Tollgate Welsh Terriers Breeding Practices

Any kind of breeding using closely-related dogs (like Linebreeding) is technically “inbreeding.” However, when breeders use the term , they mean very close breeding, as in father – daughter, mother - son or, closest of all, brother-sister. I’ve never done this, but I wouldn’t rule it out absolutely. Inbreeding can be a very powerful tool if used with care.

Very close breeding can expose genetic defects quickly by eliminating the variety that enters with breedings to unrelated dogs and is sometimes used in “test breedings” for this purpose. Of course, when all the good genes in both animals “line up,” as it were, inbreeding can produce an animal as close to perfection as his genes allow. As you can see, both risks and rewards can be significant.

Often pet owners speak of an unsatisfactory dog as being “too inbred.” What they usually mean is “carelessly bred” -- bred by someone without the knowledge or interest to improve this dogs, breeding to the “dog next door” only to produce purebred puppies, puppies with all kinds of problems. Some actual “inbreeding” may happen in careless breeding, especially in puppy mills, but the casual backyard breeder’s choice of sire and dam is almost random. Obviously not the way to produce decent dogs.