The randomness associated with different genetic combinations, dominance and mutation phenomena, should lead dog breeders and dog club officials to approach the field of genetic improvement with great humility and extreme care.Nevertheless, we can remind ourselves of the main principles of canine selection which have been confirmed by experience and statistical studies.Before starting a selection, it is necessary to prioritize your goals by choosing a small number of genetic traits on which your efforts will focus.
Once the direction of selection has been defined, you should remember that qualitative traits (pigment types, coat color...) are easier and faster to fix than quantitative traits (morphology, performances...), since they depend on a restricted number of genes.
When the correlation between phenotype and genotype is strong, a rapid progress can be expected.
Pairing two candidates with distant genetic identities may produce, if fortunate, high quality individuals for competitions, although they might be unfit genitors (high rate of heterozygosity).
On the other hand, inbreeding does not necessarily produce exceptional individuals, but it enables desired traits to be fixed by increasing homozygosity.
Therefore, when a new blood stream is desired in a family line, it is worthwhile to call for an elite stud or, if unavailable, for one of its brothers if the latter shows a few minor flaws or a less successful career.
The best practice in dog breeding consists in raising several satisfactory family lines which will be crossed from time to time with one another. New inbreeding will immediately follow to fix desired traits.
Some breeders, wishing to obtain animals with all qualities in the long run, base their selection on criteria inversely proportional to their heredity, that is on prolificity, robustness and, finally, morphology. Indeed, if reproduction qualities (except for milk production qualities) seem even less hereditary than working qualities (determined by numerous genes), some morphological traits such as congenital stance defects appear to be highly hereditary.
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