Re: [PyrNet-L] breeding methods

[JGentzel@aol.com]

Kelly, your very complete description of Line breeding and Inbreeding is the 
best I have seen.  I agree with all that you put into the explanation.  The 
only suggestion and addition I would add is you concentrate on the 
undesirable or unwanted genes and mutations.  Desirable traits are magnified 
as well.  In addition we can more accurately know what undesirable things we 
want to work away from or even not breed these particular dogs and lines 
further.

To only outcross is to open the door completely to non-homogenous offspring 
and possibly never know what bad genes are there.  This will come home to 
roost either with you or some later edition of your breeding lines.  

I am convinced that this breed developed almost naturally i.e. the shepherds 
only bred the best at guarding, etc.  If there was a problem, it most likely 
in the main never got used.  Times were very hard and there was no room for 
excess baggage of any type.  The dogs got fed poorly and treated even worse 
most of the time.  Dwarfs, Lux-Patella, epilepsy, and the like would have 
been bred out within a few generations as these dogs would not be good 
guardians.

Most dogs were used within Valleys and thus the gene pool was rather limited 
as well.  So you had a natural type linebreeding and I am sure inbreeding as 
well.  

INHO, the most important potent import to the lines here in North America is 
Ibos du Val d'Aure.  He is a Sister-Brother mating of litter mates from Estat 
d'Argeles.  He was a very large dog and he and his Grandfather Estat and 
great uncle Estagel literally set the breed type here in North America.  Ibos 
was the breeding juggernaut, Estat and Estagel were outcrosses of de Soum and 
a "Dog of the Mountains" Rip de la Noe.  De Soum was already very tightly 
line bred, so the inbreeding that occurred in Ibos was huge.  Ibos has an 
Inbreeding Coefficient of 31.1 which if you study pedigrees much, is "Huge".

Anyway your explanation was excellent, just consider what good can occur in 
addition to the negative things you describe.  At least with Linebreeding you 
have some handle and reference on what you are doing.  With only outcrosses 
you are totally rolling the dice every time on every trait and just asking 
for things to be introduced or turn up that have been there for maybe 
generations. 

Thanks for your explanation, I am going to save it and use it if I might?

Joe