Breeders’ Resources

www.OFA.org. OFA stands for Orthopedic Foundation for Animals, aka the Canine Health Information Center.

OFA is a relational database that contains information about results of health tests specific dogs have had. You type in an AKC number of a part of the dog’s name, and you get results of any health tests the dog has had as well as test results of the dog’s relatives. You can generate various pedigrees indicating the health test results of dogs in the pedigree. If you click on a dog listed, such as the sire, you are taken to that dog’s test results page and information about his relatives. And so on.

The OFA database is the gold standard for finding information about the genetic health of any dog. It is as complete as the data submitted by the owner. It should be your first stop in your quest for information about the genetic health of an individual dog and that dog’s family. Another source of information is the breeder of the dog you’re considering.

It goes without saying that one of the major goals of any breeding program is to produce puppies that are as genetically healthy as possible and to reduce the incidence of genetic diseases within a breed. The way to do that is to breed healthy dogs to healthy bitches and to pay attention to the health status of the dogs’ relatives. Genetics is very complex, and even if you do your homework and due diligence on seeking out healthy breeding stock, problems can still crop up, despite your best and strongest efforts to avoid them. If it were easy to breed out genetic diseases, they would have been eliminated long ago.

Inbreeding is the breeding together of very close relatives, such as sibling to sibling, parent to child. The advantage of inbreeding is that it doubles up on the positive characteristics of the sire and dam, but a very significant disadvantage is that it also doubles up on the negative characteristics, including undesirable recessives.

Linebreeding is the breeding together of more distant relatives, for example, cousin to cousin, grandparent to grandchild, uncle to niece, aunt to nephew. Linebreeding helps introduce consistency in a line and reduces but does not eliminate the negative aspects of inbreeding.

Inbreeding and linebreeding are ways of breeding genotype to genotype. Genotype is the traits in the genes directly inherited from parents.

Outcrossing is the breeding of a dog and bitch with no common ancestors for two or more generations. The advantage of outcrossing is that it increases genetic diversity and vigor in a line; the disadvantage is that the results are less predictable and consistent.

Outcrossing involves breeding phenotype to phenotype. Phenotype is the observable physical properties of a dog but are not necessarily inherited. In an outcross, you can choose to breed very different phenotypes together, or you can choose to breed similar phenotypes together. Some breeders find that breeding similar phenotypes to each other produces some of the predictability and consistency they are seeking without the health problems associated with inbreeding and line-breeding.

One starting point for a breeding program is to come to an understanding of your vision of an ideal English Setter. This mental image is created by careful study of the standard, detailed observation of many English Setters, a study of great dogs of the past (ESAA Annuals are critical to this historical research), and conversations with long-time breeders. 

Sometimes old Annuals become available. When an opportunity to acquire one or more old Annual(s) comes up, pounce on it and get those Annuals for your historical and breeding library. The first ESAA Annual was published in 1964.

Identify the traits that you consider crucial in a typey and sound English Setter and those you consider nice to have but not crucial. What traits are essential to preserving the breed’s original function; in the case of English Setters, the structure to hunt upland game birds, the stamina to do that all day, and the bird drive to WANT to hunt. Consider the English Setter’s reputation as a great companion and family dog; what temperament traits are needed to preserve that reputation? And what traits make an English Setter beautiful in your eyes? 

After you clarify your vision of the ideal English Setter, analyze your bitch. What traits does she have that you want to preserve, and where would you change her. Those traits you don’t have yet but want are the traits to look for in a stud dog. Race horse breeders have a saying: “Breed the best to the best and hope for the best”, and that’s a pretty good description of dog breeding programs. When your litter arrives, select the puppy that seems to be closer to your ideal vision than the parents. In this manner, through selective breeding, you can incrementally produce puppies that are ever closer to your vision of the ideal. Or at least that is the hope.

Parent clubs designate which genetic screening tests they consider important in their breed, and if a dog has had all those tests, OFA assigns a CHIC (Canine Health Information Center) number to that dog.

The English Setter Association of America has designated hip dysplasia, elbow dysplasia, congenital deafness, and autoimmune thyroiditis as the diseases English Setters should be screened for in order to get a CHIC number. Hip and elbow dysplasia are diagnosed through OFA radiographic hip and elbow evaluations. A vet takes the x-rays and submits to OFA for evaluation. Congenital deafness is diagnosed by the Brainstem Auditory Evoked Response (BAER) test. Most breeders get the BAER test for entire litters before their puppies leave for new homes. The results of the BAER test can be submitted directly to OFA or can be recorded in the ESAA BAER database, which is transferred to the OFA database periodically. Autoimmune Thyroiditis is diagnosed by a blood test. The blood is drawn by a vet and submitted for evaluation to one of the labs designated by the OFA. 

