Hi there,
I have a medium sixed gundog bitch, Coco, who I would like to send to stud. However, Cocos great, great grandfather appears in the stud dogs pedigree as his grandfather.. will this cause interbreeding issues..? many thanks. Lottie x

I have mated when the sire of the stud and grandsire of the bitch were the same dog and got 2 out of 3 very good example of the breed. 

I would think your pairing shouldn't be a problem, have you discussed your concerns with the stud owner and the bitches breeder as they should be able to advise you on appropriate studs. No stud owner worth their salt should be encouraging inbreeding.

Personally I would say this is not a problem, 4th generation on one side & grandfather on the other would not be inbreeding in my opinion.

Would say in simple terms you are doubling up on the good and bad points of that particular ancestor, so if his good points are those you are hoping to 'fix' in your lines then it is a good idea however if he has bad points or health problems you may not wish to risk it. On the other hand no matter how scientific the decision on the pair to be mated you will never get exactly what you want and some pups will show his traits and others not even carry them, depending on what those traits are.

Have you spoken to your bitches breeder to see if this is in fact a good pairing? They would be the best ones to ask this.

I have Large Munsterlanders and this is quite a common thing seen in our dogs pedigrees, but then we tend to know the dogs, or relatives. Our gene pool is not as diverse as GSP's. So long as the dog in question is what you want then I see no problems with it..

Thanks very much everyone, thats put my mind at rest. The stud dogs owner is a novice and we were both unsure of the generation rules when it comes to making sure their pedigrees are compatible. Rest assured, I want the best for Cocos pups. Thanks for all the advice, Lottie x

Have you put the potential sire and dam into the kennel clubs mate select tool http://www.the-kennel-club.org.uk/services/public/mateselect/kinship/Default.aspx and seen if the Inbreeding Coefficient is less than the breed average?

Whether this mating is a good one depends on the traits of the pair and their common ancestors.

> Have you put the potential sire and dam into the kennel clubs mate select tool

I wouldnt bother if I were you as the figures will be incorrect anyhow....

Just wanted to add that "compatible pedigrees" doesn't just mean "no inbreeding" -it's a lot more than that. A bit of common ancestors is usually better than no common ones at all in fact.  It's knowing if the lines go well together, what traits there are (of any sort -looks, temperament, any health issues -not just actual illnesses but things such as a tendency to throw male pups with just one testicle, poor bites and similar) etc. You could have two totally unrelated dogs that actually weren't compatible at all.

I recently bred to a stud that had a higher than average inbreeding co-efficient but because my bitch was much lower than the breed average, she was classed as an outcross, so it was actually a good thing, as the puppies still have a lower than average breed average.

Great post from Goldmali there.  I think the same.  Just because you can doesn't always mean you should.  Breedings like these are OK so long as you know your lines thoroughly.  Line breeding, when you know what your are doubling up on, can be great but if you have ancestors with health issues like HD or eye issues, you are also doubling up these problems for puppy owners.  It doesn't sound like the stud owner is very knowledgable about his dog/lines so I hope you are if you continue with this mating.

It's accurate as far as it goes and at least it tells you how many complete and incomplete generations it is based on. 

It will always be based on at least 4 generations if any parent is an import, it's a tool to be taken into account with everything else.

As I said the individuals in the pedigree and their health and qualities is what is most important, but keeping the inbreeding reasonably low is also a good idea.

What is incorrect is the breed average COI as that is based on just the preceding years registration figures, which in numerically small breeds with few litters could vary wildly from year to year, and with the inevitable frequent imports means it is rarely based on enough generations to be very meaningful re background inbreeding.