Feature photo credit to: Ryan McCawley of Smokin Barrel Bullies
Its almost common practice in our world that if you have a male dog, he a stud. In my experience, 50% or more of American Bully males should not be breed. But that’s beside the point of this blog. This blog is to help you sift through the hundreds or thousands of owners, breeders, or kennels that have “studs” that are open for public service. In this blog, we will go over how to choose a stud that complements your female, how the stud is producing and looking at the pedigree to see what characteristics could be pulled forward from the breeding.
Choosing a stud that complements your female is pivotal to a progressive breeding program. Some would say consistency is key but consistently producing shit dogs is still shit. Before choosing a stud that complements your dog, you must develop what I call “the eye”. The eye is being able to see a dog in a picture, video, or in-person and break that dog down. What I mean by break down is how does that dog fit within that standard. From breed type to top line, to tail set, all the way down to the feet. It’s an encompassing standard and a stud dog should fit well into the standard. Once you find a couple studs that fit the standard you can now start to match up what they have and possibly improve on your female and vice versa. For example, if my female has a weak rear, and not so pronounced stop, I wouldn’t be looking at males that share that weakness. No matter who the stud is, whether there are the top stud or stud with no litters. If they aren’t complimenting your female, you can just toss that idea out the window.
The second important thing is how that stud is producing. Take a sample of offspring from him. Look at the female used and compare contrast them. How did the genetics mix? Do the pups exhibit more of his features or the dam? Did the breeding look like it went as planned? Or did it go awry? These are some of the questions you need to ask and answer yourself. Don’t count on asking the breeder or stud owner because 99/100 of them will tell you it turned out exactly as planned. If you don’t believe me about that statement, find and inconsistent crappy litter and ask the breeder how he or she thinks the breeding went. I won’t wait for the answer because I already know it. Anyways, look at the sample of pups you choose and if they are consistent regardless of the bitch or dam used, then you have a true stud. On a side note, there aren’t many who can do this. I can count on one hand the number of studs who could produce like that. This also is predicated on the stud having offspring to judge. If he doesn’t the next paragraph will explain what to do.
The last thing you must look at is pedigree or at least the first 3 generations. No need to go further than that. For the most part for this, you should ask older more experienced breeders about past dogs within a stud dog’s pedigree. How they looked, how they fit the standard, and how well they moved. With the emergence of cell phone videos being within the last decade, I can pretty much guarantee there aren’t going to be videos of most the dogs within that stud’s pedigree. This step is will help you gauge how the blood will mix. Then look around, I can promise you can find blood like yours that was breed to blood like that studs. Look at the outcome. If it’s a positive outcome, then you have a good chance your breeding will work. If it’s bad, then you know what to do.
The techniques I discussed in this blog are techniques I’ve developed over time. They aren’t the only things I do but some of the more important ones. Just like anything with creation, it has its degree of the unknown. Our jobs as breeders are to apply our experience and knowledge to ensure the best possibility for a positive outcome. Our duty to our clients is not only producing breed type looking dogs but to also produce healthy companions that will last a generation. Our duty to the dog is to uphold the standard in which that dog is held. If one of these paragraphs gave you thought, an idea, or even changed your mind than this blog has served its purpose. Until next time. I hope you all have a wonderful day.
