With my last litter one important thing, which was flying around already some time, touched me more closely. Due to the fact, that the litter was not planned and I had to chose stud dog quite in a hurry - I opened my stud dog list and picked those, who were EAOD clear (explanation of this and my thoughts about it in next post). My female Alfine was not tested at that time and there was no time to get results from lab on time. She is tested with a different lab and she is clear for all tests - but due to the monopoly, this lab does not provide EAOD result. So it happened, that I had both parents of that litter "clear for everything"except this one test (which came later also clear). Huge surprise as this was not my goal. But let's talk clearly - this actually is a breeding goal for a lot of breeders.
When you look around, people making a litter or searching for a stud dog are looking for perfection. Each litter has to be perfect. Each stud dog has to be perfect. Perfect health tests, perfect DNA tests, no risk in pedigree. For the rest there are no tests, so its not important. At least this is what I see around me. Is there a but? Sure.
Dogs are not just clear X-rays and normal DNA results. There is much more what is making the dog valuable.
Dog breeding, same as every work with nature, is not a machine. You will never get perfect dog and perfect breeding. There are many things we do not know yet. Things we cannot measure. The only way to manage stable outcome from your kennel is continuous work for many years and one plan you try to keep.
If you are breeding a working breed, you need to use dogs really proven in work in your breeding - otherwise you will lose this ability with time.
The issue with today breeding I see around is mainly this one: the thinking about breeding is not bigger than one litter. The goal of breeders breeding is missing. There is no plan, how to use puppies from current litter further in breeding in next years. How to plan each litter out of the same female to fit the kennel vision. Or how to plan litters out of different females like this.