Queston to those who bred about the "Mother Line" - Page 1

there have been several post regarding stud dogs, I dont breed but am of the opinion that the mother matters just as much if not more. Males w/ good drives and grips are easy to find. the majority of breeding in the US seem to be a "great" father and a mother w/ a BH (let me note that i do not feel that a female needs to be titled to be a good dog. mink, troll, etc... would have still produced if they were junk yard dogs.) but the emphasis seems to be placed on the father resume. So, here's my question... Ive seen several post saying lets not forget about the mother line. how exactly do you get to it? short of leasing a female wouldnt you have to breed to the mothers brother? in which case wouldnt we back right back to talking about studs?

Mother lines can be obtained from siblings, reference some of Walter Martin's comments on getting perhaps the worst dog from the litter to breed with. Many females are sold near the end of their breeding careear with a litter or two left in them. The females will be the backbone of any breeding program. Starting with a good one enhances your chances tremendously.

actually, if you look at the pedigrees of some of the better producing bitches, you will find that many of them come from a line of good producing, strong bitches; sometimes on their dam's side, sometimes both sides. in reality, a lot of the "good" studs are showing the strengths from their dam's bloodlines. we just erroneously place all the credit with the studs. :) :)

Walter, In my opinion and I am not an expert please but right here what I see. The female contribtes at least fifty to seventy percent a big imput. My best and I say my BEST female is a untitled bitch. If you put on a sleeve with her I guarantee you will see a female with hard, full powerful grips, steel nerves, ball drive, civil but stable could not be a better working line shepherd. I have Sch3's that could not carry her collar the problem was no trainer available for title. Look at a dog first, the pedigree second and you will benefit greatly. I am not saying the pedigree is to be ingnored just put it in proper order. I have bought a lot of titled dogs females from Europe and frankly how they obtained that title is magic to me. I have some like Daggi that have a Sch1 and she had super scores and is a reflection of that for sure but she is not the typical bitch coming out of Europe. But I have had some come and get weeded out here with Sch2 and Sch3 that amazes me how they got it. When you take the better females and then coupled with a stud dog that produces well this is when it pulls together. It is easier to get a good male out of Europe than a good female. The good females seem to stay unless they are like the poster said above old and maybe have one litter left.

When concidering a breeding female all aspects are important. How the bitch works, conformation and pedigree play an important part. Pedigree is important for line breeding and determining what combinations have not produced favorably. There is a reason why good breeding females are not sold. BECAUSE THEY ARE GOOD BREEDING FEMALES. I believe it is more difficult to find a good breeding female. You can find a nice high drive female that works well but it does not make her a good mother. Many high drive alpha females do not make the best mothers or care givers. I have an alpha female that does not want to be mounted. She actually turned and mounted the stud. Plan B for that female. I mention this just to show how difficult it can be to have and find a good breeding female. There was another post sometime ago that put it in Micro and Macro terms. From the micro aspect a breeding female is very important to the individual breeding kennel and program. The breeding female may only produce 30 to 50 pups over her life time. From a macro stand point a stud can produce 100 pups a year. Which individual dog has a greater impact on the breed, male or female? Kyle