An English Setter breeder, Dick Fox, Foxtract English Setters, was a member of the OFA Board for many years. He was responsible for the close ties between OFA and ESAA. ESAA’s BAER database is so accurate and trustworthy that OFA agreed to transfer its entries to the OFA database.

For more information, to submit BAER results to the ESAA BAER database, and see the current database, go to English Setter Health & Genetics – ESAA.

The popular sire effect occurs when a dog with desirable attributes is bred repeatedly. Using the same sire a lot can reduce the genetic diversity of a breed and can have negative genetic consequences. Reducing genetic diversity within a breed can lead to reduced litter size, increased susceptibility to disease, and loss of size and vigor in individuals, among other problems. 

The problem is not the popular sires but how we use them. Their offspring may be so outstanding that breeders breed the offspring together to try to set those desirable traits. Additional back-crosses may be made for generations. Decades later, the popular sire may no longer appear in pedigrees, but if you go back far enough, there he is and he may be there many times. That is why the COI of any litter is good to know. 

The many excellent traits of a popular sire should be utilized, but even the best of them has genes for negative traits that can become so embedded in a line that they are very difficult to breed out.

There are many studs in a breed that can produce excellent offspring, not just those being campaigned in the show ring. Owners sometimes choose to stop showing a really good dog after he finishes his championship, so it’s prudent to be aware of outstanding class dogs as well as specials. Good breeders try to keep many different dogs on their radar when it comes time to choose a stud dog.

A popular dam is less of an issue because, by definition, her ability to produce offspring and affect an entire breed’s gene pool is limited to the number of puppies she can have, whereas a popular sire can produce hundreds of offspring.

The coefficient of inbreeding (COI) is the probability of inheriting two copies of the same allele from an ancestor that appears on both sides of a pedigree. The higher the COI, the more closely inbred the litter. Too close can lead to some loss in vitality and vigor, lower fertility, smaller size. A low COI will have lower risk, but it will also have only a modest benefit in establishing desired traits in your line. A high COI would produce more consistency and prepotency in the offspring but could lead to loss of vigor and health. The trick for the breeder is to weigh the benefits and risks of a particular breeding and judge what is an acceptable balance. A COI of 5 is about average for most breeds. A COI higher than 20 means you might be risking some of the disadvantages of inbreeding.

You can find the COI of a breeding you’re considering by going to the Willie Walker Database, https://pedigree.englishsetters.at/ This is a worldwide database of English Setters maintained by Andrea Strobl, who is Austrian. It goes all the way back to some of Laverack’s dogs. If you register, you can generate test pedigrees of potential combinations of sire and dam to get the COI of that breeding. Chances are very good that your dogs are in this database. If they are not, you can add them. Since it’s a relational database, it will connect your dog to its ancestors that are already in the database. If you are considering breeding to a dog that is from another country, you may be able to find information about the dog in the Willie Walker Database, since it is worldwide.

Increasing discomfort, panting, moving around, changing positions and appearing uneasy.  This stage can last for several hours and periods of uneasiness and restlessness will occur more frequently as the hours pass.

When the fetuses are delivered.  If watching carefully you will be able to detect the first labor contractions signaling the onset.

Yes, unless using frozen semen. See information below.

(This was taken directly from the AKC website)

Canine brucellosis should be considered in any dog exhibiting reproductive disorders. Routine screening is also vital due to the possibility of asymptomatic individuals. Because of the variety of ways in which brucellosis can be transmitted, screening should include virgin dogs and those who have only been bred via artificial insemination. Any dog that has been to a dog show, bred with chilled or frozen semen, or exposed to other dogs is potentially at risk. For example, we know of a kennel of purebred dogs infected with brucellosis by a neighboring male dog that was urine marking outside their kennel runs. 

An initial progesterone should be done for a baseline around days 5-7. 

Most bitches ovulate when progesterone reaches the whole number 5 or greater.  Another progesterone is advised to make sure that it is continuing to rise.  Once ovulation occurs the eggs are not fertile for 48 hours, then the bitch is fertile for 3 more days.