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Line-breeding really is the only way breeders can get consistent type in their lines, which is really why most people breed. Breeders can usually look at dog of their breed and know what breeder it came from. I don't think I'd ever be good enough to tell what lines or family a dog came from just by looking at it! Breeds are formed by line-breeding and in-breeding, just breeding completely unrelated dogs would not develop a real breed type.
The only problem is inherited problems, and if a dog is behind both sides of a pedigree several times, it would be a problem- any inherited problems the dog may have had, even recessive ones could show up. Poor temperaments can be passed though a breed this way too. There are real problems sometimes with super-popular stud dogs that every breeder rushes to use. If it turns out several generations down the line that this dog passed on health or temperament problems, and most dogs of the breed have this dog in their pedigree, it will be harder to breed the problem out. That's why health testing and only breeding dogs with correct temperaments is so important.
Breeding seems very complicated. My great-aunt breeds and shows akitas, it just seems like an awful lot of work to me!
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