When it comes to being a reputable breeding and being a planner I like to look ahead and plan my litters out 6 months to 1 year ahead. There is so much more that goes into reputable breeding than most people realize. It is much more than throwing two dogs together and getting puppies.
So what are things that I look for when selecting parents of a litter? I have 4 top things when it comes to choosing a pairing and then some smaller things that are not as important. My top 4 things are Temperament, Health Testing, Structure, and Coefficiency of Inbreeding or COI.
Temperament:
Temperament is a huge foundation for my breeding program. I strive to produce service and therapy dogs in each and every litter that I produce which means I must start with parents that have solid temperaments. I have and will spay/neuter a dog that does not have the temperament suitable for breeding. I am looking for a dog that is confident, human focused, willing to please, neutral around other dogs and people, and a good on/off switch to name a few. From the very beginning I choose a temperament that I love as a puppy and then watch that temperament as they grow to make sure they maintain those qualities that I am looking for.
Health Testing:
This is a non negotiable in my eyes. If a dog is being bred it should be health tested and have passing results. My breeding dogs are tested for Hips, Elbows, Heart, Patellas, Eyes, and DNA before being bred. They must pass all of these test to become a parent in my breeding program. Just like with temperament I have and will spay/neuter a dog that doesn’t pass testing. Then once I have testing results I look at those results and make sure pairings are compatible. For instance when it comes to hips there are 3 passing scores Excellent, Good, and Fair. While all are passing hips if I have a Fair hipped dog then I will only breed to a Good or Excellent hip. Then when it comes to DNA you can have a clear, carrier, or affected. I will never breed a dog that is affected but it is safe to breed a carrier to a clear to not shrink the gene pool.
Structure:
Proper structure of a dog is important for the functionality of a dog. Bad structure can lead to stress and strain on the body. A dog with proper structure will age more gracefully because
COI:
This is something that I look at heavily in my Australian Labradoodles.