Inbreeding can be defined as the mating of two relatives, such as a mother and son or father and daughter from the same litter. We know that acquiring that perfect trait in a breed is hard. Breeders may mate the same relatives together because they see a specific trait in an adult dog and they try to carry that exact same trait onto the newborn puppies. Another reason owners mate relatives is to save money because the process is less expensive. If a male and female of a certain breed had a litter and the owner wanted to continue the reproduction cycle and sale more dogs, the owner would inbreed to turn a profit, rather than having to buy more dogs. Inbreeding for this purpose is highly illegal in many countries. This is a well-known practice that many dog owners are mastering these days. The problem is that it can be life threatening to the litter itself.
Inbreeding is a process that must be halted otherwise breeds such as the Pit Bull will become extinct in the near future due to the defects that they are born with. Other dogs that are having problems due to inbreeding are dachshunds, which are increasingly having arthritis problems. Deafness is starting to become more common in Dalmatians. Great Danes and Wolfhounds are progressively developing common cases of heart disease and bone cancer due to the process.
Not only are owners recessively producing the one perfect trait of the dog, but they are also recessively producing the negative traits as well. Dog’s DNA are twice as complicated as a human’s DNA. There may be about 30,000 genes in a dog and about 400 of those genes are defective. So trying to pinpoint a certain trait is extremely hard to do. Not only are the negative traits repeatedly being reproduced, but it also causes a greater risk of mental and physical illnesses for future breeds. As a result of inbreeding, future litters can be born with blindness, deafness, organ failure, seizures and skin conditions.
Some of the most common and greater effects are reduction in fertility and hip dysplasia. Due to the closeness of the dogs in a given litter, meaning that they are relatives, smaller litter sizes and high puppy morality can appear. Also inbreeding can cause a simple infection to kill newborn puppies. Hip Dysplasia is the separation of the two hipbones when a puppy is born. This disorder can occur in later generations. Owners become too comfortable and continue inbreeding future generations and Hip Dysplasia will appear suddenly. By then, it is too late for the owner to discontinue inbreeding because now a defective litter is continually being produced. The German Shepherd is well known for acquiring this defect.
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