Thoughts on dog breeding

Although I should be writing my paper and studying for my doctoral defense, I need a break every now and then. I'm not ashamed to admit that on some nights, I find myself jumping from breeder site to breeder site and checking photos on Facebook to get to know some of the "now" dachshunds in Europe and abroad. I was actually a bit bummed today to have missed the dachshunds at Cruft's, as I really would have liked to compare them to the American dogs from Westminster and the European dogs that I have come to know.

So why spend all this time on dogs? Well, being a geneticist by training, dog breeding has always interested me. I really think dogs are the animal to look at when it comes to diversity. Sure, there are other animals and plants with an equally impressive array of sizes, colors, shapes, etc..., but none are as familiar as the modern dog. With that, I think that it is really important to not only preserve the breeds that we have, but to improve on them. I find it a shame that many breeders around the world often take the closest male for their female instead of the best male for their female. I feel you shouldn't breed dogs unless you want to try and improve with each litter that you have, whether that improvement be character, tracking, retrieving, herding, filtering out disease (for one example of this, check out the story of Fiona the dalmatian: http://pedigreedogsexposed.blogspot.ch/2010/11/uks-first-gm-dalmatian-and-shes-winner.html), etc...  Of course form and function should also be preserved.

I love Freddie and Baxter. They are fantastic little dogs. Very willing to please, very personable, strong noses, good hunting drive, good obedience, what's not to like? Well, each of them also has their faults. As an owner and maybe someday a breeder, I think that this is the #1 thing that you have to ask yourself about your dogs: What are their strengths? What are their weaknesses? I will use Freddie as an example since he is almost 3 (wow time flies!!) and developed.

Freddie's #1 perk/attribute for me is his willingness to do whatever he is asked. He will participate in obedience training as readily as dive head first into a fox hole (real or artificial...) or walk fields several hours looking for hares or participate in agility. He is an everything dog. As a first dog, he was an amazing find and has turned into a wonderful partner in work and play. We have learned a lot with him in all aspects of dog ownership and for that we are grateful. In terms of form, Freddie has a really good back angles, a strong, straight back, a very strong neck, he is well muscled, and his form, though on the high end for a dachshund, is fairly correct.

On the downside... Most of Freddie's negatives come in the shape of his form. Freddie is brown, that's no surprise, but with the brown color often (but not always!) comes a suboptimal coat. This is of course not always the case as coat in wirehairs is a bit of a battle. Freddie has a double coat, but it is short. On the plus side this requires virtually no grooming! He has a very scarce beard and eyebrows and his feet are lightly furnished, but compared to Baxter he's bald. With the right female (one with a very thick, wiry, Baxter-like coat) and I think he would make beautiful puppies. I have also mentioned before the Freddie is a monster dachshunds. He now weighs in at 11 kg (~24lbs), but despite the weight, since he his the taller with a more athletic build and not a huge inflated chest, he still retains his function as an earth dog.

If I were to choose a mate for Freddie, she would be a bit on the smaller side (8ish kg) and ideally come from lines with smaller dogs to try and bring the overall weight of the puppies into a more normal range. She would be a shorter dog and I would try to find a female that has reliably birthed all wirehair or have her tested to check for 2 copies of the furnishing gene to ensure that the puppies are not smooth.

This is all of course over simplified, but it is something that I think about. Simon and I often go back and forth over whether or not we would like to reserve a kennel name and take the Züchter (breeder) courses here in Switzerland. It is always a gamble. Just because you have puppies, it doesn't mean that people want them. Your breedings will not always be successful and not every puppy will make it. Your litters may not be the shining stars that you hoped for, but with each trial, you learn more about your dogs and your breed. For now we still toss around the idea and I assume it will remain that way for a few years more. In the meantime, I'm going to continue studying the lines in Europe and waiting for my dream female to appear.