Dog Question...

[Kalamity]

A friends labs just had puppies. 12 with 11 surviving. The parents are brother and sister. My question is, what are the repercussions of the parents being siblings if any? And they are young. Only a year and a half I believe.

[Threemuch]

Heck yeah there are. I am no expert, but the minimal research I have done in my search for a dog and common sense scream that this is a huge mistake and a big problem. The suceptability to genetic problems is multiplied many times over. Those pups may be OK, but they should definitely not breed. Was it some kind of accident? I think one or both of the parents should be nuetered if the owners can't keep them apart when she is in season.

Breeding a two dogs with the same parents is highly irresponsible, and damages the breed. As a duck hunter and lab lover, this really chaps my hide.

Worst part is that there are 11 young dogs they will struggle to give away unless they hide the fact that mom and dad are bro and sis. And if they hide the fact, the owners won't know the risk and heaven forbid may breed the dog. If they don't hide it, I bet alot of these pups may be headed for the big sleep. Even if they find homes, life with eye problems, hip displasia, etc. isn't great. This borders on animal cruelty in my opinion.

[roguesteelheader]

Very sad for the pups. They should never be inter breed.

[Kalamity]

Thanks for the info. I hope to pass on as much info as I can to them so this doesn't happen again.

Apparently they got the brother and sister together as pups and didn't think they would breed.... DUH!!! What were they thinking?

I tried explaining it to them several months ago when she mentioned she thought her female was pregnant. That's how I got the info about them being related and age and such.

I guess they just didn't know any better. I wish they would have taken preventative measures. This is just a sad situation.

[pdxkevin]

short of some southern slam... some - limited - inbreeding in canines will help weed out certain factors. The downside is that the 'bad genes' are compounded resulting in a higher mortality rate and weaker ammune system.

I am not infavor of inbreeding.

Do a quick google search for "inbreeding dog effects" you will come up with some interesting info from various breeders.

[Threemuch]

PDXKevin brings up some good points. Maybe I was a bit too harsh. Surprisingly you can register inbred dogs through AKC.

Most of the dogs I looked at, I looked four levels deep into their pedigrees and didn't ever see the same names. In fact you see lots of stuff internet dialogue from people looking for titled dogs not out of a particular line (like "Lean Mac".) Inbreeding is clearly not a technique that professional breeders use very often. The quick reading I did mostly talked about show dogs and show cats, people going for a certain look rather than an athelete.

[crabbait]

"Line breeding" is not unheard of and is a tool used by professionals to determine the purity of the gene strain. Any defect is multiplied when breeding back to the same line. If there is a recessive gene for, say, hip dysplacia, that recessive gene will be more likely to become apparent. Of course, if no negative recessive traits are present that is also revealed.

With that said, any time there are unplanned litters there is a problem. Anyone intentionally breeding dogs will tell you it is tough enough to sell planned puppies. Time for a spay/neuter program...

[rimrock]

The unplanned litter is the "issue", unfortunate. Just because they are bro and sis is not the end but ?????? Faults if they are serious in the bro/sis will be reinforced in this litter - as well as the strengths for that matter. This is actually in-breeding; line breeding is a different class (for example granddaughter to grandsire or uncle to niece).

Truth is I'd never buy a dog which was in-breed by a noice breeder.

[taggbro]

I personally wouldn't. I know of line breeders who will breed brother and sister to see what skeletons are in their lines as that type of breeding will definately bring it (skeletons) out.

Even line breeding is weak inbreeding. Line breeding has the same potential for pitfalls although not as pronounced (grandfather x grandaughter, etc). Ebonstar Lean Mac (Maxx) is probably the most line bred (not inbred) sire of all time. He has produced phenomanal litters who have went on to do great things in the field trial/hunt test circuit.

But as someone else said, line breeding should only be done by professionals. I would steer clear of any line breedings done by a novice. I would steer clear of any inbreedings regardless of professional or not. One caveat. If the inbreeding was a repeat breeding that could be proven to have carried only the good stuff and not emphasize the bad. I personally have never heard of any such breedings.