Have you ever thought of getting a clone of your favorite dog? Is that possible? Can you breed father and daughter dogs? Let’s find out! Like human inbreeding, breeding father and daughter dogs possess several risk factors. In fact, even the sound of breeding a father and daughter dog together is wrong.
On the contrary, there are several benefits that a dog owner can attain by breeding a daughter dog with its sire if done at the right time with the correct technique. However, no matter how many offspring with desired genes you can get, inbreeding is never the safest option.
Can you breed father and daughter dogs?
If you are still thinking of giving it a shot, we recommend you collect as much data as you can about the particular breed, their pedigree, and all the information about the dogs. Your information and knowledge can best tell you whether you can breed father and daughter dogs or not.
To answer it in simple words, you can breed father and daughter dogs if you want. The idea of breeding father and daughter dogs will give you fruitful results. And the inbred descendants will acquire all the dominant qualities you are seeking. So how to go about it?
We all know that mixing different breeds has long been practiced among dog owners. There are several reasons for it. The main reason is to attain all the good traits in the next generation, which is termed inbreeding.
What is Inbreeding?
In easier language, inbreeding is the mating of two genetically related organisms. For example, cousins inbreds or father-daughter inbreds. The word incest or consanguineous is used for the same purpose. Incest is a crime in the human world, but the canine world differs in this aspect.
Now, if you are breeding two sibling dogs or a father and a daughter dog or a son dog with its mother, these relationships come under the definition of close inbreeding. And the word incestuous sexual mating is specifically used for such relationships.
Note: Breeding a daughter dog with a dad dog is a classic example of a very close inbreeding.
So can you breed father and daughter dogs? Is it normal? People do it to get more dogs with the same trait that they consider ideal and that’s okay.
Can you breed a daughter dog back to its sire?
Technically, you can breed a daughter with its father dog. And the daughter can conceive as well. However, you can not ignore the risks that inbreeding brings along with it.
Not only the daughter would be in danger but there is a 25% chance of progeny to inherit the recessive or hidden trait resulting in a defected pup. We would discuss the risk associated with breeding father and daughter dogs in a short while.
How can you avoid risks when breeding father and daughter dogs?
Let’s first talk about how you can avoid these risks and achieve fruitful results.
First of all, if you want to minimize the cons of breeding father and daughter dogs, you should be familiar with inbreeding coefficients.
Did you know you can calculate the inbreeding coefficient of a dog? That’s right!
The inbreeding coefficient is a mathematical equation that simply tells you the genetic similarity of a dog with its ancestors.
Note: It is not always correct and only tells the approximate percentage of homozygosity. And the closer the inbreeding coefficient is, the higher the chances of negative consequences are.
But that sure does sound like a lot of work. Right? Fortunately, there are some tools and software that can help you calculate the genetic diversity of a dog. On top of that, your information about the two breeding dogs and knowledge of pedigree mating is always a bonus.
However, you have to be extremely cautious before deciding on breeding two closely related dogs. Keep in mind that due to the high-risk potential of close inbreeding, you might produce a sufferer than a warrior.
Are there any benefits of breeding father and daughter dogs?
Inbreeding is a great way to get what you want in a dog. For some people, it is like playing with genes. Like genetic engineering, you are focused on getting that one trait you like in your dog and producing multiple offspring with the same abilities.
Even though inbreeding brings a huge benefit to dog owners, a very small group of people promote the idea of inbreeding. This is because of the health risks that come along with close inbreeding.
However, let’s for a moment forget about the risks of inbreeding father and daughter dogs and discuss what good can come out of close inbreeding.
The good news is, when you breed a father with a daughter dog, you get 75% of the dominant traits. In simple words, dominant traits refer to the skills and abilities you want your new dogs to inherit.
Below are a few advantages to breeding father and daughter dogs together.
Expression of desired traits
Inbreeding is useful when you like a certain ability or trait of a dog and want your new litters to inherit those traits.
As much as it is controversial, you cannot ignore the only benefit you can get by breeding father and daughter dogs, that is fixing traits. This is helpful especially for the dog show owners who want the perfect shin coat or the qualities of their favorite show-dog in their next offspring.
Genetic homogenization
Genetic for genes and homo means similar.
It is a known fact that mixing two closely related dogs brings the most dominating trait to the surface. In this case of breeding fathers and daughter dogs, whatever skillful and good traits father or daughter dog has will be transferred to the new pups. This is called genetic homogenization.
If for example, the father dog has the ideal shin coat, big size, and great hunting abilities and the daughter dog has similar traits, these traits are then considered dominant and the next offspring would inherit similar copies of these genes.
