Dance granny?

Don't incestuously breed dogs.

Write the name of your female dog, both her parents' names, and all 4 of her grandparents' names - you now have a list with the names of 7 dogs.

Do this for any male dog you are considering using as a stud; if any of the 7 names on his list match any of the 7 names on the female dog's list, then the mating would be incest.

How much is that to ask? That breeders be able to find the names of their dog's parents and grandparents and compare them, and that they insist that other breeders give them at least this short of a pedigree before mating dogs?

Or is it not that that would be too much of a bother, but that some breeders want to use incest in their breeding programs?

There are other basics to breeding, like:

Don't allow a dog with an inherited disease, or who carries an inherited disease, to mate and produce puppies.

Test your dogs for health problems that are found in their breed.

Don't breed young dogs.

One vet told me that more than half of the inherited health problems he sees in his office, could be eliminated if breeders would simply not breed their dogs until after they were 2 years old, because so many diseases show up after puberty, but before 2 years old.

He said he tells breeders to wait until the dog is 2 and he can find some of the problems better, but breeders keep breeding dogs on their 1st, or 2ND heat, and using young sires.

Don't just choose dogs by their form. Insist that all the dogs you breed or borrow to breed, have passed some useful training or work.

Train your dogs for obedience, and only use those for breeding who are fit, trainable, and who have passed a training test.

Or enter your dog in hunting or herding or coursing - something that shows the dog is not an idiot, a psycho attack dog, or untrainable.

That's a start down a better path.

Permission to crosspost.
This post is in public domain.