***Disclaimer- I skimmed the board to see if this topic was addressed earlier so if I have overlooked it please feel free to redirect me in that direction****

Your dogs are being breed hopefully based on certain traits you would like to perpetuate in your line. Many of us don't have the resources to hold on to all the offspring from each breeding nor the means to keep them to a point in their development when we can evaluate which pups were passed the traits we covet. Inevitably, we make our selection and place the remaining pups elsewhere. When determining which pups will be kept do you think we increase the odds of a certain trait being passed if we select the puppy with the same coloration as the dog we are breeding who possesses the trait we are attempting to duplicate?

Lets use Silverback as an example because I'm sure we are all familiar with him. Silverback has a finish trait that is being thrown into his litters. Do we increase our chances of picking a pup from a litter that was passed that trait if we keep the Seal colored pup? Obviously, that trait has the potential to be passed to any of the offspring not just the ones colored like Silverback but are the ODDS increased if we choose the seal pup? Keep in mind, I understand there is no direct link between color and other traits but I'm speaking purely as it it pertains to percentages. Trying to play the numbers game here.

I'm hoping some guys will reply to this who have tracked traits for many many litters and consequently, have a better idea if this is a consistent method of choosing which pups to keep. It seems if there is no visibly apparent gene we can look for to alert us that the offspring has a better percentage chance of retaining specific genes from one of its parents then we are just rolling the dice. Therefore, your chances of being able to build your line on certain traits are greatly diminished if you dont have the capability to keep all of your litters through maturation.