08/20/2026
Breeding for a Difference
BY CARMEN BATTAGLIA, PHD
Most people think and act within the narrow limitations of what they have been taught during their early years as a breeder without ever questioning the basic assumptions that structure their world as a breeder. Because technology has become a tool that every breeder can use, it is important to stop periodically to see if we are experiencing a slippage in our values. This is an area that no breeder can afford to ignore and no one should drift from his or her breed's standard when it comes time to select sires and dams.
Every breeder knows that there are more than enough problems to worry about. The key to success is staying focused on the important issues. Many times the problems of least importance are given more attention than they deserve. In practice, no breeder can realistically focus on every problem. This means that choices have to be made. In this regard, one of the worst dilemmas will come when a breeder discovers that they do not know what problems exist in their breed. This is closely followed by not knowing what problems exist in their pedigrees. Regardless of what problem seems to be important, how much progress a breeder will make can be linked to the learning of these skills. Three standout.
• The understating of your breed's standard.
• Knowing the modes of inheritance that affect the traits to be eliminated or improved.
• Knowing what the strengths and weaknesses are that present in your pedigrees.
There are several factors that separate success from failure. In this regard, some will know more about the ancestors in their pedigrees than others. Generally it will be those that occur in the first three generations because they contribute the most to each litter. Others will only study and use champions in their breeding program. This is because they are easy to notice and everyone appreciates a winner. Those with the least amount of experience will concentrate on only breeding to the dogs with health certifications (OFA, CERF, etc). This is because they do not know how to manage the carriers. Then there are those who believe that producing one good puppy or a champion will make them successful. In the end, most of these reasons will not be good measures of anything given what is known about breeding methods and genetics. For example, one good pup in a litter of faulty littermates is not progress. Even worse, is for the pups to be of such poor quality that most must be sold on spay/neuter contracts or on limited registrations.
In order to know whether a breeder can make a difference begins by taking a close look at the qualities found in the litters they have already produced. This begins with the core elements (health, conformation, and temperament). Quality and soundness are the proven measures of progress and they are the factors that will make the difference. In this regard, everyone is not equal. Some breeders begin with better quality dogs than others. Some know more about how to pick and choose the best offspring. Some know which breeding method is best suited for each sire and dam. Some will have more breed knowledge and better networking skills. While all of these factors are important, until a breeder understands what strengths and weaknesses are imbedded in their pedigrees not much can be done. In practice, every dog has some traits that need improvement. This is true even among the better individuals. Ask this question, is there one trait or characteristic you would like to fix or improve in the dogs you are breeding? It is not enough to know the breed standard and which traits are to be faulted and disqualified. To do a better job, one must know the modes of inheritance for each trait. The mode tells the breeder how a trait will be inherited. But of all the things that might go wrong, one of the worst problems is to not know if the problems are caused by the recessive genes or by the management of the dog itself.
To finish reading the article, go to the website:
https://upyourdogshowgame.com/article-breeding-for-a-difference.html
About the author: Carmen L Battaglia holds a Ph.D. and Masters Degree from Florida State University. As an AKC judge, researcher and writer, he has been a leader in promotion of breeding better dogs and has written many articles and several books .Dr. Battaglia is also a popular TV and radio talk show speaker. His seminars on breeding dogs, selecting sires and choosing puppies have been well received by the breed clubs all over the country.
For additional articles written by Dr. Battaglia, go to https://breedingbetterdogs.com
Questan Golden Retrievers
Breeding Better Dogs is a system that makes understanding the pedigree easy. Based on the use of "Stick Dog Figures", and a "Symbols Pedigree" it offers you a new way to visually represent the strengths and weaknesses of a dog's traits. Utilizing these simple methods, you can easily determine which....
