Message #504692

[Reuben]

The definition of prepotency in a dog or bloodline means just that...breed that dog to a high percentage of females and you will get a high percentage of offspring that carry the dominant studs traits and will win on the track as expected for a high percentage of the offspring...We breed that same stud to a Bassett hound gyp and I reckon we will not have any offspring from that cross that can compete on the race track...

Breeding standard Airedale terriers will never produce a bluetick hound but one can produce an Airedale that hunts more like a hound...The standard Airedale was created from a combination of breeds which consisted of the smaller terriers and the Otter Hound...One can select and breed smaller Airedales and they will start to act more like the original smaller terriers used for creating the breed...and we can also breed the larger type Airedales which will start to express longer bodies and longer ears...This is because we are selecting for those traits and what will happen is that those traits we are now seeing are traits from the otter hound and those traits will now be displayed...because there will be more Otter hound traits they will act more like otter hounds...but who in their right mind will want to take the long road???I am not an expert in this but I have owned both types...especially if there are no others that would want to help in doing this...

One thing we all have heard or read is that all dogs come from the wolf and that includes from the weiner dog to the great dane and all breeds in between...so how could that happen if it weren't for intense selective breeding programs???We all know this didn't happen over a few generations...

If I wanted a bluetick hound I would get one...and even within a breed there can be big variations in size, color, hunt and grit among other traits so one can breed for a certain type of bluetick hound and still have a registered bluetick hound...

there are plenty of articles on breeding depression, some call it tired blood...to me that means that the bloodlines genetic make up is not as diversified because there are too many genes that are alike...some say that it should not cause problems if the selection process was done correctly...that might be true but unlikely...but in nature mother nature does not make mistakes...if a species can not adapt then it will become extinct...so only the strong survive to breed another day and this insures the well being of a species...

in the wild the coyote probably has been doing some family breeding and one needs to look deeper to visualize what has been happening...all coyotes in a certain location look alike because of the family relations...they have developed mentally, instinctively and physically as to what they are today...Mother Nature does not make mistakes when it comes to the selection of breeding specimens in a species...the offspring of the coyote will have to meet a minimum requirement to live and reproduce...if a pup can not survive the intestinal worms it will be taken out of the gene pool and those that don't have a resistance to parvo/distemper and other diseases won't live to reproduce...and when grown most species in the wild that pass on their genes had to be dominant to breed and that is part of the selection process...but we as dog breeders want to make sure all pups survive and we inoculate and worm the pups and do all we can to increase the survival rate and that begets more of the same...

a strain that is known for certain strengths or traits within a breed...and those are traits are those that deviate from the average specimen of that breed...happened because someone bred for those traits and had the know how to retain them...