Here I outline in short my breeding practises – detailed information on breeding types can be found below my information. Some of this text is different excerpts from sites and texts (credits to those authors). Any additional information can be obtained by contacting me directly.

We breed with both phenotype (appearance) and genotype (genetics) in mind. The ‘papers’ that come with the dog are not necessary the most important thing. Too many people make the mistake of breeding ‘paper tigers’ – mastiffs with famous ancestors in their pedigrees. If you are hoping for pups that look like the pups that are his progeny than you need to have that same bitch, a sire will only reflect the bitch that is given him. As well, championship aside, how healthy is this dog? Championship dogs are not necessarily health tested – a 2 year old champion can soon be a 4 year old crippled mastiff with severe and debilitating hip dysplasia, or genetic heart problems and so on.

A good breeding program needs a sound foundation, both in the breeding dogs being used and background information on those dogs. Assessment of genotype is done by genetic screening and evaluation of ancestors/ siblings/ progeny. I keep and record all the information on my mastiffs, including those not used in my breeding program. This is crucial to make accurate assessments. People often wonder why my contracts require they stay in contact with me for the lifetime of their mastiff, well if I don't test or follow-up on all offspring and siblings, how will I know if I do or don't have any problems.

Breeding to a top show dog or champion will not necessarily guarantee good quality pups. Selection of individuals with similar phenotype -- not having faults in common -- is absolutely necessary. But still quality is not guaranteed, as the two may not be a match for producing their good traits. So in my opinion a personal study of as many dogs in the background as possible is best and this is what I undertake when I look for a potential dog or pup to add to my crew.

None of this is meant to say that a champion show Mastiff is not an excellent choice as I am very proud of the ones I have, it is just meant to put into perspective that the mastiffs ‘paperwork’ is not everything. A buyer should consider every aspect of the dog before purchasing.

So, considering both appearance and genetics I strive to breed genetically healthy, beautiful mastiffs with gentle temperaments.  Our mastiffs litters are healthy and this is the most important thing I can do as a breeder. To produce untested and unhealthy mastiffs is irresponsible and unethical. There are many ‘backyard’ breeders out there who do not health test, nor will they be there to support you if there are problems with your pup. If you want to have a mastiff puppy the most loving thing you can do is ensure it will remain a healthy and strong dog for its entire life. Nothing is sadder than a 2 year old mastiff with hip dysplasia and a lifetime of pain and suffering ahead of it.

One should also give some serious thought to the term ‘perfect’ and ‘guaranteed’. Our expectations from breeders are very high. We expect a pup to be perfect in every way and to stay that way throughout its life. That is not possible –nor is guaranteeing that. There is no such thing as perfection, in humans or in animals. That said I do strive for the best I can produce and do guarantee against serious genetic health problems. So I would just caution people to be realistic with their expectations because I am, if I were not I could not do what I do, nor could I have and love the wonderful mastiffs that I own.

Finally and just as importantly there is the subject of temperament. I firmly believe that temperament is 25% nature and 75% nurture (and have had it proved to me with my own crew). I always look at the history of temperament in the ancestors/siblings and this will tell you something if it is not right – this is almost always a problem with severe in-breeding. Mastiffs in general have fabulous temperaments, and any dog can have a terrible temperament if allowed too, that is where nurture comes in and the importance of socializing and training mastiffs but that is another subject.

I do not breed a bitch until 18-24 months with 24 months being the goal, meaning that if a bitch goes into heat at 18 months her heat cycle lasts one month, her pregnancy two months putting her at 21 months, at which point I consider her mature enough to whelp. I will NOT breed a female younger than 18 months.

All of my mastiffs are tested for Hip dysplasia (Elbows and Shoulders as well) PRIOR to breeding,  The criteria I use comes from the OFA’s (Orthapedic Foundation of America) Recommended Breeding Principles. I also used OFA guidelines for all my breeding. In short (and call if you want more detail) OFA guidelines state:

• Breed normals to normals
• Breed normals with normal ancestry
• Breed normals from litters (brothers/sisters) with a low incidence of HD (hip dysplasia)
• Select a sire that produces a low incidence of HD
• Replace dogs with dogs that are better than the breed average

The English Mastiff comes from a much stronger gene pool than the Neapolitan Mastiff and as such the rules for breeding differ somewhat. In considering results for a Neo Mastiff where the gene pool is much weaker and hip dysplasia incidence is much more common the following applies: Do not ignore the dog with a fair hip evaluation. The dog is still within normal limits. For example; a dog with fair hips but with a strong hip background and over 75% of its brothers and sisters being normal is a good breeding prospect. A dog with excellent hips, but with a weak family background and less than 75% of its brothers and sisters being normal is a poor breeding prospect.

