Project Pit Bull^TM
Line Breeding vs. Inbreeding is There Really a Difference?

If you are interested in pedigree's and/or how your dog was bred this information is important.

A lot of Pit Bull breeders (who have an actual breeding program) tend to lean towards linebreeding as the main form of planning a breeding in their lines.

What is linebreeding?
Simply put linebreeding occurs when you breed relatives to each other that are not closely related. Cousin to Cousin, grandfather to granddaughter, grandmother to grandson, Uncle to Niece, and Aunt to Nephew are common pairs in a linebred line.

What is Inbreeding?
Inbreeding is when you breed dogs that are closely related to one another. Father to daughter, mother to son, brother to sister, are a few common pairs you will see in an inbred line.

Both have good and bad things within them. Inbreeding will cause specific genetic traits to surface faster but on the flip side it can cause genetic defects to surface as well.

Linebreeding while close to inbreeding will produce the same results at a slower rate. Linebred dogs still have the occasional genetic flaws though.

When it comes to the American Pit Bull Terrier and my own personal research of lines I have always went with a tight linebred line of dogs. At worst I will go with a loose linebred line. What are the differences?

If you look at your pedigree or any pedigree for that matter and you see the same 2,3,4 dogs popping up in the generations you are dealing with a tightly linebred line of dogs. If you see 1 or 2 dogs popping up here and there they are loosely linebred.

Linebreeding starts with a foundation pair like Uncle and niece and then goes down the generations. At some point you will cross back into the line by breeding the foundation Uncle with another relative that was produced by his original breeding.

Why Linebreed?
It is a fast way to secure desirable traits while reducing the risk of doubling up on undesirable genes to establish a goal for your breeding program.

Most of the successful breeders both old and new use some form of outcrossing and linebreeding method to constantly improve their lines. In the end, linebred dogs descend from two or more similar ancestors and that is why it's called "linebreeding" because every dog in the line is a direct descendent 2,3,4 dogs that founded the line.

For the record this article is not by any means complete nor is it intended to be so. More to the point, if you are considering breeding your dog or getting involved in the breeding of American Pit Bull Terriers I would suggest you stop and start researching material about genetics, different forms of animal husbandry in multiple animals (cows, horses etc...) and study the great breeders of the past like J.P Colby and Howard Heinzl before you get started breeding dogs.

Breeding dogs is a complicated subject that most people take a lifetime of study to understand and even then they never really truly know everything. The single most important goal of a breeder is to better the breed based on the strict standard set for the breed. In other words, the standard for the APBT was set over 100 years ago. Unless you are breeding to that standard and trying to establish a better model of dogs for our breed then I would recommend staying out of the breeding part and stick with enjoying them as companions.

Pit Bull Health Tip of The Month:
Fall and Winter are Coming. Are you prepared?

Those dog days of summer are rapidly coming to an end. Fall and winter will be presenting their own challenges to our dogs and the number one thing on my mind is paw pads.

Why paw pads you ask...your dog's feet and specifically their paw pads are the most important part of their body that you want to protect this fall and winter.

Paw pads are not indestructible and while we like to think our dogs are the toughest on the block nothing can put a dog on the mend faster than a hurt pad.

This winter we will start to see salt on the sidewalks and roads. The type of salt used damages our dogs feet and can cause a burning pain between their toys.

One thing I recommend doing is to sweep off the walk and side walks before walking and right after salt was put down. If you walk your dog on public streets after the walk put their feet in a warm soak and wash them clean of any salt or other debris that may be sticking in between their paw pads.

Pit Bull Training Tip of the Month:
Positive Training Effective or a Load of Dog Poo?

One of the reasons why Pit Bull owners love their dogs so much is because of that one of a kind "bully grin" featured to the left here. Positive training is one way to keep that happy grin alive and well without causing damage between you and your dog.

Positive training is widely misunderstood today. Many people think it means cookies and treats for the dogs whole life. Other's believe positive is to "girly" or too "weak" for a "hard" breed like the American Pit Bull Terrier and in both cases the assumptions are wrong.

Positive training is not about making things, "happy," well that is part of it, but the actual definition of "positive" here is, "to add something."

Let's refresh on positive and negative. Positive means to add something and negative means to take something away.

In regards to training dogs the best situation is positive reinforcement (you add something good) and negative punishment (you take away something as a punishment. Like a toy or a treat or your attention).

Force training is based on positive punishment (you add a punishment like a leash correction or shock) and negative reinforcement (you take away the punishment when they do what you ask).

Positive reinforcement and negative punishment is the best combination to use on 99.9% of the dogs out there because as the dogs owner/trainer it is very hard to get it wrong. If you use the other form of training (positive punishment and negative reinforcement) you have to have incredible timing and it is easy to turn the dog off to training because you make the whole ordeal unpleasant for them.

Using positive methods doesn't mean you give cookies and bribe your dog into working for you. Positive methods means you use the easiest most direct line to teach a dog something new in order to ensure the dog offers you the behavior again but with vigor.

Once you find your dogs passion (toy, treat, attention, games etc...) you can literally train your dog to do anything you wish that they are physical able to do.

My favorite type of positive training is clicker/marker training. I have found through working with dogs for going on 7 years now that you can teach a dog something incredibly fast with the proper use of these tools. For example, I taught an untrained dog that lived on a farm how to play dead in 25 minutes using the clicker/marker system.

Another example, my dog Angel learned how to "turn off the light" using clicker and target training.

What makes positive so hard or controversial? The time and patience needed by the people involved. People are impatient these days. They want a trained dog and they want it now! However training your dog does not work like that. We have to remember they are animals and they need time to learn what we want. More importantly, they need to understand what we are telling them. That starts with effective communication. No you don't have to be a "dog whisperer" to clearly communicate with your dog. You only need to understand the way dogs learn.

Dogs learn through association and repetition. Once you understand how to show them something in a clear manner it only takes a matter of repetitions before they start to understand you.

Case in point, I'm working with a deaf Dalmatian. Some people have told the owner to put the dog down. Why? Because the dog is deaf. Stupid I know. Back to my point...

Using a clear signal (hand signal) combined with a few treats and petting as a reward we were able to teach this dog how to lie down in a matter of minutes. He was pulling on the leash and now he walks much better using a simple leash tap and praise.

Positive methods or positive training is all about working with the dog's understanding of how the world works. Using their learning patterns and not ours. Humans learn differently and yet we try to apply our ways to other animals. In this case dogs. Trying that will simply not work.

You can force a dog through correction and negative reinforcement to do anything you wish. The end result, a dog that only works because you make them. With positive training you work with your dog the end result, a dog that wants to work because they like it.

I work with aggressive dogs. I work with dogs that are so fearful they won't come within 25 feet of you and I use positive methods with all of them. Why? It's sure not because it's easier. Because it works. I highly recommend you get the book The Other End of the Leash by Patricia McConnell for further study. You can get it at Amazon.com or at your local bookstore. It's not a training book but it gives you a great insight into positive methods and how dogs perceive us.

Legal Stuff

Every thing in this email is Copyright © 2006. Jason Mann & PitBullLovers.com

You can pass this entire email to friends if you would like as long as it stays unchanged and left as is.

That concludes the legal talk.

Best Regards,

Jason Mann
Senior editor - The Pit Bull Lover Gazette
Proud Doggy Dad - Angel CGC/CTD, Honey and Patch Three of the coolest dogs I've ever had the pleasure of sharing space with.