[Discussion] Thoughts on outcrossing?

Personally I am absolutely in favor of doing the very best for the health of a breed. Outcrossing can play a part in the process, but has to be dealt with carefully. Not only do you have to pick the breeds you cross very carefully, you also have to accept that this is not a quick one-generation thing but a long way of selective, careful breeding.

My biggest concern is the crossing between breeds that are showing different personalities. A lot of crossbreeds are created by looks and not to improve the bloodline of a breed for the future. I personally do not care much about the looks of the breed, but would always set my focus on the personality and the behavior you want to see in your future generations. I know that some breeders sometimes cross Goldens and Labradors that have proven to be excellent temperament for service dogs. These two breeds have a lot of things in common!

However some breeds are rooted in a crossbreed of dogs that were used for different jobs, but due to selective breeding over generation and generation formed into an own breed. Yes, this is how some dogs started out. But I really do not see the need for new breeds, and those were often rooted in the wish for a specific aesthetic.

Anyway - You are speaking of improving an already existing breed.

I own a Fieldline Labrador - In Germany those are really rare. The year my girl was born we only had 4 litters registered under the roof of the Labrador Breeding Club and the Retriever Breeding Club. So, you could say that the Gene-Pool of Fieldline Labs is rather small in Germany. To work against this, but keep all the Labrador traits, they import blood from the UK. My girls father is one of those imports, while his ED and HD could be backtracked over 5 generations, it turned out that he passes on Epilepsy. Of course this could have happened as well with a german daddy, but a part of me things that the regulations might be too different between countries, to really make a co-operation work out in favor of the breed. Even tho there is this idea that due to the distance between the bloodlines they are healthier ... Well, I have no idea!

Maybe just mixing in a Fieldline Golden to the Fieldline Labrador might be the better route...

This is a very complex topic, and I am no expert on genetics or anything like that. Just my thoughts.

/r/dogs Thread