Breeding Heeler Dogs

[LexsPeeps]

We have a Queensland white heeler that we are wanting to breed when she is ready. I have tried to do research online to see what color if it matters to breed her to in order to achieve white pups in the litter. We aren't hoping to have an all white litter but hope a few will be. She hasn't gone through her first heat cycle yet but want to have our ducks in a row when she is ready to breed, shes now about 5 months old. Do we need to breed her to another white or can we breed her to a red or blue heeler?

 

[Lady of McCamley]

First let me say I do not breed dogs. However, my daughter is a Vet Tech, and we've been involved in supporting Guide Dogs for the Blind (doing 7 projects), and their breeding program over the years.

All to say, I have some awareness of dog breeding.

I would caution you to breeding White Heelers without a lot of research and genetic testing on your dogs...both bitch and sire.

White can be a recessive color in many dog breeds, so breeding the whites to whites will also breed other genetic defects resulting in blindness, deafness, etc.

Here is a Heeler breeding guide. You wlll note that it indicates White is double recessive in the Heeler breed. From my experience, that means there will be problems if you breed white to white.
https://rightwayranch.wordpress.com/heeler-colors/

Here is an example of such issues with Australian Shepherds (Aussies)

http://www.ashgi.org/home-page/genetics-info/coat-color/white-fright

Hopefully someone with actual Heeler breeding experience will step in with some answers.

Until then, I would recommend you continue researching and proceed with caution before you breed white to white.

LofMc

 

[Bunnylady]

Just doing some quick looking around, it appears that the white in Australian Cattle Dogs ("Heelers") is caused by a different gene than the white on Australian Shepherds. Australian Shepherds have the merle gene, which is well-known for being associated with deafness and/or blindness when homozygous. White in the ACD's comes from roaning, which is a different gene series entirely.

Regardless of its color, there are several health problems that have a genetic base that ACD's are prone to, including the usual hip and elbow problems, deafness, and eye problems. Whatever the color, it is important to have any dog screened for these issues before it gets consideration as a potential breeding animal.

 

[LexsPeeps]

Thank you both! Those are good points that I needed to know, I'm not experienced in breeding many types of dogs, growing up my dad and uncle bred Labs. I'm definately still continuing my research as we have a ways to go before she is of breeding age, if she is even breedable. Any and all advice is welcome!

 

[dainerra]

the best bet is to work closely with an experienced breeder. Color is at the absolute bottom of the list of things to worry about when it comes to inheriting traits, except to avoid colors that are linked to illness and disabilities. The piebald gene in cattle dogs is anecdotally linked to deafness and breeding for white cattle dogs is to be avoided at all costs. Breeding for recessives is discouraged in every breed and species since you don't know what other bad things you might uncover.
https://izacshome.weebly.com/deafness-in-acds.html

A good place to start is your breed standard. It's a vital part of beginning education.
http://www.cattledog.com/standards/origstandard.html

 

[3riverschick]

Do not breed this dog to a blue of any color scheme. that's going to be a problem. breed this dog to a dark color .a dark brown or a black . you need to bring color back into this dogs color scheme. Visit the BYC thread : Just Another Day in Pear-a-Dice :
the owner is a prize-winning heeler breeder in Canada . a very scientific lady , she can help you out. Look at the structure on her dogs . it's absolutely stupendous. the symmetry of her dogs is breathtaking.
Best,
Karen Tewart
Bellwether Collies (retired)
1995-2009 excellent working, service, show -rough and smooth collies.

 

[LexsPeeps]

Do not breed this dog to a blue of any color scheme. that's going to be a problem. breed this dog to a dark color .a dark brown or a black . you need to bring color back into this dogs color scheme. Visit the BYC thread : Just Another Day in Pear-a-Dice :
the owner is a prize-winning heeler breeder in Canada . a very scientific lady , she can help you out. Look at the structure on her dogs . it's absolutely stupendous. the symmetry of her dogs is breathtaking.
Best,
Karen Tewart
Bellwether Collies (retired)
1995-2009 excellent working, service, show -rough and smooth collies.

Thanks to all for the advice! 3RiversChick this is great! This is exactly what I needed to know! Most of the people around here with Heelers just breed and don't take anything like that into account. I've heard alot of bad about white genetics and thats why I needed to ask and do research before I just bred her to anything. Above all she's my baby and I want her safe and healthy and I would feel horrible if any of her offspring suffered.

 

[3riverschick]

More than welcome . In dogs, compiled incorrectly, the blue gene does Carry health defects with it. there's coloboma, there's deafness, Etc. so you want to put color back into this dog.
Many years ago I bred a white factored Tri factored Sable Merle collie to a pure for Sable collie. both parents were normal eyed. but two of the seven puppies showed up with late-onset coloboma at 3 years old ! it was such an astonishing result that I got a call from an eminent researcher who wanted to study the litter . I said no because I thought the owners deserved their privacy . but the point was, this happened because the color breeding was wrong! the color breeding resulted in late onset coloboma at 3 years old in two of the seven puppies.
Best ,
Karen

 

[dainerra]

here are the health tests that are recommended before you breed her. You will also need to have these on the male as well.
It's best if at least t he majority of the dogs on both sides of the pedigree have these done as well so that you have a true picture of the dogs in front of you to determine if they should be bred as well as if they are a good match for each other.
For example, even if your female has excellent hips, if she is the only one in the family and the rest are fair or poor ratings, don't breed her. You have to know what age did most of her ancestors die? Did they suffer from allergies? Cancer? Eye problems? etc. Of course, the problem with most of that is that you must have verifiable vet records on them. Not just their owners saying "no she was healthy" Many dogs have serious health issues, especially hip dysplasia, and NEVER show a single symptom that can be seen by observing the dog.
http://www.caninehealthinfo.org/brdreqs.html?breed=ACD

So, just to prove her healthy to breed, you are looking at several hundred in tests. More expensive depending on the area you live in and whether or not you will need to travel to find a vet experienced in doing these tests. This is especially important for OFA - improper positioning can give a bad result or (possibly worse) a false good report.

 

[dainerra]

I breed German Shepherds and I can honestly tell you that the vast majority of dogs should NOT be bred.