Inbreeding can be defined as the mating of two relatives, such as a mother and son or father and daughter from the same litter. We know that acquiring that perfect trait in a breed is difficult. Breeders can mate the same relative together because they see a specific trait in an adult dog and are trying to bring that exact same trait to newborn puppies. Another reason owners mate with relatives is to save money because the process is less expensive. If a male and female of a certain breed had a litter and the owner wanted to continue the breeding cycle and sell more dogs, the owner would inbreed for a profit, rather than having to buy more dogs. Inbreeding for this purpose is highly illegal in many countries. This is a well known practice that many dog owners are mastering these days. The problem is that it can endanger the life of the garbage itself.
Inbreeding is a process that must be stopped, otherwise breeds like the Pit Bull will go extinct in the near future due to the defects they are born with. Other dogs that are having problems due to inbreeding are dachshunds, which are increasingly struggling with arthritis. Deafness is becoming more common in Dalmatians. Great Danes and wolfdogs are progressively developing common cases of heart disease and bone cancer due to the process.
Not only are owners recessively producing the perfect dog trait, they are also recessively producing the negative traits. A dog’s DNA is twice as complicated as a human’s. There may be as many as 30,000 genes in a dog, and about 400 of those genes are defective. Therefore, trying to identify a certain trait is extremely difficult to do. Not only are negative traits repeatedly reproduced, but it also causes an increased risk of mental and physical illness for future breeds. As a result of inbreeding, future litters can be born with blindness, deafness, organ failure, seizures, and skin conditions.
Some of the most common and major effects are reduced fertility and hip dysplasia. Due to the closeness of the dogs in a given litter, which means they are relative, smaller litter sizes and high puppy morality may appear. Also, inbreeding can cause a simple infection that kills newborn puppies. Hip dysplasia is the separation of the two hip bones when a puppy is born. This disorder can occur in later generations. The owners are too comfortable and continue to consanguinity of future generations and hip dysplasia will appear suddenly. By then, it is too late for the owner to discontinue inbreeding because now a defective litter is continually being produced. The German Shepherd is well known for acquiring this defect.