How closely can you breed dogs

They are less likely if parents are unrelated and more and more likely the closer related they are. But this does not mean problems are inevitable — just they they are more likely. And the breed makes a difference.

A pair of closely related Malamutes are basically a very healthy breed so less likely to have a genetic defect than a pair of, say, Cavalier King Charles Spaniels where there are some problems which are embedded in the DNA.

In this instance I would not be particularly concerned but would make sure that the next two generations of matings from this litter are from different lines. Hi David, Hopefully this question has not been asked, but I may have missed it. I guess that this is line-breeding rather than in-breeding, but do you feel that this relationship is too close and too recent?

Much depends on the rest of the pedigree but the Brittany is a pretty sound breed so, as you say, it should be good line breeding. Jahsaree is 8 years old and and Nyla will be 1 in November. Jah is in excellent shape no health issues what so ever, and his temperament is amazing. Hi I was wondering if it is ok to breed aunt to nephew there pit bulls? Im getting a puppy who was bread like this and I want to make sure its not bad.

IF only it were that simple. Aunt to nephew need not be a problem but if the line is already closely bred it could be. I would need much more information — and I still might not know the answer. IF we did know the answers we would all only breed perfect dogs. I have just placed a deposit on a female Golden Retriever Puppy and received her Pedigree Certificate with her heritage information. I am quite concerned as her parents both have the same sire which makes them half siblings.

I will try and portray my worries with the rest of the breeding line too, as some other breeding patterns seem off to me. I am quite new to all of this but I am trying to educate myself. To me, there are too many names that appear too often but as I said, I do not know much. Could you please advise me on whether I am right to be worried? Kind regards and thank you for providing such an informative report and your ongoing support.

It looks sensible line breeding but perhaps you should ask the breeder for the Coefficient of Inbreeding of the litter! You want it to be low — under 7 is good — over 12 be careful. I have retrievers, I have been breeding the same line for 12 years, my bitch line has remained strong, I have 4 generations of my bitches all descended from my foundation bitch. I tend to breed cousin, half uncle to niece or outcross out every 2nd generation, so I have out crossed twice.

I felt I had to build a line with all good results before I bred closer than I already had done. Just thought id share my experiences. Hi David, thanks for the website, very informative. My question is, a lot is said about prepotent stud dogs dogs that produce their type regardless of their mate , in addition how common and important are prepotent bitches?

Can many bitches be prepotent or is it because they are limited to 3 or 4 litters their true impact is unknown?

Just something that interests me. One of my bitches had 4 litters, each to a different stud dog, 2 of the stud dogs she was related to, half uncle niece son the other a cousin. Was I perhaps lucky all 4 dogs whether related to her or not matched her in physicality, or phenotype. Estentially a male version of her. Just a question. In theory both sire and dam contribute equally but it is generally accepted that the characteristics of the one which is most homozygous is likely to have the greatest impact.

So this would mean that bitches can certainly be prepotent. It is also often said that a kennel is founded on its bitches and this would indicate that experience confirms the observation because it is the females which tend to be kept for the next generation rather then dogs. I would be interested to know of any research which proves or disproves this commonly held view. Hi, we have a brother and sister Yorkie.

Brother is mated with his sister, we did not want this. I do not know what to do with the puppies. Thanks and best regards! But they may not. Yorkies are a healthy breed and if they two are not already closely bred the puppies may be fine.

Keep a close eye on them and do not hesitate to consult a vet if you have any concerns about their health. I hope you are lucky. Thanks for the great article and related discussion, what about mating a GSD bitch to its grandfather who is a grand son of a great bloodline of larus von batu, a bloodline that I would like to maintain. Does the sir have more impact on the characteristics of the litter as they say?

