What every Breeder Should Know

By Susan Frey 

The world of purebred dogs and schipperkes rests on the shoulders of the breeders and what they produce in whelping box. Breeders find themselves faced with a growing list of ills. Until individual dog breeders and those who promote and encourage their activities stand up and be honest about the problems that their lines face this problem will never be resolved. Breed Clubs are the guardians of  their breeds. Most of them have a codes of ethics to follow. Breed clubs should spend a lot more time and money, educating their members and the public, about the hereditary problems in their breeds. They should also inform the public with education and materials about various health issues as well as the breed facts. 

Breeders themselves who offer dogs at stud should only do so with the intention of producing puppies that are better than their parents. Dogs that have hereditary disease, no matter how beautiful them may be, are not better and are only continuing to produce problems in the breeds. This is unethical when these dogs that have known problems are bred, and their progeny are being sold to non-breeding homes, or other breeders, or show homes around the world. Some breeders goals are only to win at all costs.

Genetic Screening must become a issue for all breeders. If a disease can be tested for it should be on all dogs that are used for breeding. If a dog has a serious disease or fault,  it should not be used in any breeding program and all of it's parents, cousins, and relatives should be used with caution, after health testing and clearances. All of this testing is only part of what a true breeder, who loves his or her breed, will do to produce quality, healthy and sound individuals of their breed and to insure their breeds future. Failure to disclose any hereditary disease is unethical. A good breeder can and will give you the issues with his or her lines and will tell you the truth about what is behind the dogs for several generations. They will have researched their dogs and ancestors to the fullest extent possible.

Silence does nothing but hide health and genetic issues that the breed may have. Urging people to lie, intimidating them, and threatening them about keeping silent about health issues is unethical and does not need to take place in today's world.

Every dog has two copies of each autosomal gene. One came from its father, the other from its mother. The combination of alleles it has are its genotype. Their interaction with each other, other genes and the environment determines what traits you will see. The traits you see are referred to as phenotype. The basic mode of inheritance is simple dominance. You cannot tell from appearance that a dog with a dominant phenotype is also carrying a recessive allele. Knowing the phenotypes of the dogs in the pedigree can give you a idea of where the recessive may be.

A breeder who has kept records, or has knowledge of the dogs in the pedigree can trace back and know where he or she first encountered a dog with a known recessive. Four to Five generations knowledge on the dogs will help here greatly. The closer up a ancestor is with the recessive gene that has a health issue, the more likely the gene has been inherited and the dog could come down with the condition, or marking or the disease itself. 

Some definitions for us to look at and a basic understanding of genetics..  

Autosomal - Refers to any of the chromosomes other than the sex-determining chromosomes (i.e., the X and Y) or the genes on these chromosomes.

Autosomal Dominant - A single abnormal gene on one of the autosomal chromosomes from either parent can cause certain diseases. One of the parents will usually have the disease (since it is dominant) in this mode of inheritance. Only one parent must have an abnormal gene in order for the offspring to inherit the disease..

Autosomal Recessive - An abnormal gene on one of the autosomal chromosomes from each parent is required to cause the disease. Animals with only one abnormal gene in the gene pair are called carriers, but since the gene is recessive they do not exhibit the disease.

Phenotype - The entire physical, biochemical, physiological makeup of a individual determined genetically and environmentally.

Genotype- The entire genetic information carried by the individual.

Heterozygous - Having two different alleles for a single trait.
Homozygous - Having identical alleles for a single trait.

By knowing how far back the ancestors are, that you know of, that carried a recessive trait, it is possible to calculate the probability that a dog has inherited the recessive allele. A phenotype indicates the genotype and the breeder should know what alleles the dog will have by looking at it. If the alleles are co-dominant the traits will be expressed. Knowing which alleles possible for a gene, may be difficult, since all breeds do not have all alleles for every gene. But knowing which ones your breed has is highly important. 

Most traits are not inherited in a simple fashion. Many are polygenic that is the result or the actions of multiple genes. The best the breeder can do here is to make the best educated guess that they can. A example of this would be hip dysplasia, where two normal dogs could produce a severely dysplastic hip and two dysplastic dog could produce sound puppies. Polygenic traits can have unequal contributions from the parents and the trait may show up after many generations of absence. Why? Because the right combination of genes finally appeared and produced it. With a polygenic trait the breeder must consider the history of the trait in the family, and how often it has occurred within a few generations including siblings, cousins, aunts/uncles, nieces and nephews. The more affected relatives there are, the greater the risk for the disease. This analysis can be useful for avoiding those traits that are not wanted and for producing the desired traits.

