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Managing Stud Genetics

How To Use a Stud In A Program

How you use a stud depends on the dog's lines and quality.

If you have an outcross stud, unrelated to the CMD lines, and he is a high quality dog, meaning, he is tall, med coat, no declaws or small singles, slender, loves people and is a good guardian, he is gold to the breed if used right.

First, he should be bred to the best females available, and to females from differing lines. Someone who owns a dog like this would be a huge help if they also innovated in a high quality female for a brand new line of dogs.

I gave Chuck Norris a Founder Award because he is throwing quality through multiple females and it carries down to his grand kids. He's influenced the breed in both type and temperament.

If a person has a great dog and only uses one female, and that female is from existing lines, the genetics of the stud are cut in half. The breed will never have a good representation of the dog, or the ability to extract the dog's genetics or set the dog's type. So the value of the dog to the breed is diminished.

Very few dogs are career breeders but if you see me sending you stud jobs, or recommending your stud, you have a good stud.

If you have a stud with SOME good traits, then you take him to a female who has corrections for his shortcoming, get a litter, KEEP the litter long enough to be able to evaluate traits, keep a son, grow him out, and if he improves his sire, retire the sire.

This is how breeds are made.

It is better to have multiple females and use outside studs (and cheaper, btw), than to keep a stud just to avoid stud costs. Studs ought to be just over the moon in quality. Even with a great female... and I will write about how to manage genetics from females... it is better to use multiple studs so her genetics can be maximized.

If I have a stud with a heavy head, for instance, I will pair him with a female who has a refined muzzle and keep a stud pup with a refined muzzle and retire the dad. Heavy heads are not a CMD trait and the trait is easily bred out. The chests of our dogs shouldn't be wide but medium narrow. If a dog has a lot of good traits but is too massive, he needs to be bred to a slender female and then retired...etc.

A dog that lacks type and temperament shouldn't be used. Over-barking, shyness or aggression, heaviness, are all traits that should DQ a male dog from being used as a stud.

Strive for the best studs you can get, whether you are going to keep your own stud or take your female to a stud. Always prioritize the temperament and guarding abilities over the looks. 📷:-) It's a matter of balance. 📷