Hi guys, how risky is outcrossing for a required blood line for your breeding program?

Well the risks are mainly that the results are less predictable than those with a well known linebreeding.  You coudl bring in traits, including health problems that you didn't already have or want, but to be honest to a greater or lesser extent this is the risk with any mating, the kley is to reserch the background as much as humanly possible.

Unless it is an import then this shoudl not be hard as the background whould be as well known as that behind yur own stock, you just need to speak to the people most associated with that line.

I used a total outcross on one of my Spanish a couple of years ago the pups were lovely and I got some wonderful news yesterday that one of them was hipscored recently and came back with a total of 8.  Seeing the lowest so far in my breed is 7 and his mum, grandad and great grandad all scored 10 I was over the moon!!

Just awaiting for him to have his eyes tested now and as both parents are clear of any problems hopefully he will be too!!

Just hope that when his sister is done later on this year that she will have as good results as her brother, although my dream is for them to be better :d

I would ask myself why I wanted to do an outcross? Is it going to be worth it in the long run. It may take a few generations before you see any major benefit. Have you spoken to the owners of both your dogs sire and dam? They would have a good idea of whether it would be a good idea or not. After all, they will have bred for certain traits and you might just be a tad upset if you go elsewhere. There again I could be totally wrong and they might be more than happy for you to bring in fresh blood lines :) and could help you find the right dog.

do you mean "outcross" as in to a different breed?

No, an outcross as in an unrelated line of the same breed. (Not always easy to find, especially in breeds with a small gene pool.) :)

Hi guys, one more question, i can't help it hehehe. Well here goes what happens if the desired line you want isn't in your girls pedigree but this was the line you wished to follow could you just do an outcross.  Thanks i'm not even near breeding yet or for a while but i do have ambitions and goals on alot of research couple of lines which i'd like to base my stock on keeps appearin'g to have alot of influence on my chosen breed and i would definitely like to incorperate these lines into them when the time comes but not if it is not beneficial to the breed at the time.

No Sam outcross in using a completely different line to the one you own.

Cheers for replying, regards Susan

Can only speak for the 2 breeds I own, but generally speaking (& there are always exceptions), an outcross is usually good in the long run, but the 1st generation often seems to be of lower quality than either parent. A good breeder then has to build on the good points which were produced. The breeder of my foundation bitch used a complete outcross & produced 2 nice puppies, one became a champion but the others were, frankly - awful. I then used the champion & produced 2 champions, a CC winner & a bitch who produced 3 champions - so it can certainly be worth it in the long run. You just have to look at not only the good points the line you're interested in, but also the bad points - which you don't always see out in public

In many ways an outcross can be considered as starting a new line. You are unlikely to get an even-quality litter, but if you have a longterm (5+ generations) aim and you know what strengths and weaknesses you have to deal with, then it can be very helpful. However it's probably more sensible to buy an individual from your desired line and build on that, rather than try to weed out the faults that would inevitably arise.

Thanks Anwen and jean for replying, i did think to myself  my best bet would be to get a dog from my desired line  how do you get an even litter because i wouldn't want to breed two really good dogs and then ten mediocre?

Cheers Susan

Whats the old saying?

'Twice in, once out' - and no smutty comments please!

My first mating was almost a complete outcross (German x English lines), ok, the pups were a bit of a dolly mixture for type, you could pair them together for types rather than the type stretch across the whole litter.  The bitch I kept has produced me 2 lovely litters to a dog more related to her older lines.

Hi Christine so did you go back to original lines in her papers?

Regards Susan