POSITION STATEMENTS

FDC Position Statements are intended to orient our group members and visitors to who we are and why we exist.  

Position Statement: Outcrossing

The Functional Dog Collaborative (FDC) supports periodic outcrossing as a normal part of maintaining a purebred population. Genetic diversity is lost every generation in a closed population [Sources of variation - An Introduction to Genetic Analysis]. This means that...

Positon Statement: Cross-Breeding

The Functional Dog Collaborative (FDC) supports responsible cross-breeding of dogs. Many pet owners today are interested in acquiring a crossbred dog. While many of them do not have enough information to know what they’re getting (as is also true of many owners...

Position Statement: Genetic Diversity

The Functional Dog Collaborative (FDC) does not set a hard line at which genetic diversity for a particular breed is “too low.” We do encourage breeders and breed clubs to consider low genetic diversity as a potential contributor to breed-specific problems,...