Articles about American Pit Bull Terrier
Some of these carriers are bound to be otherwise exceptional, and these are the animals for which the choices become very difficult. Another method is to neuter the affected individuals as they become known, the parents of the defective individual, and all of their previous offspring. This is the most radical selection against a defect, and it effectively removes carriers from the population as they are detected as well as some noncarriers. So while the "neuter all carriers" approach will work to dramatically reduce the number of carriers in a population, it rarely completely eliminates all carriers since some slip through the cracks of the system. A less drastic than “neutering all carriers” plan is to neuter the sire because he can spread the gene more widely than can the dam, which produces fewer offspring. Still half of the offspring of the carrier dam will be carriers. One approach is to neuter all of her sons but allow her daughters to reproduce. About half of these will be carriers. If these are in turn used for reproduction, the carrier rate goes down to about one-fourth, although which specific fourth is uncertain without a breeding test. If excellent males are generated, an alternative to the above scheme would be to test-mate them to known carrier females to determine which of the males do not carry the defective gene. Those documented as free of the gene can then be used widely and safely for breeding of animals free of the specific defect. In this way, the positive traits of the line can be continued while leaving behind the defect. The process is long and involved but well worth the effort in some circumstances....to continue reading this article please click on here...