As do most breeders, I vaccinate my own pups; I also do my own de-worming. This said, I am not a veterinarian and so each litter is examined by a veterinarian, my vet comes here and checks each and every puppy. This is extremely important; you are receiving an ACTUAL Vet checked puppy. You receive a Certificate of Exam with your puppy. Annually all of my mastiffs go to see my veterinarian for a full check-up along with their vaccinations; this means hearts, bones, eyes, ears etc. All of this is over and above their health testing.

Most common types of Breeding used today:

In-breeding
Inbreeding is the mating of very close relatives, for example, father to daughter, half-brother to half-sister, brother to sister, mother to son, etc.

Inbreeding intensifies the faults as well as the strong points, so considerable discretion must be used in the choice of the dogs. The faults may be to such an extent, that, sometimes, entire litters have to be destroyed in cases where obvious anomalies occur. For this reason, this type of breeding is not recommended to novice breeders.
Sometimes, in-breeding is the only option available, for example, in the re-creation of a nearly extinct breed or in breeding programs of newly created breeds

Line-breeding
Line breeding is the mating of dogs having many common ancestors or mating to a slightly removed relative, e.g. granddaughter to grandsire, uncle to niece, etc.
The benefit of line-breeding is the production of more consistent litters.
In order to have a chance to reinforce desired characteristics and eliminate health problems one has to have a thorough knowledge of both pedigrees of both the sire and the dam for at least five generations.
In general, most breeders adhere to a policy of line breeding, whereby they can assure uniformity of quality without risking the inherent dangers of inbreeding.
This technique appears to be the best compromise between inbreeding and the doubts of outcrossing or outbreeding.

Out-crossing
Outcrossing is the mating of two dogs that are the products of line breeding but of two distinctly separate lines. This means that the breeder is breeding one or more of their dogs with a different BLOODLINE outside of what their current stock’s bloodline is. This does NOT mean that they are breeding an English Mastiff with a different breed, such as a Rottweiler.
Unless the two dogs involved in an outcross are strongly linebred with a possibility of a certain measure of prepotency, uniformity to the first generation is generally doubtful.
It is generally employed as a long-term proposition to bring certain traits into a line that is otherwise deficient. These traits then need to be intensified by proper line breeding or inbreeding.

Out-breeding
Outbreeding is the mating of two dogs who not only are the products of two distinctly separate lines, but on top are not the products of line breeding.
Outbreeding is seldom employed since in most breeding programs dogs that would qualify for outbreeding simply do not exist.


In summary, most successful breeders use some formula involving general line breeding with inbreeding employed when sufficiently outstanding products of their line result and outcrossing only when another line can supply a strong characteristic in which they are lacking.


Some animal breeders, including many dog breeders, make a distinction between inbreeding (mating mother/son, father/daughter, brother/sister) and linebreeding (mating say grandparent/grandchild, aunt/nephew).
To a geneticist linebreeding and inbreeding only differ in degree. Inbreeding occurs when animals are bred to their relatives. The closer the relationship the higher the "inbreeding coefficient". Inbreeding coefficients measure the degree of inbreeding an animal shows relative to a randomly breeding population.
Inbreeding reduces fertility, vigour or overall health and mental stability. Inbred animals are more prone to diseases such as infections and cancer, and more likely to be "highly strung".
To understand why this happens we need to consider basic genetics:
All animals, including people and dogs, carry two copies of each gene - one from our mother and one from our father. These genes are unique sequences of DNA, each of which codes for a unique protein. Changes in the DNA code (called mutations) change the structure of the protein produced by the gene and as a result change the way the protein works.
Because evolution has for millions of years selected for perfection of performance most changes or mutations are less effective than the original gene copy. The chance of having an abnormal copy, or mutation, of any one particular gene is low, but because we have so many genes we all carry some harmful genes. These genes are usually hidden because we have one good copy of the gene to carry us through and this gene produces a normal protein which can perform the tasks required. When we have two different copies of a gene we are said to be HETEROZYGOUS for that gene and if one gene copy is hidden by the other, the hidden copy is said to be RECESSIVE.
If both copies of a gene are the same then we are HOMOZYGOUS and if the copy is "bad" then that gene won't work normally and we will be to some degree less healthy. Some single genes are so important that affected animals die, or suffer debilitating disease and some have only minor effects - affecting for example jaw structure or coat colour, the efficiency of an antibody molecule, the structure of a neurotransmitter or the shape of a red blood cell.

