22/04/2025
There is a lot that can be said when it comes to bloodlines. Some breeders can breed for 15 years and never be able to establish their own bloodline. This is because they simply lack the knowledge and does not have a breeding plan, some aim to just produce puppies. Not every dog is meant to be a breeding dog. But I do think, and believe that every breeder should aim to have their own bloodline. This takes a lot of time, work, and yes, you need other kennels to start with. This is why FOUNDATION dogs are important. They will be the start of your line, your kennel and you will build on them!The first thing people need to learn and understand is that breeding a litter of puppies is not the same as becoming a breeder or developing a bloodline. The ultimate goal of a breeder is to refine the finest characteristics of the boerboel into a family of dogs that breed true for these characteristics. This involves selectively breeding dogs with essential and desirable characteristics, rather than just having your name on the registered name. To become a breeder, establish a breeding plan by identifying desired breed characteristics, familiar with breed standards, structural soundness, and genetic health issues. Develop an eye for dogs and evaluate them based on these traits, ensuring a strong and healthy bloodline.Newcomers to the breed of dogs can expand their knowledge by becoming involved with local breeders, attending shows, and studying literature. Breeding is an art with a strong scientific basis, aiming for self-expression and fulfillment of creative urges. Breeders prioritize soundness, a great head, and correct structure, while those who prefer consistent color or size may prefer a correctly made dog.Quality bloodlines are established by incorporating brood stock from someone else's bloodline. Top-producing dogs are often in**ed or line-bred from outstanding bloodlines, producing prepotent dogs with homozygous genetic material. Selection of breeding dogs depends on bloodline, breeding method, and individual attributes. Assess resources, start with a small kennel, focus on commitment, place pups in good homes, breed only when needed, and never settle to take short cuts!!!!Darwin's theory of natural selection suggests that strong individuals survive in natural breeding, while weak ones die. As a dog breeder, your role is to evaluate and breed only the strong, spay or neuter the weak, and place them in good pet homes. However, many breeders fail due to emotional attachment and kennel blindness. A breeding partnership can help maintain quality and determine which dogs should be kept or sold.Breeders select stud dogs or brood bi***es with desired traits by analyzing their pedigree. Mating animals with similar characteristics, like-to-like, type-to-type, or positive assortive mating, can produce offspring that resemble themselves. Pedigree analysis is crucial, as it provides unlimited information about individual dogs. Breeders have firsthand knowledge of the dogs in the pedigree and a database of littermates and offspring from repeat breedings. Inbreeding and linebreeding fix desirable traits by increasing homozygosity of genes, while outcross breeding increases heterozygosity, passing only 50% of the genes to offspring.Inbreeding is the mating of closely related individuals, such as half brother to half sister, father to daughter, mother to son, grandsire to granddaughter, and granddam to grandson, to fix and preserve desired traits by increasing homozygosity in the dog's genetic pool. The inbreeding coefficient, or the probability of genes being homozygous, can be calculated by looking at the number of times a certain dog is present in the dog's pedigree. The popularity of inbreeding varies between breeds and bloodlines, with more sound bloodlines being more successful due to random fixation of traits, increased homozygosity of genes, and potentially inbreeding depression. Some genes causing detrimental health effects are only expressed in the homozygous state, remaining hidden until they become homozygous. Breeders may not be aware of a dog being a carrier for a gene until a thorough pedigree analysis is done or when the dog produces an affected pup. Knowledgeable dog breeders can effectively use inbreeding to achieve specific goals and enhance desired traits, but must be cautious for developing problems. In the wrong hands, inbreeding can be dangerous, especially if the novice starts with a fair or poor quality dog and begins to inbreed to one of the close relatives.Inbreeding is a crucial process for breeders, aiming to fix desirable traits within the bloodline. Linebreeding is a compromise between inbreeding and outcross breeding, preserving the traits of a family while retaining gene variability. It offers more options and fewer risks than inbreeding, but requires careful selection of quality brood stock from soundlines. Outcross breeding involves mating unrelated purebred dogs within the same breed, increasing heterozygosity and creating new genetic combinations. This is essential when a breeding program shows signs of inbreeding depression, such as loss of vigor, disease resistance, and infertility. Outcross breeding can be disappointing for breeders as it introduces undesirable traits. To improve quality, breeders can select unrelated dogs with outstanding pedigrees and rebreather them into the original bloodline. Grading up and using high standards, pedigree analysis, and honest evaluation are essential for successful breeding programs. Breeding is both an art and a science.The FoundationTo become a breeder, one must understand the nuances of correct type, which refers to the physical features and characteristics that define a breed. Breeders aim to develop a unique style of dog that becomes uniquely identifiable as coming from a kennel, such as a particular head structure. This variation is acceptable as long as it adheres to the breed standard. Some variation in style is beneficial for a breed, as it allows for the use of different bloodlines, keeping it genetically healthy. However, too much variation can lead to a loss of type, potentially leading to the end of a breed or the emergence of a new breeds, like we see in some other breeds. The ultimate goal of a good breeder is to improve the breed within its standards of perfection.A breeding program involves four levels: understanding the standard, selecting the correct breed type, acquiring a quality foundation bitch, and using a quality stud dog. A foundation bitch should be typical in body, head type, well-constructed, healthful, and fit to the standard. Her mother line is of extreme importance. Recognizing flaws in foundation bi***es is crucial and focusing on quality breeding to avoid being kennel blind.In the Boerboel there are a few breeders who have created a bloodline, one of them is Cabaret. You can spot a Cabaret dog, or dog with Cabaret in a mile away. Other Kennels like MES, Middelpos, Klein Sandfontein have all built their own bloodline. They have a look that you can spot. Some kennels I mentioned used a male that changed their look completely, Groenberg Rambo. This took away some of the key features, but took the kennel to a whole new level. To be a true breeder, you need a dog bred from a bloodline that carries your kennel name at leas 5 genereations long. Only then will you understand the hard work and time it takes to do things right.
