Setting breeding goals is where a program stops being a feeling and becomes a plan. Most breeders have a rough sense of what they want — “healthy, typey, good temperament” — but a goal you can’t measure is a goal you can’t tell whether you’ve met. This guide is about turning your values into a small set of clear, prioritized, checkable aims.
The most important first
- A goal you can’t measure can’t guide a decision — make them specific.
- Prioritize: you cannot fix everything at once, so decide what comes first.
- Separate non-negotiables (health, temperament) from preferences (finer points of type).
- Write goals down; goals in your head quietly bend to the dog in front of you.
- Revisit them as your line and your knowledge change.
Why setting breeding goals has to be specific
“Improve temperament” is a value, not a goal. “Reduce the noise-sensitivity that runs in this line, without losing biddability” is a goal — you can select for it, and you can tell in two years whether it worked. The move from vague to specific is the whole exercise, because only specific goals can actually decide a mating. When a breeder can’t choose between two studs, it is almost always because the goals aren’t sharp enough to break the tie.
Measurable health goals are easiest to write when you start from your breed club’s priorities. The OFA’s CHIC program, for example, lists the screening each US parent club considers most important for its breed. A goal such as “only use dogs with below-average hip EBVs” or “every breeding dog fully screened under the breed’s CHIC protocol” can be checked, recorded and reviewed.
Prioritize — you can’t chase everything at once
No dog and no litter improves on every axis at the same time. Trying to fix health, type, temperament and working ability all at once, equally, usually means moving none of them. A working program ranks: what must not slip (usually health and temperament), what you are actively trying to improve this generation, and what you’ll accept as “good enough for now.” That ranking is what lets you make trade-offs on purpose instead of by accident.
In practice
A breeder wants better fronts and keeps being tempted by a stud with a stunning head but a questionable temperament. Because their written goals put stable temperament above cosmetic type, the decision makes itself — and a year later they’re glad the goals, not the head, chose the mating.
(Illustrative, composite scenario.)
Non-negotiables versus preferences
It helps to sort goals into two buckets. Non-negotiables are the things you will not breed away from under any temptation — sound health, stable temperament, fitness for function. Preferences are the finer points where you have room to compromise and trade. Being explicit about which is which protects you in the moment a beautiful dog asks you to bend a line you shouldn’t. This is the practical edge of the ethics covered in Animal welfare and breeding ethics.
In practice
Two breeders both say health comes first. One has written it as a non-negotiable with specific tests and thresholds; the other hasn’t. When a popular, winning but untested dog appears, only the first has already decided — the second is arguing with themselves in the moment, which is exactly when resolve is weakest.
(Illustrative, composite scenario.)
Write them down, and revisit them
Goals kept only in your head are quietly rewritten by every attractive dog you meet. Written goals hold. Keep them visible where you plan litters, and treat them as living — as your line improves, yesterday’s stretch goal becomes today’s baseline, and new priorities take its place. Reviewing and revising goals is part of the long-term loop, not a one-time act.
Be realistic about pace. Complex traits such as joint health change slowly even under a well-run program — in one Dutch breed, the rate of patellar luxation fell from about 28% to 19% over 15 years. Review progress per generation, not per litter.
Goals for the breed, not just your kennel
Your goals affect the whole breed. The FCI recommends that no single dog produces more than 5% of the puppies registered in the breed over five years, and that breeders select from the best half of the population rather than only a narrow elite, to protect genetic diversity. Consider adding a goal about how widely you will use any one stud or bitch.
Work on it
A few minutes here will teach you more than re-reading the article.
Ask yourself
- Can each of my goals actually decide a mating, or are they too vague to break a tie?
- Have I ranked my priorities, or am I trying to improve everything at once?
- Which of my goals are genuinely non-negotiable — and have I written them as such?
Find out & check
- Find out where your line currently stands on each goal, so you know your starting point.
- Check that your top priority is something you’d hold even against a very tempting dog.
Do one thing
- Write three to five specific, prioritized goals for your program, and mark which are non-negotiable. Use the worksheet below.
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Sources & further reading
- Fédération Cynologique Internationale — International Breeding Strategies. fci.be
- The Royal Kennel Club — The Kennel Club code of ethics. royalkennelclub.com
- Orthopedic Foundation for Animals — CHIC Program. ofa.org
- The Royal Kennel Club — Estimated breeding values (EBVs). royalkennelclub.com
- Farrell LL, Schoenebeck JJ, Wiener P, Clements DN, Summers KM (2015) — The challenges of pedigree dog health: approaches to combating inherited disease. Canine Genetics and Epidemiology 2:3. link.springer.com
- MacLean EL, Snyder-Mackler N, vonHoldt BM, Serpell JA (2019) — Highly heritable and functionally relevant breed differences in dog behaviour. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 286:20190716. doi.org
Where evidence is limited, recommendations rest on established practice and expert judgment, and may be updated as knowledge develops.
Next steps
- Use the tool: Breeding goals worksheet.
- Read next: Reading the breed standard.
- Return to the area hub: Building a breeding program.