What is genetic selection?

The role of breeding programs is to provide the quantity, quality and number of dogs on schedule and within budget. Success in meeting these needs is best accomplished by utilizing best practices to systematically improve the genetic quality of dogs in each generation for the traits of importance while considering the overall dog and overall longevity of the breeding colony.

Genetic selection is the process that determines which individuals will become parents, how many offspring they produce, and how long they remain in the breeding population.

Why is genetic selection so important?

“The ancient partnership between people and dogs is struggling to meet modern day needs, with demand exceeding our capacity to safely breed high-performing and healthy dogs. New statistical genetic approaches and genomic technology have the potential to revolutionize dog breeding, by transitioning from problematic phenotypic selection to methods that can preserve genetic diversity while increasing the proportion of successful dogs.”

This excerpt is taken from an article in Frontiers of Veterinary Science, 06 September 2021. The article explains the need for improved genetic selection in working dog lines and discusses some of the ways this improvement can be (and for some, has been) achieved. The article is freely available for download at the below link.