Whose line is it anyway?

[Officially Retired]

That makes sense, though it's a way I've never thought about it before. Intent. Got the motor turning.
I always thought about 2-3 generations as usually about the third generation, the breeder is starting to seriously implement his ideas, or lack thereof, of what he wants his dogs to be. He's beginning to stamp them with certain traits, hopefully more good than bad. It's a "for better or worse" type of marriage.

Well, this brings to light the distinction between intent and the goal actually materializing.

If my intent is to build a line on Silverback (or yours on Frosty Paws), the very first step in that process of creating a bloodline is naturally going to be the first breeding made to effectuate that end. Now, I obviously don't "have" a bloodline at that point, and maybe it is true that my bloodline will not be fully-formed until the 3rd or 4th generation of my sustained effort at producing one, but that doesn't mean my bloodline didn't "begin" with my first steps at creating one (or your first steps at creating one).

This is altogether different from a guy who just "breeds dogs together" to make more dogs. Some people who do this may produce some good dogs along the way, but they are not creating any kind of a focused effort or bloodline. They're just randomly breeding dogs together that they (hopefully) think are good and will produce well.

Jack