And why? And how do I make use of this. Its a complicated question. Dear David, i am trying to line breed larus, got a female with larus in her 5 generations, made the mating outcome check with my male grandson of larus and i got this outcome :. It looks low but I confess I really do not have enough detailed knowledge to advise you. You need someone with intimate knowledge of those lines. I dont plan any more inbreeding with this lines,. I have had the main line for 5 generations.

The prcd is A, body type in every generation is the same. All lived from years, no problems till right befor they died of old age. Temperment is perfect. Does there seem anything I may need to know? You can continue to mate closely as long as you are SURE there are no underlying problems.

The best advice is you breed closely is two generations close and then bring in a male or female unrelated. Hi David, I just got a 9month old miniature schnauzer and the lady I got her from had her half brother same father different mothers with no other inbreed in the pedigree and he locked with her one time, if she is pregnant she would be five weeks along. She is not showing but her teats are swollen.

Her vet will not do a spay because she is to far along. I plan to have a ultra sound done next week to find out for sure. If you want the puppies and can find homes for them I would go along with the pregnancy — they are basically a healthy breed — just take care in the future! She would not have come into season if she was not ready to have puppies there is no evidence I know of which confirms that there is any problem mating at the first season.

This article helped. Both males were born to them, separate litters. One male is my Uncle. Their was a female bitch born to that litter, which is my Niece. Your opinions, Sir? Once you get into cross bred dogs you have know idea what problems might emerge. There are specific problems with some pedigree breeds but the advantage is that, by and large, you know what they are and can avoid them whether you are are breeder or potential owner.

One you have an almost entirely random genome you certainly are likely to have hybrid vigor but there will still be genetic problems as there are in humans but these will entirely unpredictable. I have already seen a number of reports of genetic difficulties with some of the established cross breeds such as cockerpoos so I am afraid I un able to offer any useful advice.

I just wanted to commend you on a very well written article! In the last 10 years I have gone to a toy breed of dog and I must say that it IS very different depending on the breed of dog you are working with-just as you said.

With so many underlying health issues in the toy breeds we have to be so careful getting too close with line breeding and inbreeding is a scary thought with some of the threshold genes, like luxating petallas. You could but I would not — not advisable unless you really know what you are doing and have a great deal of breeding experience. Hi david i have brother and sister saddleback pigs and want to breed them for purely meat can this be done?

Thanks kelly. I have no idea of how closely they are bred and know even less about pigs. But if you are only interested in the meat so they are going to be slaughter quite young I doubt there will be a problem. Yes only breeding for meat and was thinking of getting a unrelated female to mate with our boy to sell piglets for pets , so thankyou so much for your reply david , have a great day.

Hi, I have two pitbulls, one male and one female. They are both registered, but the male dog is the females offspring. Somehow he got to het while she was on heat and now she is having puppies. Will they be considered inbreeds or linebreed puppies and will they be normal healthy pups with such close breeding mother to son. This is close inbreeding and not to be recommended. The pups may be fine — it depends how genetically healthy the parents are and I cannot know that.

I would advise that you let go any of the pups which are weakly or poorly. HI, I have a female cattle dog. I know the personality of 6 generations back. The dam of Toby is from a kennel that my one female is from, but not related, the female is Chyna. Chyna when bred to Arrow, son of my first ACD produced 5 acd in I bred Toby to Chyna, and have 2 pups 3 years old and 4 years old.

I want to breed back dad to daughter. Physically they are perfect. What concern would there be with this litter if bred? You sound as if you know what you are doing although breeding that close is not recommended indeed, the UK KC will not register puppies so closely bred.

It is a risk but you could get lovely puppies alhtough I would try to go for a less in bred mating. Hi David, ive been asked by my 7 month old bitches breeder if I would like to breed her with her grandfather, would there be any deformitys or defects if I do when she is mature enough to become pregnant? As always it depends on the breed and how sound the dogs are. Under most circumstances it is good line breeding.

It is usual to wait until a second season. Thankyou, she is a pedigree Cane Corso, theres only one line breeding time in her blood line and that was her great great grandfather to her 4 greats grandmother, shes just come into to her first season.