As animals are mated to their relatives, however distant, simple mathematics will show that the likelihood of any one gene becoming homozygous will increase. As homozygosity increases, variation among offspring decreases. The dog breeder takes advantage of this in line breeding to produce a breed which "breeds true" and conforms to a "breed standard" and within the breed to produce offspring that are like peas in a pod. Breeders look for a "proponent" sire or bitch ( ie one that always throws pups very similar to itself). These animals come from a "good linebred pedigree" - that is one that is inbred so that the animal is homozygous for as many as possible of the characteristics that the breeder regards as desirable.

Unfortunately this search for perfection and uniformity comes at a cost. Undesirable genes also become increasingly likely to be homozygous and so affect the health of the animal. Most of these genes have minor effects which gradually accumulate. There are many genes involved in traits like fertility, immune competence and mental stability and accumulation of homozygous recessive "bad" genes gradually diminishes the function of these systems.


ON RECOGNIZING AND ACKNOWLEDGING GENETIC TRAITS – RESPONSIBLE BREEDING

Genetic disease is not some sort of shame to be hidden and whispered about & it shouldn't be overlooked or forgotten. Genetic disease should be documented so the breeding of two carriers of something really scary can be avoided. One of the HUGE reasons purebreds have so many problems with genetic disease is this culture of "hide it, deny it, lie about it-while others whisper and gossip." Come on people--if we are not ashamed of what we are breeding, and if we are really concerned about the state of our 'beloved' breeds, then why are we not honestly documented the faults found out in our lines? (What we need is open registries, but this is another topic, sort of.) The result can be that honest breeders who admits to line faults may get bashed by their peers as well as puppy buyers, while those who hide their problems successfully often get rewarded with breedings and buyers. Let's all get a little more sophisticated, shall we? Treat each dog like he HAS three undesirable traits & try to prioritize what is and is not acceptable; what is and is not also in your/another line. Puppy buyers, ask what the line has & expect an answer that it does have some less than wonderful things-focus on what the breeder is doing to eliminate or control them & try to find someone with a list similar to yours (of traits bad, maybe, but at least liveable/acceptable).

Puppy buyers can help out by not running away from an honest quality breeder who tells you his/her line carries for this and that & running to the ostrich-sort of breeder who lives with head deeply buried in the sand. They can also help enormously by ceasing to support those who breed casually and in ignorance. It's a lack of knowledge of how to properly set up a successful breeding program more than any evil designs or other nefarious motives than is destroying purebred dogs. Sadly this decline is largely funded by pet puppy buyers who often don't seem to think the quality of the breeding program is important when buying "just" a pet. It's the buyers that keep the sellers in business & it's often overlooked that current buying practices are largely responsible for the decline in the overall quality of pets for sale.

Myths about Genetics - If it is a genetic trait & you have the gene, you are going to get the disease, etc. associated with the trait. This is probably one of the most commonly held & terribly wrong notions people have about genetics. Innate does not mean fated. Having a gene for some trait may be a LONG way from having the trait expressed; you won't get sick necessarily just because you have a gene for a disease. Genes don't "cause" disease; the expression of them may. Of course "carriers" are best identified & eliminated when possible from the breeding stock, but such ideal circumstances may not be available & it's critical to recognise that genetic traits are not like a scarlet letter that brands someone as a "defect," just as it's critical to recognise that we all (& all our dogs) carry defective and even lethal genes. The key, again, is selection: selection as a breeder for what defects are tolerable (i.e. those cosmetic or fashion) and which are not (i.e. those deadly or costly).

Myth - You can buy/breed a dog without undesirable genes. This puppy buyers often demand and some breeders even will promise. Every dog alive likely carries some undesirable traits. In the breeds where this has been systematically studied, every breed individual is likely to carry for 3-5 unwanted traits(gene load). The question is less rather IF you will accept unwanted traits, than WHICH you will decree as most undesirable & which you (and your dog!) can accept and live with. Crooked tails or missing teeth sure beat heart disease and hip dysplasia---all are inherited. Which, if you had a choice, would you choose to carry in your line or have in your dog? This is rather hard for folks to swallow as they believe & think your genes are you destiny and that anything genetic is some sort of scarlet letter. We all need to learn a bit more of how biology really works & discard our erroneous ideas not based on the evidence of nature