How to Know if Your Dog Is Healthy Enough to Breed
Find out about health problems that are common with your dog's breed., Learn about your dog's pedigree., Get your dog's genetics tested.
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Find out about health problems that are common with your dog's breed.
In order to assess whether your dog is healthy enough to breed, you should know what type of problems to look for.
It can be very useful to know what to look for when assessing your dog's pedigree history for problems that are common in its breed.If your dog does have a history of breed specific health problems then you may want to reassess whether you want to breed your dog.
This information can also help you assess what type of dog you want to use to breed with your dog.
If your dog has a risk of a certain breed-specific issue, then you want to make very sure that a potential mate has no history of it. -
Step 2: Learn about your dog's pedigree.
When considering breeding your dog it is important to know that it will not pass on any heritable health problems.
This means that, if at all possible, you should learn about your dog's background and whether they have health problems in their background that could be passed on.If you have a purebred dog that was bred by an ethical breeder, then you should have been given access to your dog's pedigree when you adopted it.
If your dog is not purebred or you got it from a source that did not provide a pedigree, then it may be difficult to impossible to trace its pedigree. , If you can't trace your dog's pedigree, or you just want to make very sure that you are breeding a dog without genetic problems, then you can get the dog tested.
These tests can show you any negative genetic traits or health problems that the mother dog could pass onto its offspring.Breeding purebred dogs can be especially fraught with genetic problems because of inbreeding.
If you plan on breeding purebred dogs, you need to be especially clear about your dog's genetic history so you can avoid puppies with genetic health problems.Understanding whether your dog is likely to pass on some bad traits requires knowing a bit about genes and how they work.
Some genetic traits are considered "dominant." These traits can be passed on if only one parent has the genes for them.
Some genetic traits are considered "recessive." These traits take genes from both parents to be passed on.
Keep in mind that many heritable traits do not yet have an available genetic test.
In these cases it is best to rely on your dog’s family medical history and current health. -
Step 3: Get your dog's genetics tested.
Detailed Guide
In order to assess whether your dog is healthy enough to breed, you should know what type of problems to look for.
It can be very useful to know what to look for when assessing your dog's pedigree history for problems that are common in its breed.If your dog does have a history of breed specific health problems then you may want to reassess whether you want to breed your dog.
This information can also help you assess what type of dog you want to use to breed with your dog.
If your dog has a risk of a certain breed-specific issue, then you want to make very sure that a potential mate has no history of it.
When considering breeding your dog it is important to know that it will not pass on any heritable health problems.
This means that, if at all possible, you should learn about your dog's background and whether they have health problems in their background that could be passed on.If you have a purebred dog that was bred by an ethical breeder, then you should have been given access to your dog's pedigree when you adopted it.
If your dog is not purebred or you got it from a source that did not provide a pedigree, then it may be difficult to impossible to trace its pedigree. , If you can't trace your dog's pedigree, or you just want to make very sure that you are breeding a dog without genetic problems, then you can get the dog tested.
These tests can show you any negative genetic traits or health problems that the mother dog could pass onto its offspring.Breeding purebred dogs can be especially fraught with genetic problems because of inbreeding.
If you plan on breeding purebred dogs, you need to be especially clear about your dog's genetic history so you can avoid puppies with genetic health problems.Understanding whether your dog is likely to pass on some bad traits requires knowing a bit about genes and how they work.
Some genetic traits are considered "dominant." These traits can be passed on if only one parent has the genes for them.
Some genetic traits are considered "recessive." These traits take genes from both parents to be passed on.
Keep in mind that many heritable traits do not yet have an available genetic test.
In these cases it is best to rely on your dog’s family medical history and current health.
About the Author
Evelyn Torres
Creates helpful guides on practical skills to inspire and educate readers.
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