Do you know that many dog lovers who are in love with a particular breed dream of their own nursery? But they do not take any measures to create it. And all because breeding and selection of dogs require the deepest knowledge of the livestock. In the article we will slightly touch on this topic.
What is selection?
We will not beat around the bush, but immediately give a definition of selection. So, selection is the selection of dogs within the breed to get the best in terms of the exterior, productivity and nature of the queens.
In order for the selection of dogs to be successful, you need to know its basics. This is heredity, heritability and inheritance.
Heredity
This is ensuring continuity between generations, the ability of individual development in certain environmental conditions.
Inheritance
The concept implies a reflection of the relative share of hereditary variability in the total among the population. In the work of dog handlers, breeders almost never used.
Inheritance
Transferring inherited information from parent to children. It can be seen both in several generations and in whole lines.
Natural and artificial selections
In breeding dog breeds, there are two types of selections by which it is conducted. As you can see from the title, they are called natural and artificial. The first is not carried out in modern breeding, because it implies the natural death of unsuccessful pedigree specimens without human intervention.
We will talk about artificial selection in dog breeding in more detail.
The essence of artificial selection
What determines the effectiveness of artificial selection? There are a lot of factors here: starting from environmental conditions, ending with the number of alleles responsible for the formation of a particular trait.
Dog breeding features are based on the genetic nature of artificial selection. Animals are selected according to the following characteristics:
- Against the dominant gene.
- On the dominant gene.
- Against a recessive gene.
- According to the recessive gene.
- In favor of heterozygotes.
- Against heterozygotes.
Dominant gene
We know that there are genes that prevail over everyone else. And if you want to get animals with a certain color, then the selection during the selection of dogs is carried out on the dominant gene. It is necessary to have alleles responsible for one or another coat color in both manufacturers. For this, they conduct the binding of the main producers with the subsequent analysis of the work of genetics on the resulting offspring.
Against the dominant gene
One of the easiest ways to breed dogs. All individuals with dominant genes are rejected.
By recessive gene
This type of selection is similar to the above. If the population has a sufficient number of representatives with recessive genes, then it is quite effective. As a result of selection of dogs according to the recessive gene, homozygous recessive individuals are obtained.
Against the recessive gene
A very complex type of selection that requires monitoring over several generations. And the more there will be, the better for the work of breeders. According to official reports, the selection of dogs through this selection is a rejection of not only recessive homozygous animals, but also their heterozygous ancestors (in our case, we are talking about parents). It becomes obvious that the method is very long and requires exceptional control over the resulting offspring and its parents.
Heterozygous selection
As a result, he turned out such dogs as Mexican hairless, collies, dogs and dachshunds. Selection is carried out in the case when the breeder decides to obtain individuals with superdominant genes. As a result of such dominance, unusual marble colors are obtained, or, under the influence of the lethal gene, animals with no hair.
Against heterozygotes
It is used quite rarely, only when working with some dog breeds. One of them is poodles. For example, it is necessary to obtain offspring of silver color. Most representatives of the breed have a dark gray color, which is formally considered as silver. But this is the wrong approach: such individuals must be discarded from breeding dogs with true silver color.
Thus, such selection in dog breeding is used when heterozygotes have a phenotype or complementarity that is completely undesirable for certain individuals.
Talk about breeding
Dog breeding and breeding are quite complex things that require very deep knowledge from the breeder (breeder). But if artificial selection and heredity are mentioned above, then one cannot but mention breeding methods. Let’s talk very briefly about this.
There are two methods: interbreed and purebred. For the breeding of new animals, the first method is used, for fixing one form or another within the breed, of course, a purebred breeding method is used.
Pure breeding can be unrelated (outbred), inbred (sibling), linear and interline (outcross).
Outbred breeding
If you do not go into all the details, but speak briefly, then outbred breeding is a mating of animals that are not related. In other words, in their pedigrees there are no common ancestors even in the most distant generations. Now outbred breeding is very popular: local bitches are knitted by foreign export dogs. The resulting daughters are again knitted with imported males, and so on from generation to generation.
Representatives of the male breed obtained as a result of this breeding method rarely take part in mating.
Inbred breeding
This is a closely related crossing, used to consolidate certain qualities, as well as the exterior of the breed. They are often used, but not always the desired result is obtained as expected. The method is dangerous in that you can get not only an outstanding dog, but also a complete freak. But one cannot deny that inbred breeding has always been used to obtain clean lines.
There are several degrees:
- Close inbreeding: mating between father and daughter, mother and son, half-bibs, brother and sister, grandmother and grandson, granddaughter and grandfather.
- Close relationship: both dogs that are going to be knitted have a common ancestor in the fourth generation.
- Moderate kinship: the presence of a common ancestor in IV-VI generations.
To summarize
These are the basics of dog breeding. Described here is quite superficial, it serves only as a material for acquaintance and expansion of one's own horizons.
Of course, those wishing to engage in dog breeding must be familiar with the basics of genetics and understand how alleles differ from genes. Currently, only a person with a higher cynological education can officially register his own nursery.