Choosing a stud dog: what to check before you decide

Health examinations

The first look goes to the results. A serious stud owner produces them unprompted, with dates and findings. Anyone who evades the question or falls back on „he's perfectly healthy" probably does not have them.

Radiographic assessment

• Hips — hip dysplasia, assessed by a recognised evaluator. The scale runs from A through B to E.
• Elbows — elbow dysplasia, grade 0 to 3, recorded separately for each side.
• LTV — lumbosacral transitional vertebra, type 0 to 3.
• Patella — patellar luxation, grade 0 to 4. Indispensable in the small varieties, where patella problems occur more frequently.

Eyes

An examination by a veterinary ophthalmologist. The certificate is valid for twelve months — a three-year-old document is not a current record. Among the conditions checked are cataract, retinal dysplasia, persistent pupillary membrane, entropion and ectropion.

Genetic tests

Papers and breeding approval

• Pedigree from a studbook-keeping registry
• Valid breeding approval, depending on the registry
• DNA profile for parentage verification
• Microchip number matching the papers

Establish early whether the papers of both dogs are compatible. Not every registry recognises the studbooks of others. A mating that cannot be registered anywhere afterwards benefits neither you nor the puppy buyers.

Genetic diversity

Two figures are worth a look where a diversity analysis exists:

• Coefficient of inbreeding — how closely the ancestors are related. Lower is better.
• Heterozygosity — how many differing gene variants the dog carries. Higher is better.

Both only mean something against the breed average. A coefficient of six per cent sounds low but sits above average in some breeds. Ask for the comparison figure.

More important than the figure itself is the mating: what counts is how closely your bitch is related to the stud, not how the stud looks in isolation.

Temperament

The point hardest to document and the one that counts most. Temperament is inherited, and markedly so. An insecure or aggression-prone stud passes that on, however good the paperwork looks.

See the dog in person. Not in the owner's living room but outdoors, meeting unfamiliar people and dogs. A video call is no substitute.

Questions for the stud owner

• Has the dog been used at stud? How many litters, how many puppies?
• Is there feedback from the offspring — health, size, temperament?
• How does he behave towards unfamiliar males and females?
• How does the mating work — does he travel or does the bitch come?
• Is progesterone testing expected?
• What happens if the bitch does not conceive?
• Are the original certificates available to view?

The question about offspring is the most revealing. A stud that already has puppies on the ground supplies data no certificate can replace: how do the offspring actually turn out?

The stud agreement

In writing, before the mating, signed by both sides. It should cover:

• Names and registration numbers of both dogs
• The stud fee and when it falls due
• What happens if the bitch does not conceive — a free repeat mating at her next season or a partial refund
• The arrangement in case of a single puppy
• Who carries the travel costs
• An assurance that the stated results are accurate

A verbal understanding holds as long as everything goes well. It stops holding the moment it does not — which is precisely what contracts are written for.

Warning signs

• Results are to be „sent on" but never arrive
• The M locus was not tested because the dog „isn't merle anyway"
• A particular adult size or colour is guaranteed
• No meeting in person is possible
• A strikingly low stud fee with no requirements of the bitch
• No interest in how the offspring fare later

The last point often says the most. Anyone who loses sight of their offspring the moment the fee is paid is not breeding.

On colour genetics and why the merle test is indispensable in both parents, see Understanding merle.