Considering using your dog at stud?
While there are a number of reasons why you may be thinking of offering your dog at stud, the most important goal, above all else, should be to improve the breed.
What qualities should your dog have to be used at stud?
- Fertility – you may want to have their fertility tested if they are not already proven
- Appropriate temperament
- Fully health tested
- Good general health
- Free of defects, i.e. overshot jaw, cryptorchidism
- Registered with The Kennel Club
- Does not carry any Kennel Club endorsements precluding the registration of any progeny
A stud dog can father many puppies and so it is essential that they are healthy and fully health tested to reduce the risk of passing on any health issues on to future generations. Stud dog owners can check which health tests are applicable to their breed by referring to the KC Breeds A to Z, It is advisable to speak to your dog’s breeder prior to mating to see if there are any health concerns in your dog’s pedigree.
In Manchester’s the only current inherent disease is vWD (Von Willebrand’s disease) The condition is caused by a quantitative or qualitative deficiency of von Willebrand factor (vWF), a protein that plays a central role in blood clotting. Von Willebrand’s disease vWD usually comes in three types, type I, type II and type III. Type III is a severe bleeding disorder with a high risk of spontaneous bleeding as well as a risk of serious bleeding from trauma and surgery. Type I is a less severe form.
It’s good practice that if you’re approached by someone wanting to use your dog at stud, that you enquire about the bitches health & check the Coefficient calculation for the mating. Inbreeding, put simply, is the mating of related individuals – those individuals with common ancestors. High levels of inbreeding can impact the health of individual dogs, as it increases the chances of a dog being at risk for both known and unknown inherited disorders. It could also have an impact on the breed as a whole, e.g. a reduction in litter size and fertility. The KC online Inbreeding Coefficient calculators can also be used to help you easily avoid mating two related individuals together. When using these calculators, where possible, you should produce puppies with an inbreeding coefficient which is at, or below, the annual average for the breed and ideally as low as possible. This average is shown to you each time you use our CoI calculators. The current MT average is 13.6%.
Popular sires, or male dogs, that are used to produce large numbers of puppies, are one of the biggest contributors to a reduction in genetic diversity, an increase in inbreeding and elevated levels of genetic diseases within a breed. These dogs are often chosen because they have good characteristics, such as traits associated with good health or success in the show ring. Breeders will use these dogs because they wish to improve the breed, but excessive use of any males can be detrimental to the overall population. To prevent the popular sire effect, stud dog owners should restrict the number of times their dog is used for stud. The number of times a dog should be used will be dependent on the actual population size and the size of the gene pool, so providing guidelines on how many puppies a stud can safely produce will be breed dependent and is difficult to estimate.
Before the mating occurs, it is important that a detailed written stud dog contract is agreed upon and signed to prevent any future confusion. Ensure that a copy of your signed contracts are filed away in a safe place. The terms and conditions of a mating do not fall within the jurisdiction of The Kennel Club. It is therefore advisable that any breeding terms or stud fees should be arranged by mutual agreement in writing between the owner of the dog and the owner of the bitch before the mating takes place.