Picking A Suitable Stud Dog
Choosing the best stud dog for your female Dalmatian can be very difficult. The two principal factors to be considered should be the stud's conformation and his pedigree. Conformation is quite obvious; you want a dog that is typical of the breed in the words of the "Standard of perfection." On the other hand, understanding pedigrees is a bit more difficult since the pedigree lists the ancestry of the dog. It involves individuals and bloodlines which you may not be entirely familiar of. Make an effort to discuss the various dogs behind the proposed stud with some of the more experienced breeders. Start with the breeder of your own female Dalmatian. Such breeders can give you helpful information as well as offer opinions of them.
Do not rush out and breed to the latest winner with no thought of whether or not he can produce true quality. It is the producing record of the stud Dalmatian that should be the basis on which you make your choice. Breeding dogs is not a money-making business. By the time you pay a stud fee, care for the female during pregnancy, whelp the litter, and rear the puppies through their early shots, worming, etc..., you will be fortunate enough to break even financially once the puppies have been sold. Your chances of doing this are greater if you are breeding for a show-quality litter which will bring you higher prices, as the pups are sold as show prospects.
Your wisest investment is to use the best stud dog available for your female Dalmatian regardless of the cost if you want to produce valuable puppies. Keep in mind that it is equally costly to raise average puppies as it is to raise top ones, and your chances of financial return are better on the latter.
There are three options for breeding your female Dalmatian: line-breeding, in-breeding, and out-cross breeding. Line-breeding is breeding a female dog to a stud belonging originally to the same canine family, and descended from the same ancestors, such as half-brother to half-sister, grand-sire to granddaughter, niece to uncle (and vice-versa) or cousin to cousin. Inbreeding is breeding father to daughter, mother to son, or full brother to sister. Out-cross breeding is breeding a male and a female Dalmatian with no or only a few mutual ancestors.
For a novice breeder, line-breeding is probably the safest course to take and the one most likely to bring expected results. The more sophisticated inbreeding should be left to the experienced, longtime breeders who have full knowledge and understanding of the risks and the possibilities involved with a particular line. It is usually done in an effort to intensify some ideal feature in that strain. Out-crossing is the reverse of inbreeding, an effort to introduce improvement in a specific feature that needs correction, such as a shorter back, better movement, more correct head or coat, etc.