Quote:
Originally Posted by yorkieK9trainer  Do I have it right that you would try to find the compliment to whatever feature you would like to change and go ahead and breed as long as neither are too far from the standard?
When breeding, you don't find a dog w/ huge ears and then breed that dog to a dog w/ tiny ears hoping to get something in the middle. Genetics simply don't work that way.
You need to always looks for a phenotype that closely represents what you're striving for and breed to a similar phenotype. |
I have read several different places that say just the opposite. Every reference I find suggests breeding to compliment. In fact, there are breeders' sites that suggest the very example you give -- that of breeding a dog with large ears (don't think anyone said huge) to one with small ears. Example:
http://members.cox.net/jrogan/puppybirth.html "
For instance if I'm breeding a
bitch with a weaker front and I want to strengthen the fronts
of the puppies, I'll breed her to a male with a strong front.
.
Or suppose her ears are large and I want smaller ears,
then I'll breed to a dog with small ears."
I think the idea is that neither be to far from ideal, but when trying to perfect, go for a compliment of what you need to correct.
Since I have not bread a large and small ear dog together -- I can't say from experience. My male no longer seems to have big ears so I may never know for sure.