anyone else's actions regarding the information on this web site. I am not a Veterinarian, nor do I portray myself to be one, so if you have medical questions please call your Vet first and foremost. Linebreeding, Inbreeding and Outcrossing This information is for educational use only. BREEDING BETTER DOGS requires a basic understanding of genetics and how to apply them. It requires study of your breed to understand good breed type and structure. There is an old saying: be careful what you do... as it will always come back to haunt you in the whelping box! Good breeding requires understanding and applying the terms of linebreeding, inbreeding and outcrossing. We should know exactly what we mean when we talk of inbreeding, line breeding and out-crossing. Line breeding is mating animals who are closely related to the same ancestor, preferably one whose type it is desired to obtain in the resultant progeny. In other words, it is accomplished by using for parents dogs who are closely related to that ancestor, but are little, if at all, related to each other through any other ancestors. Inbreeding implies a much closer relationship between the mating pair than does line breeding. Instead of involving second, third or more distant generations, it is generally understood to have to do with only four relationships—son to mother, father to daughter, brother to sister, half-brother to half-sister (both having the same sire and different darns, or the same dame and different sires). It should be remembered that when mating the progeny of two litters each having the same parents (from repeated matings, for instance), one is mating full blood brothers and sisters. That too is inbreeding. Why Inbred or Line bred? The purpose of both line breeding and inbreeding is to bring about breed improvement to get the best that is possible out of ones matings and to upgrade his stock. Advantages of Inbreeding When superior animals are used, it is the most powerful and sure way known of making the most of their excellence and perpetuating it. It is the method by which the highest possible percentage of the blood of an exceptional dog, or of a particularly fortunate "nick", can be kept, fused into, and finally made to influence an entire line of descent. If continued, the outside blood disappears and the pedigree is quickly loaded to an almost unlimited extent by the blood of a single animal, or two at the most. In practice it is usually that of a sire. Inbreeding is not so much a matter of originating excellence as of holding and making the greatest use of it when it appears. Disadvantages of Inbreeding Although the doubling up and intensifying of characteristics by this method of breeding insures results that are more probable than possible and, if continued long enough, are a certainty, it works the same for one trait as another, both good and bad. It affects all characteristics of the animals involved. That is why, unless a breeder knows a good individual of his breed when he sees one, or possesses the right stock to start with, inbreeding can bring disaster. ANY characteristic can be bred up or down, strengthened or weakened, by this method of breeding. Some of what we know about the results of inbreeding in animals comes from the scattered and irregularly reported experiences of breeders. It is difficult to be at all sure that the evidence against inbreeding came from using animals who were typical of their breed and should have been inbred upon at the outset. There is also the question of whether one hears of the usual effects of such breedings or only of the exceptionally bad ones. Anything undesirable which does appear is apt to be blamed on inbreeding, in spite of the fact that equally bad results often occur when no inbreeding has been done. The belief, and some uninformed breeders’ contention, that inbreeding and line breeding per se will cause either physical or mental deterioration is a fallacy many times proven. What is outcrossing? When we outcross, we take two completely unrelated lines and breed them together. This is what some call "Jackpot mating". The chances of getting something good out of such a breeding are remote. However, if the breeder is planning ahead, this may merely be a step in a longer term strategy. For outcrossing to work, the next logical step is to breed close again to the line. When you outcross you basically leave it up to great randomness about what the babies will look like. You will NOT get the best characteristics of the mother and the father. In all likelihood, you will get a very average looking litter or worse. In order to outcross successfully, you have to understand that within every breed there are different types. One of the fallacies of cross breeding is that the genetic diversity you get will give you a better pup. This is completely unfounded in any scientific study. What you do get, is a lot of "unknowns". If you do not have the competencies required to facilitate the breeding of your bitch, the raising of puppies, and the placement of puppies, it is irresponsible and unethical to breed until you have.
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