Choosing What to Breed For – Presented by Madeline Zimmermann

1. Focus on what is really causing the most problems as a breed and as an individual.

2. Data: Identify what traits are important for the entire breed and also what traits are
important for the kind of work your dogs are doing. 3. How to measure the trait you
want to improve? 4. Examples of best practices for measures.

Madeline Zimmermann earned her B.S. in Animal and Poultry Sciences at Virginia Tech, followed by an M.S. studying quantitative animal breeding and genetics at the University of Nebraska – Lincoln. Her interest in animal breeding and genetics began as a “horse-crazy” child but was solidified by her undergraduate animal breeding and genetics course – particularly a simulated sheep breeding project – and a subsequent summer internship calculating estimated breeding values at Guiding Eyes for the Blind. Madeline then worked at Guiding Eyes for the Blind as the Genetic Analyst for 3 years. During this time, she developed and modified genetic models for various health and behavior traits, maintained routine estimated breeding value and genetic selection index calculations, oversaw breeding colony management to advance genetic progress, and assisted in data integrity management and research projects. For the past year, she has worked with the IWDR team to support other organizations’ breeding colony management and breeder selection.