Nope, like Jax, I think one should not breed just because you have a dog, or you have a bitch. Breeding should be to 'improve' the quality of the line/breed. But I also agree, that these days, it should be mandatory for dna screening on all breeding stock in order to maintain good healthy lines. I wonder why the Whippet Club doesn't promote this?Max&Smokey said:
when you reduce the gene pool by continuing to breed from only champions?
Nobody here suggested that Kirs should be only looking for a champion. What I did say that the blues and blacks seem to be all going back to the same lines, therefore are quite inbred, so it would be a good idea to consider a dog of other colour, different background. If you look at this thread blues you will find that experienced people say there are many problems in these coloured lines.Max&Smokey said:
I wouldn't put it as strongly as that. There are plenty of dogs from coloured lines that have lived healthy, trouble-free lives into their late teens. Actually most coloured coursing lines are rather outbred, in the sense that close relatives are rarely put together and most have a very low inbreeding coefficient (often quite close to zero whereas, in many of the non-coloured successful showlines, the average seems to be closer to 20-40% and these illnesses are not unknown in these lines either). However, if you go a few generations further back they all seem to share the same ancestors and there is anecdotal evidence of autoimmune diease/early cancers in some lines which may result from this narrowing of the genepool a couple of decades back, so I would agree, care needs to be exercised when planning a mating.Seraphina said:
Very well put!
Surely you should not breed unless you know you can find good homes for them?
sorry,i should have put emphasis on the JUST bit :thumbsup:Max&Smokey said:
Of-course, I am just going on what I heard on k9. All what I am trying to point out that sellection of stud dog should not be done prinarily on colour or any other single trait.BeeJay said:
Fully agree; none of the tests that exist are appropriate to the diseases that may give most cause for concern in whippets anyway; they are mainly polygenetic and it is far from clear where in the genome to even start looking for them in the case of autoimmune disease, in either humans or canines. In minority breeds, with a very small genepool, excluding a large number of individuals from the genepool following such testing might actually exaccerbate the number of health problems that exist in the breed. These are very complex issues.Seraphina said:
With all due respect Chris , I think the gene pool of whippets is large enough for me to chose what ever dog I want, without risk of carrying a genetic defect . :luck: I dont just use top winners , but those that I think will `compliment` my bitches .Max&Smokey said:
:cheers:
Sorry it is available in pdf form if you email them, via the contact>health info form, or directly: jsampson@the-kennel-club.org.ukBeeJay said:
kirs said:
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