The Companion Dog Project

CDP Blog and News

CDP Position on Merle and the Ethical Implications of Color in Selective Dog Breeding.
December 29, 2025

CDP Position on Merle and the Ethical Implications of Color in Selective Dog Breeding.

Circa 1582-1584 - "Danish Stover" Human preferences for certain colors of dogs have historically played a significant role in the distortion of dog breeding priorities. Despite…
Why the Companion Dog Registry Sets a 10 % COI Target for Puppies
June 20, 2025

Why the Companion Dog Registry Sets a 10 % COI Target for Puppies

What the coefficient of inbreeding actually measures—and what it doesn't. Modern Dog Breeder Jun 20, 2025 By: Carolyn Kelly When the breed group lines up at a dog show—identical…
CDP position on CDDY/IVDD: A common mutation with implications for dog welfare
May 10, 2024

CDP position on CDDY/IVDD: A common mutation with implications for dog welfare

Recently, the Functional Dog Collaborative released an episode of the Functional Breeding Podcast in which FDC founder Jessica Hekman DVM, PhD interviewed UC Davis Professor…
Season of Emergence
May 21, 2023

Season of Emergence

Its springtime in Northern Michigan where my home is. Things are emerging in the garden and in the landscape. I had hoped to be raising puppies this spring but it was not meant to…
Welcome to CDP!
April 9, 2023

Welcome to CDP!

I'm Carolyn Kelly. CDP is my passion project and the culmination of 5 years of learning and growing as a dog breeder determined to do things right. Besides being a dog breeder, Im…

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