This is for the original poster, it's a cross post of something I posted in the breeding forum. Best wishes,
Here's a quote from the Ann Seranne book, "The Joy of Breeding Your Own Show dog". I'm sure that some of you out there with 2nd, 3rd and 4th gens of your own can relate.
"Sex-Linked Genes
Theses are located only in the X and Y chromosomes and can alter expected ratios.
Of interest to many breeders, who have trouble controlling the size of their puppies, is the theory that a bitch is genetically larger for her size than a dog. When two dogs of the same size are bred, the male offspring are often larger than their dam and the female offspring are likely to be smaller than their sire.
On the other hand, because of quantitative genes it is possible to breed a large bitch to a small male and have a litter of average-size puppies. This applies only to the first generation. When these puppies are bred, there will be a substantial variation in the size of their offspring." |