What are dog breeds?
The great cognitive and social skills present in dogs and their predisposition to work with humans have facilitated their breeding and handling. Breeding that began with the discriminated search for useful traits. The observable morphological changes in the various breeds are a consequence of selection for these utility traits and not a cause.
Today we find hunting, herding or defense dogs, assistance dogs or simply companion dogs. A total of 400 recognized breeds.
In order to maintain working qualities for each of these breeds, professional breeders take into account three fundamental pillars:
Health, temperament and morphology
Health
As a result of consanguinity or a high degree of kinship , some diseases that are considered congenital have appeared in the different races.
Avoiding inbreeding in breeds
When it comes to reproducing, a greater consanguinity or degree of kinship increases the probability that recessive genetic diseases will appear in the offspring. Recessive diseases appear in offspring when both parents are carriers. This means that, even if they do not have the disease, they carry it in their genes, being able to transmit it to the next generation.
Responsible breeding undertakes to eliminate from the reproductive line, specimens with typical genetic diseases or carriers of them, in order to prevent their appearance and spread within the breed.
The Advantage of Modern Genetics in Breed Care
Today, DNA tests can be carried out to identify reproductive individuals with a high degree of kinship and thus avoid the appearance of recessive diseases. They can also be used for the identification of genes responsible for diseases typical of the breed, preventing the reproduction of carriers.
Beyond Genetics: Epigenetics
Epigenetics is the influence that the environment has on the development and expression of an individual’s genes, and that can also be transmitted to their descendants.
For example, some puppies may have health and behavioral problems if their mother spent a pregnancy or lactation in a stressful situation, as can often be the case in an illegal breeder.
Temperament
In addition to the selection of their innate tendencies, such as the predisposition to tracking or stalking… considering traits of aggressiveness or introversion are important when selecting dogs that collaborate with people.
Also his proactivity and predisposition to training. Since, a large percentage of the success in adapting dogs in our cities is determined by the education they receive , not only by their natural tendencies.
It could be that knowing the genetic predisposition of our dogs to certain contexts or situations will make it easier for us to be finer in their education. Avoiding in this way and in advance the appearance of behavioral problems typical of the different races.
For example, recently, research has been published pointing to genes responsible for attachment in different breeds . These results could be useful in preventing separation anxiety behaviors in dogs . A behavior problem, frequent and that causes so much discomfort to the dogs that today live in our cities and to their guardians.
Morphology
Unfortunately, dog breeds are not exempt from fashion, which produces exaggerations and malformations for commercial purposes, which in most cases go against the welfare of the animal.
A clear example is brachycephalic dogs (pugs) , which have a multitude of respiratory, eye and cardiovascular problems as a result of a flattened face that is too flattened.
The responsible breeding application to stop abandonment
The fact of knowing the genetic line and the natural tendencies of the dog, gives us an advantage when it comes to educating. We can anticipate such characteristics and avoid typical behavior problems, which can end in the abandonment of the animal.
Good breeders are professionals who are consciously dedicated to taking care of the useful characteristics of the breeds they work with, both in health and morphology as well as in temperament and character.
The certainty that the acquired puppy has a genetic programming that, if we provide the right environment , will become the life partner we want would significantly reduce the cases of abandonment caused by a lack of understanding or bad behavior of the dog.
A professional breeder, knowing the importance of epigenetics, will be concerned with providing the parents and puppies with the right environment until they are weaned and later housed in a family.
He will make sure that his puppies go to a good place and will keep track of them.
She will practically act with the same predisposition and affection with which a protector does with her adopted dogs.
And he will ask for an economic contribution according to his work and livelihood.
References:
Serpell, J. A., & Duffy, D. L. 2014. Dog breeds and their behavior. In Domestic dog cognition and behavior (pp. 31-57). Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg.