Note: However, almost all dogs have great speed and hunting abilities. Hence, these traits are generally not the basis for breeding.
Now the question is if breeding father and daughter dogs are beneficial in certain regards then why do the experts refrain you from doing so?
Note: In a genetic pedigree, there is always a 25% chance of inheriting recessive traits that are unknown to you but can show up in offspring. This is why experts recommend not to breed father and daughter dogs, as doing so will put a new risk on the upcoming generation.
Eliminating certain diseases
Genetic inbreeding can also be used to get rid of a few medical conditions that show up in your dog. For example, if your dog has gastrointestinal problems or any other medical condition that you fear of being inherited by offspring, you can get these genes deleted and prevent them from spreading further.
However, ironically, in hope of getting rid of the bad traits and fixing the good traits, you might unintentionally produce a litter with other hidden medical illnesses that neither father nor the daughter dog had shown.
This means that breeding father and daughter dogs does not always result in your favor.
Why is it bad to breed a father dog with a daughter dog?
Apart from the fact that it is ethically wrong and might question a person’s morality, there are several health defects putting risk on the new progeny.
Moreover, practicing close inbreeding not only affects the life of one progeny but also puts several generations along the line at a high risk of developing congenital abnormalities.
Let’s now highlight the bad side of breeding father and daughter dogs together.
Reduction of the genetic pool
A reduction in gene pool means there are very fewer chances of genetic variations. We know that change in genes is important, especially for researchers. Putting limitations on the gene pool and targeting one particular gene for the rest of the generations will leave no room for genetic expansion.
Furthermore, limiting the gene pool eventually gives rise to more genetic disorders. This can then terribly affect the growth of inbred dogs along the generational lines.
Congenital defects
As we mentioned earlier, you might get a pup with abnormal genes after breeding father and daughter dogs. This occurs due to the expression of recessive genes that do not express in the parent generation.
You might see cases of skeletal abnormality or diseases that affect the immune system, eye disorders, morphological issues, and even deadly diseases like cancer. These congenital defects are a result of inbreeding depression. This occurs when recessive alleles become more prevalent climbing over the dominant alleles taking their place.
Sometimes these diseases do not show up in the newborns and eventually flare up later in life. So, if you are thinking you have successfully bred a father and a daughter dog looking at the outcome, wait for it to grow. This again puts you in constant worry about your dog’s health.
Moreover, there have been cases where the pup inside the Dam’s womb grew such large heads requiring an emergent C-section of the dog. This shows that not only does inbreeding put the offspring’s life at risk, but it affects a mother’s health as well.
Low fertility rate
Studies on close inbreds suggest that there are higher chances for an inbred male to develop infertility as compared to a purebred male dog. Moreover, female dogs used for breeding purposes tend to deliver more unhealthy babies. Besides, some studies also show that there is a high mortality rate associated with close or line inbreeding.
Behavioral changes
Even though it is quite normal for dogs to get a little aggressive at times. However, researchers found that dogs that are a product of two closely related parents (like father and daughter) tend to be more aggressive and distant than purebreds. These inbred dogs are also more fearful, anxious, and easily irritated, unlike purebred dogs.
Is it normal to breed father and daughter dogs?
Looking at the benefits of breeding father and daughter dogs, there are very few people who encourage close inbreeding. Why is that?
Well, it is mainly due to the stigma and errors related to inbreeding. And to be honest, it does more harm than good.
Furthermore, it is recommended that only the breeders who are experts in breeding should do the job. You can not only rely on your prediction about offspring unless you see one for yourself or unless your predictions are accurate.
Even though any dog can inherit the recessive genes, given that there is always a 25% chance of it. However, breeding a very close tie, like that of a father and a daughter, carries more chances of transferring the bad or recessive traits to offspring.
On a side note, if you want to try the process of inbreeding on your dogs, try to make sure they are not so closely related. Let’s leave nature alone. No matter how fruitful your idea of breeding father and daughter dogs is, you are damaging their genes in the long run.
If you want, you can look for other better options for breeding to bring genetic variations. Or the best you can do is start training your little pups from the beginning till they are ready to take on hard challenges.
Conclusion
Can you breed father and daughter dogs? To sum it up, one should never try to breed father and daughter dogs unless it is absolutely necessary. And for those who still opt for breeding father and daughter dogs, keep in mind that you do not always get desirable results. At times, you might get a litter with genetic abnormalities as a result of close inbreeding. In short, you can breed father and daughter dogs, but not without the possibility of pups inheriting certain medical conditions. So my advice is to avoid breeding father and daughter dogs and keep room for genetic variations.