Picking a Stud Dog

Q: How do I pick a stud?

A: Picking a stud who is going to work with your girl is a very subjective decision and should be based on your breeding goals. What type of pups are you seeking to produce overall and from this specific breeding? Then evaluate your bitch considering her strong characteristics that you want to maintain and one or two areas that you’d like to improve on. From this, you should have an idea of the characteristics you are seeking in a stud.

1. Pedigree Research. I personally start with doing some pedigree research. What have his parents produced? For me, I am looking for a dual-purpose dog, so I want dogs that have both conformation show titles and hunting titles. If the dog has been bred before, what has he produced with different pedigree lines, and are any of those lines related to mine? These are important questions to me and help me make my decision.

2. Information from his owner. Reach out to the stud-dog owner for information on their dog, but it's best to say you are researching dogs for future breedings. That way, if you decide theirs isn’t the right dog for your bitch or this upcoming breeding, you haven’t rejected the dog. Keep his information on file--it’s amazing how often I have gone back to dogs for other bitches or future breedings.

3. Phenotype. I then consider the dog’s physical and temperamental characteristics. This is the dog’s phenotype, the physical and mental traits that we can observe. Some of these, such as head shape, color, and coat are collected under the label of type--whether or not a dog looks like others in its breed or the breed standard. But phenotype also includes other important criteria such as OFA hip and elbow x-rays.

Phenotype is influenced by both environmental factors and genotype, or the genes that make up the dog. So, I am looking for a dog that compliments my bitch, and only hopefully corrects what needs correcting. Some dogs are prepotent and stamp their progeny very strongly, others are not as influential, and it is helpful to know this by researching that dog and its offspring when bred to other bitches.

4. Health. Then I look at the generational health of my lines and that of the stud dog. If I breed to this dog, am I risking unwanted health issues? For some health issues, genetic or DNA testing can be a helpful tool in your breeding decisions. When you use genetic testing, your goal is to avoid producing affected puppies with problems.

Unfortunately, we don’t have DNA tests for all health issues our dog’s face, both breed-specific and more general concerns, such as allergies. Politely gathering information about these more challenging health issues should be part of your research.

5. Temperament. Finally, I look at temperament. Temperament is as inherited as coat color and tail set, so be aware of both the temperament of your bitch as well as the stud dog you are considering. Ideally, you meet the stud dog to see for yourself what he is like in person. 

For me, I want a biddable temperament, field instinct, and both “an On-Off” switch for my dogs. I may be keeping a higher drive puppy for myself, but not every pup goes to a performance or hunt home so that off-switch is very important to me because it helps pups fit into a wider array of homes.

I hope this is helpful as you choose your next stud dog!