This article was originally written in the 1930s by Dr. Kleemann, by whom the German Kleemann Seiger or KS tests were developed and for whom they are named. It was first reprinted in the Kurzhaar Blatter in August of 1962 then subsequently translated into English and reprinted in the GSP News in 1963. Dr. Kleemann was deceased for 20 years, when this article was first published. We owe a great debt to Dr. Kleemann, for his ability to put his keen observations in writing, for the rest of us to follow.
In all mammals the females are "X" "X" and males are "X" "Y" which means that only females carry the genetic code particular to the part of the gene string that is missing in all males. Horse Breeders refer to it the "X Factor" and have demonstrated that the gene responsible for the large heart so many great racing stallions have, can be traced back thru their mothersline, to a single mare that lived more than 100 years ago. If a stallion has an oversized heart - like Secretariat - this particular mare will show up in his mothersline. The mares themselves don't have the large heart, but they carry the gene for it on their “X” chromosome. Likewise the stallions do not throw the large heart themselves.
Females are far more important than males, in carrying particular genes forward. Understand that this is true, even if the genes most sought after, were originally found in a pre-potent male. The key for any successful breeder, is to isolate those females that carried his traits and breed off, of them. It has been our experience that many important traits are indeed sex linked and carried by the dams from generation to generation.
Successful breeders realize they are fighting "the drag of the breed," which is the tendency for all animals to breed back toward mediocrity. If it didn't work that way, super species and super races, would have developed long ago in every animal on earth. For instance in human beings, it is impossible to breed parents with high IQs together to produce higher IQs. Even when two geniuses have children, the average IQ of their children will be half way between normal and the average of the parents IQs.
By the way, Einstein himself was the offspring of parents who were themselves first cousins and he married his first cousin. So much for the stories you heard in school about the effects of line-breeding.
What is the meaning of "mothersline". The idea is too often confused by breeders with "motherside" or the bottom side of a pedigree. The mothersline is the whole of the bloodlines of all the mothers, including the father's mother and the other mothers on the father's side of the pedigree; but always the mothers.
The success of breeding on the mothersline comes from utilizing very important sex-linked genes, present only in the additional DNA of the X chromosomes of great producing females. Since a male canine has 76 paired chromosomes (plus an X and a Y chromosome) the only place a male can inherit those important sex-linked genes, is through his mother. Therefore, when that son becomes a father, only his resulting daughters (never his sons) get this valuable X chromosome back again, along with another X chromosome from their own mother.
In turn, when these resulting grand-daughters become mothers, the art of breeding lies in selecting the male offspring, that has inherited the valuable X chromosome. As these great-grandsons, will be able to pass the important sex-linked genes onto their offspring and transfers the influence of the particular female, through this valuable X chromosome, to the topside of the pedigree. Which dramatically improve the chance of reproducing great pups true to type, when a breeder breeds to quality females from the original female’s bloodline. The importance of having an unbroken mothersline on both sides of the pedigree is paramount.
Pedigrees only serve as a guide, to show what traits, may be carried by certain parent. Only through careful study of a particular parent’s offspring and intimate knowledge of its ancestors; can a breeder determine what traits, they actually carry. Furthermore, it is necessary to breed, on both bloodline and performance, to achieve success.
Thru line-breeding, a breeder can double-up on good and bad traits. Which gives the breeder an insight to what traits they are dealing with? When faults in the bloodline come to the surface, the breeder can eradicate those faults from his breeding program. By out-crossing, the breeder only covers-up the faults and reduces his knowledge of what to expect in subsequent litters. Anyone who condemns inbreeding must in turn condemn the detective, who exposes a crime.