Q and A Re: ISIC Breeding Recommendations
(http://www.icelanddogs.com/Breeding-Rec.html)
"ISIC recommend keeping the average generation interval about 5 years. The generation
interval is the average of the parents at the birth of the offspring later used in breeding. The
average generation interval influences how quickly a breed losses its genetic variation due to
inbreeding for instance when too few males are used for breeding. If the average generation
interval is shorter than five years, the recommendation is to lower the total numbers of
progenies after a single male. Too strong selection and rapid generation turnover may cause a
serious threat to the health and viability of the breed."
Q: Is the breeding interval to which they are referring the age the parent is when its offspring
produce children?
A: Yes and No. The generation interval is the average age of parents at the birth of offspring
later used in breeding. It is a mathematical average based on a population analysis. It cannot be
independently calculated on a dog by dog basis. It is calculated by analyzing the ages of the
parents of breeding dogs in the sample being studied.
"ISIC general(ly) recommendations in small populations is that a single male should never
produce more than 5% of the puppies produced during the years he is active as a breeding
male. With a period of use of about five years these 5% of the puppies correspond to 25% of
all puppies produced in a normal year.
In a long run this would not be enough. The ambition should be to keep the number of
progenies below 2% of all progenies produced in the breed during a period comparable to the
generation interval of the breed.
ISIC recommends that the number of progenies after a single male should not be more than 35
and no more than twice that number as grandfather."
Q: Does the 70 grandchildren refer to those included in the breeding pool or to all his offspring,
even the ones who are spayed/neutered prior to producing?
A: It refers to the total number of grandchildren. Please remember that these are goals and
recommendations. Neither the ISAA nor the ISIC registers dogs. FCI, AKC and CKC
register dogs and they do so based on the pedigrees and registries of their parents, not on
optimal breeding practices. What is suggested is that breeders consider these numbers when
selecting dogs to breed, how often to breed them, and to whom to breed them.
Q: What happens if 4-6 years into the future, after all the parents are spayed/neutered, we
discover that 90% of those 70 offspring carry some horrible hereditary disease?
A: Thank goodness that ISDs are such healthy dogs that we haven't seen this happen in the
breed! And that most hereditary disease arises within a few years of birth so that other dogs
would still have life left as breeding animals.
Q: It seems that the US and Canada have a pretty good working relationship as far as
exchanging dogs back and forth. What about the US and other countries, though? We seem to
import a lot more dogs than we export.
A: Yes, that is true. And probably to be expected as we have only recently joined the ISIC
international community and need to build trust and solid relationships to encourage a free
exchange of dogs. We need to import and also export in collaboration with the cooperation
with our partners.
Q: Have any dogs ever been exported to Iceland?
A: Very few and far between but we would love to help change that practice.
Q: How will we maintain a healthy world population if we don't maintain a good export/import
relationship with the rest of the world population?
A: That is one of the major purposes of our efforts to unite with the intenational community and
to collaborate with them. We need to understand worldwide issues from their perspective as
well as our own and work with them to increase the exchange of breeding ISDs to ensure the
preservation of the breed.
Q: Is the ISIC proposing that an AI breeding cannot be done if the sire/dam has never
produced offspring through a natural breeding?
A: We don't believe so. They state, "It is important to know if a dog is able to mate in a
"natural" way. For breeding ISIC only recommends that only dogs which can mate in a natural
way are used. If artificial insemination (AI) is used it is the responsible AI-veterinarian who
should certify that the male and the bitch can mate naturally."
We know it is believed by some that females are more likely to carry their pups to term with a
natural breeding the first time. There is something about their bodies being more accepting of
the growing embryos produced from a natural breeding.
(http://www.icelanddogs.com/Breeding-Rec.html)
"ISIC recommend keeping the average generation interval about 5 years. The generation
interval is the average of the parents at the birth of the offspring later used in breeding. The
average generation interval influences how quickly a breed losses its genetic variation due to
inbreeding for instance when too few males are used for breeding. If the average generation
interval is shorter than five years, the recommendation is to lower the total numbers of
progenies after a single male. Too strong selection and rapid generation turnover may cause a
serious threat to the health and viability of the breed."
Q: Is the breeding interval to which they are referring the age the parent is when its offspring
produce children?
A: Yes and No. The generation interval is the average age of parents at the birth of offspring
later used in breeding. It is a mathematical average based on a population analysis. It cannot be
independently calculated on a dog by dog basis. It is calculated by analyzing the ages of the
parents of breeding dogs in the sample being studied.
"ISIC general(ly) recommendations in small populations is that a single male should never
produce more than 5% of the puppies produced during the years he is active as a breeding
male. With a period of use of about five years these 5% of the puppies correspond to 25% of
all puppies produced in a normal year.
In a long run this would not be enough. The ambition should be to keep the number of
progenies below 2% of all progenies produced in the breed during a period comparable to the
generation interval of the breed.
ISIC recommends that the number of progenies after a single male should not be more than 35
and no more than twice that number as grandfather."
Q: Does the 70 grandchildren refer to those included in the breeding pool or to all his offspring,
even the ones who are spayed/neutered prior to producing?
A: It refers to the total number of grandchildren. Please remember that these are goals and
recommendations. Neither the ISAA nor the ISIC registers dogs. FCI, AKC and CKC
register dogs and they do so based on the pedigrees and registries of their parents, not on
optimal breeding practices. What is suggested is that breeders consider these numbers when
selecting dogs to breed, how often to breed them, and to whom to breed them.
Q: What happens if 4-6 years into the future, after all the parents are spayed/neutered, we
discover that 90% of those 70 offspring carry some horrible hereditary disease?
A: Thank goodness that ISDs are such healthy dogs that we haven't seen this happen in the
breed! And that most hereditary disease arises within a few years of birth so that other dogs
would still have life left as breeding animals.
Q: It seems that the US and Canada have a pretty good working relationship as far as
exchanging dogs back and forth. What about the US and other countries, though? We seem to
import a lot more dogs than we export.
A: Yes, that is true. And probably to be expected as we have only recently joined the ISIC
international community and need to build trust and solid relationships to encourage a free
exchange of dogs. We need to import and also export in collaboration with the cooperation
with our partners.
Q: Have any dogs ever been exported to Iceland?
A: Very few and far between but we would love to help change that practice.
Q: How will we maintain a healthy world population if we don't maintain a good export/import
relationship with the rest of the world population?
A: That is one of the major purposes of our efforts to unite with the intenational community and
to collaborate with them. We need to understand worldwide issues from their perspective as
well as our own and work with them to increase the exchange of breeding ISDs to ensure the
preservation of the breed.
Q: Is the ISIC proposing that an AI breeding cannot be done if the sire/dam has never
produced offspring through a natural breeding?
A: We don't believe so. They state, "It is important to know if a dog is able to mate in a
"natural" way. For breeding ISIC only recommends that only dogs which can mate in a natural
way are used. If artificial insemination (AI) is used it is the responsible AI-veterinarian who
should certify that the male and the bitch can mate naturally."
We know it is believed by some that females are more likely to carry their pups to term with a
natural breeding the first time. There is something about their bodies being more accepting of
the growing embryos produced from a natural breeding.
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Q & A