New Dog Breeds
Because of their closeness to humans and their involvement in human activities for centuries, dogs have been bred much more than any other species in the animal kingdom. These breeding procedures have had for aim creating individuals that show specific and desired characteristics that made them more suitable for certain types of activities, to give them a specific appearance, or to display certain traits that are considered desirable.
Today, the result of all these centuries of breeding is the existence of hundreds of dog breeds that are suited for several different purposes, out of which, the most important seems to be companionship.
There are several kennel clubs in most countries, which identify, protect and recognize the several dog breeds that there are, although there are some slight differences between them.
Most of these kennel clubs reject the idea of breeding dogs from different breeds in order to create new dog breeds. This is because they believe these breeds to be “pure” (and thus the name purebreed) and that mixing breeds in order to create new dog breeds would compromise their purity. They also fear that this would result in the creation of individuals that would look like purebreds and be sold as such, when their genes are not pure anymore.
On the other hand, there are dog breeders who think that breeding dogs from different purebreeds is completely acceptable and they aim to create new dog breeds that will combine desired traits from both parents into a new individual.
However, the process of creating new dog breeds is difficult and long. The first litter of new dog breeds is very important, as it will show which traits and dominant from the parents’ genes. It’s also not uncommon for puppies of the same litter of first generations of new dog breeds to exhibit different characteristics. For example, some dogs will have the type and color of coat of one parent, while others will have the type and fur color of the mother. There are other factors which will not be known until the puppies develop into full adults, such as size, life expectancy and health problems. Until these traits are measured and recorded, new dog breeds’ individuals aren’t allowed to procreate, and if they are, it’s very important to keep each puppy identified and recorded.
In addition, because some genes are recessive, they might not show in the first litters of new dog breeds. It might take a few generations for a puppy to show a trait from its great great grandparents. When this happens, it means that these new dog breeds are not “pure” enough to be considered real breeds.
So, as you can see, the process of creating new dog breeds is long, detailed, and expensive. They’re usually the result of an organization’s effort or someone’s lifework.