In-breeding: This refers to the mating of dogs within the same blood line or closely related specimens, such as father and daughter, mother and son, brother and sister. In-breeding enhances good genes, but it also causes genetic flaws and anomalies to surface. It produces very uniform offspring and, over time, genetically impoverished ones. While this type of breeding helps in re-creating endangered breeds, it is not recommended for novice breeders.

Line-breeding: This is the most commonly used breeding method. It is the mating of slightly removed relatives, although dogs still come from the same bloodline. Examples are the mating of grandsire and granddaughter or uncle and niece. To produce superior offspring with more desirable characteristics and less genetic flaws, the breeder must thoroughly know the pedigrees of both parent stocks for up to five generations. As long the breeder knows where the ram and the sire come from, they can guarantee uniformity of quality.

Out-crossing: This is the mating of two unrelated dogs from the same breed. In other words, the sire and the ram are both products of line-breeding, but the two dogs come from different lines. This type of breeding is done in order to introduce new traits to a line as well as re-introduce lost characteristics.

Out-breeding: This is sometimes referred to as hybridization as it involves the mating of dogs from distinctly two separate lines (they should not be products of in-breeding or line-breeding). There are two sub-types of out-breeding. Breed-crossing is the mating of two different breeds (e.g. Labrador retrievers and Poodles gives life to Labradoodles). Species-crossing is the mating of two animal species (e.g. wolf and dog produce wolf dog). This breeding method is ideal for hobbyist who knows exactly the features you want to surface in a dog.