I should have her spayed in any case if you do not breed and have a male in the house. Ask your vet straight away they could give an injection to stop a pregnancy depending on the circumstances but most do not spay during or close to a season.

Pups may be fine — the risk depends on how closely they are themselves bred. The closer they are the greater the likelihood of problems. She is ready to breed, will her size make it hard for him to breed?

Also if so, how can I help? I would leave them to it. It he can manage it its OK. I am thinking of buying a female to breed with him. Hall of fame dog as well. My male has perfect health, and makes absolutely perfect field trial dog. I want to own and breed from my own female. Would this new puppy be a problem? If not for health reasons then for sale reasons when I sell puppies? Neither dog has any other matches anywhere through 5 generations. Further distance is generally referred to as line breeding BUT this is very much dependent on the number of close relatives which occur in the pedigree.

Hello, I just found out that my male dogs Hercules , grandfather and great-grandmother are my female dogs Athena and Luna mother and father. So that means that the owners had breed mother and son, to get my females, but is it ok to breed the male and females? Also, would that make them related, and how closely related would they be?

Can you help me? Need to know as soon as possible the answer as on the verge of buying today. You need a great deal of experience to breed toy dogs and as you clearly know little about it it my advice is not to do so. You need much more information if the process is not to end with you losing your bitch. Go to Amazon and get a copy of my book All About Mating Whelping and Weaning, read it and then research for a sire with the knowledge you gain from it.

Is that too many relatives in one pedigree? I am looking at breeding two German short hairs. They share the same father. The lines that the dogs come from have yet to show any disease or problems. If I can breed them, I would only do it once, then move to another line in the next generation. So do you know why the AKC allows you to register half siblings, but not father to daughter, when we have inbreeding coefficients of 50 percent verses 25?

Kind of interesting. I have been reading your articles on inbreeding and line breeding. I would still like your view on a puppy I would like to purchase. She is a Boston Terrier.

The mother has the same great grandparent and great great grandparent. I also found out that the father has the same great great grandparent as the female. Bostons are very hard to come by here in Alaska as most are interbreed mush more closely. I will not be breeding her but I do want a sound puppy. Thank you for any in put you can give. It is difficult. Boston terriers tend to be quite closely bred in any case CoI There is a tendency for them to have eye cataract problems in the UK but, of course, I cannot speak for the States.

It would be a reasonable question. Thank you for your quick response. Although I have not talked directly with anyone who has purchased a puppy the breeder tells me she has one of the same Owners purchasing another and a Vet in the area is buying one as well. I guess I better ask more questions.

I have two studs and two bitches. My two studs are half brothers same father. They are both Slash V bloodline. My females are unrelated over 5 generations with no like ancestor to my studs. I recently sold a red Merle female and she inquired about breeding her to my black tri stud her uncle when she comes of age.

Any genetic concerns with that pairing? Every breed is different and the genetic concerns of one breed are likely to be quite different from others.

That said, the breeding you propose is quite close but I am afraid I do not know enough about Australian Shepherds to advise you. You need to talk to other experienced breeders. What about uncle to niece husky? Uncle and mom to niece are bro and sis.. No health problems on either side? This can work very well if you are sure of your stock and they are not already closely bred but remember that once is enough.

Any puppies should be out crossed if bred from. So this would be the first time the parents mated brother and sister. I hope you respond I would really like an professional opinion. I do not know. Mating brother and sister is not good practice but very experienced breeders sometimes feel it is a viable option. Inexperienced breeders may not know it narrows the gene pool to a damaging extend and such close mating can often result in the expression of genes which cause genetic disease or physical abnormalities.

And it sometimes happens by accident. Sometimes there is no problem but, personally I would not take a chance without much more information about the temperament of the sire and dam and their pedigrees. I have a female great dane and her sister has had some puppies would you recommend me getting one of her pups to breed with my female it would be like my dogs nephew? I would need to know much more about the background to be able to say yea for it is too close a mating unless you really know what you are doing.

