If you were going to import - which gender?
I got thinking, if you are importing a dog from another country - a dog that's maybe even rare in your country - which gender do you think is the best?
I mean when there are only few of a breed in a country, it's important to have both good males and females, to secure good and varied bloodlines to avoid inbreeding as much as possible.
Importing a good female will make you able to breed puppies of good quality that has new bloodlines and spread this bloodline through her pups. Importing a male would make it possible to bred your own female (assuming you have one) and other females which would spread his bloodlines even faster. Ofcourse only to a certain degree...
I can't really fiigure out which I think is the best. A male can be bred to females from other countries and thus provide his bloodlines to other breeders as well, but with a female you could seel your pups to other breeders as well, to spread the bloodline... If your priority is to spread dogs with your own prefix, well the female would be better, since the pups would have the kennel name. But if you don't care about the "fame", I'm back where I started: dunno what's the better choice?
What do you guys think?
I mean when there are only few of a breed in a country, it's important to have both good males and females, to secure good and varied bloodlines to avoid inbreeding as much as possible.
Importing a good female will make you able to breed puppies of good quality that has new bloodlines and spread this bloodline through her pups. Importing a male would make it possible to bred your own female (assuming you have one) and other females which would spread his bloodlines even faster. Ofcourse only to a certain degree...
I can't really fiigure out which I think is the best. A male can be bred to females from other countries and thus provide his bloodlines to other breeders as well, but with a female you could seel your pups to other breeders as well, to spread the bloodline... If your priority is to spread dogs with your own prefix, well the female would be better, since the pups would have the kennel name. But if you don't care about the "fame", I'm back where I started: dunno what's the better choice?
What do you guys think?
Comments
If I don't have a preference, am I starting my own breeding program or helping others? If my own, well I think the male would be best only because everyone wants the males to be bred when they're older and the females when they're younger. If I'm helping others then I would ask them what they prefer me getting. I'm not much help to them without their input.
This is from someone who hasn't done a single research about breeding dogs though.
Well, hypothetically you don't have a preference, you are asking some wise people, what they believe is the best
And well, I suppose it would be to start your own breeding programme. Though if a male is chosen, he could be bred to other females from other breeders, if you'd allow that. Some keep their males close, so as to be the only one with that particular bloodline. Though that's a bit selfish IMHO...
But, in the end it really is up to what you want to deal with if you don't plan on eventually having a pair. Personally though, a male would be a better choice for some one who wants to help the breed without actually becoming a breeder. With a male, his genetics can be spread quicker and further than with a female. Plus, if you stud him out you could probably work with the bitch owner for you to keep one of the puppies as part of the stud fee. A male would also be good if you don't want to deal with puppies but still want to help improve the breed.
There is a lot more to females, since you have to be choosy on who she breeds with, as well as raising the litter and dealing with heats. You also have to make sure she doesn't accidentally get pregnant from all the male callers that may visit. When my Miyu was in heat, I can't tell you how many male dogs wandered onto our property (pissing off my boys) to lick up her piss.
Good point.
Though here in Denmark, if there's stray dogs (or just loose, escaped from yards) they will be picked up and taken to the pound. A loose dog is illegal in Denmark, and they are very uncommon, so an owner of a female wouldn't have to worry so much unless they took the bitch to the park with them (which would be asking for trouble IMO)...
Well, say there's an equal number of both females and males. Is there anything you'd have to tip the scales other than personal preference, or will I have to accept, that there are no opinions on this, without someone naming preferences for us to judge from?
However, if I were importing for my own wants/needs, I would much rather have a female. However, this would more than likely end up being a pet and spayed at some point in her life. However, if the female were an outstanding representation of her breed, and I had the backing of other breeders, I would consider breeding a female. However, I could never be a breeder by myself. I do not have the networking capacities, time to research, nor the money to put into a full blown breeding program. That, and I would HAVE to know that the puppies would go to excellent homes before I would even plan a breeding.
If your goal is to increase the population of the breed ()reduce inbreeding depression, a male can reproduce much longer than a female can, therefore he can give more to the breed.
If your goal is to improve the temperament of a breed (and not so much increase the population), I feel you can better control the overall temperament of a breed through the females than you can through the males. So if the focus of importing is to improve the breed I would go with a female.
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What is it that makes you feel you can control temperament better with a female?
@hondru
Sure that's also a way to go about it. But I don't think there's that many, for example in the US, that exports pregnant females. Who would raise a promising female, breed her, and then sell her? Doens't really make sense to me... Unless you had some sort of previous agreement about doing it like that.
Also puppies learn how to interact with their environment and their litter mates from their mother. There is a LOT of socialization that happens before the pups go to their new homes.
So in a breed where poor temperaments (fear, anxiety, aggression, re-activeness, ...) are a concern a solid female can make a big difference and cover some of those traits passed from the sire. A mothers temperament, IMHO, makes up a much larger part of the pie than the father.
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Right, should have thought of that!
I have been talking with @Tina about our goals for breeding kai in Denmark, and I thought that it would be nice to know, what gender would be of most benefit to a new breeding programme...
Though it doesn't have to be kai, just wanted a general answer