not free of genetic problems. So, if you breed dogs which are not certified hip dysplasia free in Germany, you (as a breeder) would not only be responsible to replace this puppy, but also for all resulting vet costs. Now, that is Germany, of course! But I do want to venture a bet that some states here in the U.S. could decide on something similar. I am a longtime breeder, but I would never dare to breed with dogs not certified free of hip dysplasia. But I know, your answer will be that this is my opinion and everybody is entitled to one. As long as you can look your puppy buyers and dog owners in the eyes and have a clear conscience that you did your absolutely best when they cry because their beloved dog needs to be PTS. I am done ranting, this is a very touchy subject to me because I have been on both ends of that, as a puppy buyer once and as a breeder.

I hope that you upload a lot of these American pedigrees, if for nothing else, at least for educational purposes. So, we all can see where the American GSD enthusiasts veered off the path! I have been asked this question a few times in Germany as well! How is the temperament of these Am lines lately? We used to go to every AKC show within 150 miles of our area and take our dogs. It is afterall a great place to socialize puppies and young dogs. We went to all breed shows and specialties, and it was very sad to see these adult show dogs being scared of our bouncy happy puppies. More than once we were asked to keep our distance with our dogs and not come too close. Of course, not every dog has great temperament. We see that in our German showlines and  in the workinglines as well. Temperament issues can creep up just like health issues do! That is the reason it is so important to breed with titled dogs and go to breed suitability tests (Körung).

I hope that you enjoy your time here and maybe we can learn something from each other! Just maybe, there might be myths and lies about the Am lines you could rectify here. I am always open to new information. Nobody should ever say that there is no room to learn more.

Yours in the breed and sport,

Chris

Chris, nice post.    Certainly more constructive than my own sarcastic jab.  

Excellent post , Silbersee  

Aye! who be here t' say it isn't still done? Some o' t' finest dogs o' different breeds have been produced by line and inbreedin'. no lubber knows for certain what dog be bred t' what female unless t' be thar. They could have bred Ursus t' Connie then bred aft t' best daughter t' Ursus and paper it out o' a different female. What lubber would know different Aye!

Linebreeding, distant and close, and inbreeding is widely accepted and practiced in many breeds and is not generally considered incest or taboo as it is in the world of imported GSD's.  Many breeders inbreed and linebreed to set a specific type or to strengthen a specific trait they feel they need in their breeding stock. Most do not inbreed for more than one generation. 

Great post, Chris. 

SchHBabe:  For what it's worh I appreciate your sarcasm & got a good laugh from your post!

I have a close friend who owns two of my gds and he is an aviary Judge and in the bird world  the inbreeding is how they set the certain traits they want  , and hes been doing this for 39 years and is one top aviary Judges in the USA and Canada....so much for the birds...he does know exactly what to breed and what not to breed.......years of trial and error......years of experience....

I'm sure that inbreeding is practiced with many different animal species. It's not voodoo science or a horrible thing in the animal world.  When used correctly inbreeding and close linebreeding can move a breeding program ahead 2, 3 generations. Continuing to outcross and deliberately avoiding breeding to relatives beyond the 3rd generation might not be the wisest way to breed dogs either.

Somehow inbreeding and linebreeding dogs has been assigned a human element and made out to be something immoral and almost evil. We are breeding dogs and breeding a father to his daughter should never be considered the same  as it would be in the world of humans.