And what would be the point — go out to a good healthy stud dog so you do not have to worry. I have English Bulldogs. Have the same father. Female is alergy free and has a high energy temperament. Male has minor skin problems with Mange which is a bit to be treated.

Yeast has been an issue but that was by way of missed baths and general hygeNE which has been corrected. Their grands are both from show lines with many acculades between them as well as a few prize winnings hough out each of their generational lines. Hi jst wondering we have a male japanese akita an are getting out feamale nxt month but jusT to be safe if they mate we have jst found out that that our feamales father is great uncle to our boy which makes them 2nd or third cousins is this safe for them?

I am looking at doing a mating which has the same dog appears on both sides at 3rd generation and and same dog on both sides at 4th generation. These 2 dogs are not related. Is being this far back okay? Hi Dave, We are trying to get our line breeding started. We have 2 females from the same litter.

We purchased a male puppy with a different pedigree. They have had some beautiful litters. Would it be expectable to breed aunt and nephew? So much depends on the breed and its underlying genetic health. If they are all physically and genetically healthy the relationship is good line breeding — but you have to look further back to make sure that you are not breeding too close in the long term.

Good rule of thum is line breed for two generations and then outcross for one. Our Samoyeds Genetics s are good and health is excellent. Would this be the two generations? We are new breeders of Samoyeds. About 10 years. My first 2 Samoyeds were not related.

They bread and I kept 2 females. We sold our male and purchased another male. We have had litters from both females.

The owners did not neutered him. Would it be alright to breed him back to Chello which is his aunt. There is no health or genetic problems. Out of this litter we were planning on keeping a male and female. Would this be an execptable line breeding?

It sound sensible — but you have more experience of breeding Samoyeds than I have. What do other experienced breeders think? They both have same mother but different father. If you do not want to breed it would sensible. I have bred ferrets for years, mainly for working. This year I have got a silver pied ferret with unusual marking. How do I fix this pattern in other litters. I am sorry — but I have absolutely no idea.

You need to consult another experienced ferret breeder. I have a male boston terrier and his sister from from a different litter, they have the same parents but the parents are not related at all. I am not wanting to continue with breeding but would love to have a puppy off of them because they are tempermented great and are healthy. Is this a bad idea and would their be deformities. Even though from different litters they are brother and sister. I would not mate them — use another Frenchie with a good temperament.

Hi I have an English cocker spaniel bitch and would like her to have a litter she is a show line but I am not sure what sire to breed her with to keep the blood line going?

I should have a word with the original breeder — and others who breed and show Cockers. I do not know enough about Cockers to help I am afraid. I have been asked if my dog will be a stud for a bitch who is coming into season soon. My dogs grandfather and the bitches great grandfather are the same dog…. Is this too close to breed? It should be not problem — but why would you? Once a dog has been used at stud he is usually muck more interested in biytches when they are in season.

It is likely to be more trouble that it is worth. Why would I what? I was wondering if this posed any issues and is a accepted way of breeding? Breed from this pair. I would sugest you go out at this stage to an unrelated dog for your bitch. In response to the Golden breeding to a doodle question, yes it can be done, and yes the offspring will shed more.

Purebred to purebred Golden to Poodle is an F1 Doodle. A Doodle back to either purebred line is an F1b. A Doodle back to a Golden will produce less curly hair…more wavy….. A Doodle back to a Poodle produces less shedding and curlier hair. But would still be an F1b Doodle. That is very helpful, Tracy. I am pleased that there are those taking a sensible and scientific approach to deliberate cross breeding. I am not sure that such specific consequences though.

Has enough research been done to be sure? Canine DNA is very flexible and although predictable in some ways is not usually so precise.

