According to Matt Davies Harmony Communities, finding a stud dog isn’t as difficult and intimidating as people make it out to be. While it’s daunting to find the right stud dog for your female dog, a bit of time and research is all you need. Let’s check out how you can find the right stud dog for your female.
The Details
1. Be objective – The odds of finding a stud dog that compliments all the weak areas of your female dog are very low. Instead, you should focus on finding dogs that don’t share the same faults as your female dog. Keep your expectations reasonable and you would be able to find a stud dog that corrects some of the weak points of your female dog and shares none of the significant weaknesses.
2. Learn about their inheritance – If your female dog has an undesirable trait that is simply inherited as a dominant, a stud dog may not be able to fix it. On the other hand, if the female dog’s weak trait is inherited as recessive, the stud dog can correct it as long as it doesn’t have the same trait. By looking at the ancestors of both your female dog and prospective stud dogs you’ll be able to figure out how likely they are to carry an undesirable recessive gene. You’ll also get clues into hidden polygenic genes that may be carried by the stud dog.
3. Look at other lines – Handlers and marketing efforts can make even a mediocre dog seem like the top of its breed. It’s also important to not lose yourself in the hunt for a “hidden treasure” where you delude yourself into thinking that you’ve discovered an un-shown dog that hasn’t been noticed by anyone else. Instead, judge stud dogs as objectively as possible. Explore other lines and breeds to keep your options as broad as possible.
4. Meet with prospective stud dogs – Pictures can be deceiving and easily doctored. Videos can be edited and with the rise of Artificial Intelligence, seeing up close is believing. You need to look at the stud dogs in person so that you can inspect their temperament, faults, and hidden weaknesses. If you’re looking for a performance dog, you can meet them at their premier event. Otherwise, you can go to your breed’s national specialty show.
5. Less-used is better than popular – No one wants what everyone else has. The same logic applies here. So, a popular site may not be the best choice for your female dog, especially if you want to breed subsequent generations. Instead, your puppies would be more valuable if they don’t carry the genes that are flooding the breed’s gene pool.
Conclusion
Matt Davies Harmony Communities suggests that you use the tips mentioned above to choose a stud dog for your female. Remember that no dog is perfect, and no choice is right or wrong. However, enough time invested in research increases the chance of the best puppies.