[bliss7373]

I am not a breeder, but I recently lost my girl (a rescue) to bloat. While bloat is certainly prevalent in some breeds - I've not seen a study that indicates it's hereditary amoung certain bloodlines. As you mentioned above, there are so many factors that come into play. For example, my girl had been in poor health and had other gastro issues, prior to bloating. I strongly feel that her case of bloat was "secondary" if that makes sense.

That being said - if I were a breeder and realized that my lines were showing an uncommon amount of bloat, I'd rethink my future plans. Likewise, if I had a dog that was prone to bloat (i.e. several successfully treated instances of non-lethal bloat), I would strongly consider removing that dog from a breeding program. I'm a strong believer that you don't breed unhealthy dogs- and dogs who are prone to bloat are NOT truly healthy.

In the situation you describe - if this is the dog's first case of bloat, I wouldn't automatically decide not to breed him based on this fact alone.

Just my two cents.