Some genes link together and produce traits that are nearly always found together. If a breeder finds a trait that they don't like, along with one they do like, and cannot find a dog without the trait, they may have to live with it if they want to keep the good trait that is riding along with it. 

Environment also plays a role in any breeding and the developing embryo or puppy. The experiences and nutritional factors in the mother, from conception, birth, to puppy-hood and throughout life can impact the action of a animals genes. Genetically all are born with a certain genetic potential but the physical, environmental and mental experiences can and do play a part. Some traits may require a environmental trigger before developing as in some autoimmune diseases. The genes have to be there though to be triggered by some stimulant, or the animal may never develop the disease, these are said to be genetically predisposed.

A knowledge of inheritance is only one of the steps a breeder needs to know. Selecting the best quality and most sound individuals of what they have produced, to continue on with, that should be the goal that each should have when breeding. Selection needs to be made from physical structural, health, behavior and temperament and any dog deviating severely, should not be used. Selection needs to be broad and strong for or against a particular trait. Some traits can skew a gene pool and depending on what the alleles do and can start producing a disease or problem that had not been noted before.

Breeding for the winning look, or the excessive use of a popular sire or kennel can likewise skew a breeds gene pool and have serious consequences on the breed for years to follow. The smaller the breed population is, the greater the effect this will have on the breed as a whole. Whatever a breeder does in their breeding program, they need to realize that their actions will have a impact on breeders that follow, and on the breed especially when working with breeds that have small gene pools. Hopefully breeders will make the right choices and will breed what is best for the breed, the health of the breed and produce dogs that are of quality and of sound minds and bodies and remember that what you breed today may haunt you in the whelping box for years to come. 

Here are some tips to help you look for a good breeder:

1) A good breeder will ask any potential purchaser of any dog lots of questions including some that may seem personal about family and family members and will expect the purchaser to ask questions back. Please don't take these questions as a insult or personally.

2) A good breeder will breed in order to improve the breed and produce the best puppies they possibly can, and usually plan to keep at least one of them.

3) Breed only dogs that closely match the breed standard and are free of serious health and temperament problems and does health testing on their dogs and is willing to give copies of the health tests.

4) Will explain all the good and bad things about the breed and will tell you up front if they think this breed is right for you.

5) Will guarantee their puppies against any serious health issues.

6) Will have a contract where they have the first option to purchase the dog back (spayed or neutered doesn't matter) if for any reason you have to give up the dog.

7) A good breeder will try to make sure that the puppy they place with you will have a home for life.

8) Provide a individual registration slip, a 5 to 6 generation pedigree, and up-to-date shots/health records or health test record, with every puppy or adult dog they sell.

9) Offer assistance and advice on grooming, training, etc., for the life of the dog.

10) Provide referrals to other breeders if they don't have anything available.

11) Have dogs that are clean, healthy, happy, and humanely cared for and loved.

12) May ask for a friend to do a home visit to your home to check out the conditions the dog will be living in.

13) May ask for references.

14) Will want to be informed of any serious health issue that may arise at any point in the dogs life.

15) Will have the dog tatooed or microchipped before leaving their premises.

16) Be honest and tell you up front about the health issues in the breed and the bloodlines that they are working with.

17) Recommend diets and food for your new puppy or adult dog.

18) A good breeder will not breed a female every season that she comes in on. They will understand the need for the body to rest and heal and not be pushed and bred back to back to back. A good breeder is concerned about her females health here.

19) A good breeder will never think any question is stupid and that all questions that are asked are to help someone learn no matter the age of the dog.

20) A good breeder will be a mentor and will teach others that are interested in competing with their dogs.

21) A good breeder will work with you, some even financially, and make sure that you and the dog are going to be happy together.

Not every breeder is out to make money on their litters. In fact most litters have a big financial loss to them before the first puppy ever hits the ground. A good breeder will spend a lot of money health testing their dogs, a lot of time training them, grooming them, taking care of the medical  and identification needs,  routine shots and worming's, as well as just spending time with their dogs loving them. That doesn't even start with the expenses they have for showing the dogs in competitions, and the costs for traveling to them and the vehicle that it takes to haul them all. Good breeders who love their breed, do it because they love their dogs, and their breed.  Good breeders have pet quality dogs as well. What this means is that a bite may have gone off, or a testicle didn't descend as it should on a male puppy, or the puppies ears are too big or something is there to prevent that dog from earning it's Championship, that does not mean that the dog will not make a wonderful loving pet for the right home. The advantage to purchasing a dog from a breeder is that you know the health of the parents and ancestors, and the extra love and dedication and hard work that has gone into producing the puppy that will become the member of your family.

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