I adopted a siberian husky that is the sister to my daughters male husky. I found out 5hat those 2 hooked up during her first cycle. Consequently, she delivered 4 healthy puppies while laying between my wife and I. Anything you can tell us about what to expect? I have two puppies from different mothers and fathers, but they have same grandmother. What if they were together? The breeder bred a son to mother. The son is very aggressive alert guard dog.

The mother is less social and a bit shy. What type puppy should I expect to get from this breeding? Why would you even think of it? There must be examples of the breed with good temperament.

Go for one of those. My question to you is, I have a blue silver dapple and I want to breed her. I just want to make sure I have healthy puppies! I got my wotties by crossing my Yorkshire terrier female with a male rotteweiller. This seems a very strange combination. I do not know the answer. You have created what is called an F1 cross. I want to breed my 3year old yellow lab champs on both sides, no health issues. All of them being a top dog in their breed in various years over the past decade.

Would it be too close breeding her to great grandfather or would that be considered inline breeding and safe? I would think great grandfather on one side would be ok — once you had checked out to be sure he is fit and healthy. I have a female whose grandparents and great grandparents on her mums side are the same as the grandparents and great grandparents on the mums side of the male I plan to put her to.

They have no relationship on either fathers side. All pervious generations are healthy and still living. Is this mating ok? I plan to outcross any offspring with an unrelated animal.

Also what would this relationship be called? I really cannot comment, Mary. I know nothing about chinchillas. You need to consult one of your experts in the species. Hi I have two female English mastiffs and a male. Is it okay to breed a puppy from each litter to the other. Also can you breed brother and sister together Joan. Please read the article.

You should not breed a brother and sister together. IF youw ant to breed English Mastiffs you absolutely should talk to an expert in the breed. Can you Breed a dog from a first litter siblin to a 2nd litter sibling same parents different litters. Hi my name is Elizabeth.

Can we breed them? THere are plenty of GRs around of good quality. It is perfectly possible that you would not have any problems but there is a risk — why take it?

They both are up to date on all shots and are very active and healthy. Today Lucy had puppies unexpectedly. We had no clue she was pregnant.

She has been very active and a loving dog. She had 10 puppies. And they all seem healthy, they are all eating. Lucy is fine and Did everything naturally what a dog would do.

Will these puppies be ok? Will Lucy stay ok? What should we expect? Even what should we do? These things happen and it may well be that the pups are fine but I would have one of your dogs neutered! Very close mating can work perfectly well. It is not that they will necessarily be disastrous but that the closer the two dogs are bred the greater the risk that, if they have a genetic or physical problem this is much more likely to be embedded in the puppies and in future generations.

Experienced breeders can mate closely — because they are experienced and know what they are doing. If you are not experienced is is best, if you want to breed a litter, to use a dog on your bitch which has as different a pedigree as possible. Females father is males grandfather, different mothers all the way around.

This is a typical scenario for a line breeding but there are always two issues. You should be looking at both. Would you feel this breeding would be ok? Someone just told me it was too close. I would ask on what grounds they think it too close. The pedigree looks fine to me subject to all the points about health and appropriate tests I have made in previous replies.

Thank you…. All health clearances done…heart, eyes, hips, and more. I have two akc registered huskies. They both have the same great grand mother. Will I have a problem registering the puppies with akc????

There is one similarity in the 5 generation pedigree. The males great grandfather and females great great grandfather are the same dog. Thanks for your opinion! Genetically there is not problem here. So long as both are healthy can come though any tests clear I would go for it. What I learned is that it is a daddy daughter litter…should I be concerned about this purchase. Yes — you should not go for a puppy — an excellent example of irresponsible, thoughtless breeding!

I have a labardoodle named Hailey. Her brother labardoodle mated with a poodle which produced another labardoodle. My mom got a puppy from that litter so in relation Hailey is his aunt. Can we breed that pup with Hailey? Males mother is also the daughter or females mother.

