Why do breeders have a sales pitch on COI

I sometimes think breeders do not. understand what the COI really is all about and how bringing in diverse amount of genes can actually bring you more health problems than if you line bred and knew what was coming.  A lesson many of us learnt is "Better the devil you know"!

Breeders have jumped on a band wagon about using COI as sales pitch with zero understanding of what they are going on about. Or how it can affect the offspring. 

So let's look at what it is all about.  

If you wanted a zero co efficiency go and buy yourself a COCKERPOO.  But even those can be closely bred with pedigree dogs either side.  

You see a pedigree is made up of ancestors.  Dad's ancestors and mums ancestors.

The Kennel club banned in-breeding ages ago.  In-breeding means mating fathers to daughters and mothers to sons.  So let's get this cleared up now, if you tried to register in bred puppies they would send you an e-mail to say you cannot do it.  You could appeal and yes they may let it through, but not automatically.  Thats the first thing you need to know. 

What is line breeding all about.  Its similar ancestors in a pedigree which creates the size in the breed standard, the head shape, the colour.  If your line is healthy you know nothings going to come out. So is it better to line breed ?

But we can not keep breeding with in lines, as you have to go out at some point.  So what is out crossing.

Out crossing is mum and dads ancestors are not similar.  But here's the crunch....Go back far enough in pedigree the COI gets higher, then higher again then higher again.  So why is that?  Because all pedigree dogs go back to the same dogs.  So thats the big turn on the head. 

So using it as a sales pitch you need to know it's a bad idea because if we go back into your pedigrees far enough your dogs will be related with similar ancestors.   Because thats what a pedigree dog is, they were created using dogs of similar type.

Is it better to use two out crossed dogs yet they both carry genes which are lethal ?  How do you know in fact that info, because these breeders do not know whats behind the dogs they are putting together.  Risky isn't it!  

We are not miracle workers, but breeders do try to produce as healthy as they can.  Or so Id like to think.  Im friends with many breeders all working towards healthy dogs. All got their own visions on how to do it.  I get voice messages all the time from friends and we talk about how to get the best dogs for the future.  We work out how to avoid health issues. No good breeder wants to produce ill dogs.  It's simply not what we do.  But if you do not know what you are doing you could.  But then even with out crossing you can.  You can add in 5 more health issues just like that! Poof its happened. 

I know I wont be doing this for ever.  I can see an end date now. But I am mentoring other breeders the knowledge passed down to me by breeders who are no longer here.  New tools are not always better tools.  

We work now with dna testing this helps tremendously with genetic diseases. But we still are missing key ones for our breeds which we badly need.  There is not a breeder I know who would not do them if they were available.  Striving for better all the time. For with every litter there is something different.   

I pride myself on producing beautiful head shapes in our puppies.  If we outcross too much we would loose this entirely.  Everyone's attracted to a Silvestre head.  So am I, and it's important to maintain this look.  I love to look at a dog and think WOW you are stunning.  I am also my own worst critic.  Because if I am not I'll never improve what I am doing here. 

Bringing in a new dog for people like ourselves starts years in advance, making connections, talking to those breeders, seeing the breeders.  We do not just pick dogs online and think it's all going to be fabulous.  

Health testing is important.  Keeping the COI with in reason. Outcrossing when you have too.  Line breeding when you can.   But you wont ever hear me brag about a low coi. Or 0 because it can open up a can of worms you wish you had not opened. Whats the point of a 0 coi when your dogs dying from cancer aged five.  But with a higher coi they are not dying. until old age. What would you do ?