Captive populations are at risk from inbreeding since relatively few mates are available to the animals, hence zoos must borrow animals from each other in order to maintain the genetic diversity of offspring. Inbreeding holds problems for anyone involved in animal husbandry—from canary fanciers to farmers.

Attempts to change the appearance of the Pug in attempts to have a flatter face and a rounder head resulted in more C-sections being required and other congenital problems.

Some of these breeds are losing their natural ability to give birth without human assistance. In the dog world, a number of breeds now exhibit hereditary faults due to the overuse of a particularly "typey" stud which was later found to carry a gene detrimental to health.

By the time the problems came to light they had already become widespread as the stud had been extensively used to "improve" the breed. In the past some breeds were crossed with dogs from different breeds in order to improve type, but nowadays the emphasis is on preserving breed purity and avoiding mongrels.

Those involved with minority breeds rare breeds of livestock face a dilemma as they try to balance purity against the risk of genetic conformity. Enthusiasts preserve minority breeds because their genes may prove useful to farmers in the future, but at the same time the low numbers of the breed involved means that it runs the risk of becoming unhealthily inbred.

When trying to bring a breed back from the point of extinction, the introduction of "new blood" through crossing with an unrelated breed is usually a last resort because it can change the very character of the breed being preserved. In livestock, successive generations of progeny must be bred back to a purebred ancestor for six to eight generations before the offspring can be considered purebred themselves.

In the dog fancy, breed purity is equally desirable, but can be taken to ridiculous lengths. Some fancies will not recognize "hybrid" breeds such as the white or Parti-Schnauzer because it produces variants. Breeds which cannot produce some degree of variability among their offspring risk finding themselves in the same predicament as wolves and giant pandas.

Such fancies have lost sight of the fact that they are registering "pedigree" dogs, not "pure-bred" dogs, especially since they may recognize breeds which require occasional outcrossing to maintain type! Most dog breeders are well aware of potential pitfalls associated with inbreeding although it is tempting for a novice to continue to use one or two closely related lines in order to preserve or improve type. Breeding to an unrelated line of the same breed where possible or outcrossing to another breed where permissible can ensure vigor.

Despite the risk of importing a few undesirable traits which may take a while to breed out, outcrossing can prevent a breed from stagnating by introducing fresh genes into the gene pool. It is important to outcross to a variety of different dogs considered to be genetically "sound" do any of their previous offspring exhibit undesirable traits? How can you tell if a breed or line is becoming too closely inbred? One sign is that of reduced fertility in either males or females.

Male dogs are known to have a low fertility rate. Small litter sizes and high puppy mortality on a regular basis indicates that the dogs may be becoming too closely related. Highly inbred dogs also display abnormalities on a regular basis as "bad" genes become more widespread. Successful inbreeding is simply called line-breeding. Of course, every breed of dog we have today was produced by line-breeding, which is the art of mating closely related dogs together to fix in their genetic make-up the qualities or conformation the breeder is looking for.

Mating father with daughter or brother with sister increases the chances of the offspring sharing an identical gene derived from the same ancestor. Most breeds were developed so long ago that there are few records of how that particular type of dog was produced. In the past 50 years cockers have diverged markedly again, with selective breeding for either showing or working resulting in very different dogs.

A similar thing has happened to most of our native gundog breeds. This is the Korthals griffon, named after its creator, Eduard Korthals. Born into a wealthy Dutch family, in , at the age of 22, Korthals set out to create his own all-round shooting dog. He started with seven pointing griffons and then carefully line-bred until he succeeded in producing the sort of dog he was aiming for.

It took him 20 years to achieve his goal. The result: a dog that Korthals called the wirehaired pointing griffon, the name by which it continues to be known in the US. He bred more than but kept just Today the breed is most numerous in France, while its popularity is growing in the UK.

It says a lot about the dogs that Korthals selected that the breed remains as healthy as it is today.