IMVHO, no dog with DM should ever be bred, period. While it's true that the mites themselves are not "genetic", the immune issue that allows the dog's body to react to them is. Local or general doesn't matter to me. The fact that they have it at all should remove them from a breeding program. I have discovered that many people use the "mites aren't genetic" argument to justify their use of an affected dog. They fail to understand that the underlying immue issue is...or they dismiss it as being caused by environmental stress. Normal, healthy dogs don't break with DM because of changes in homes, diet, vaccination, etc. Just the ones with the compromised immune system they inherited from the parents. I've run into this issue with other breeds as well. I can't tell you the amount of grief I got because I pulled a Chi *** (just shy of finishing) because she developed a dime sized area of DM. Now this was a shock to me as neither parent had it, that I was aware of, and I'd never produced it before. *** was spayed and placed in a pet home, and during the process, I learned that the breeder behind the dam had that same "well the mom had it as a puppy but it never happened again" attitude. The dam was spayed too and I've never had another single issue with DM. In my Chis, I should say. Yes, there are times that there is a single, small break out that's easily treated. However, that's not always the case. Other times, the treatment is on-going, expensive, exhausting to the dog and owner, and difficult to manage. I think one should consider the worse case senerio instead of the best case. Off to play with Mini, who has yet to completely clear up from her DM outbreak which started in June. Doesn't hurt the person who produced her one bit, but it sure is devilsome to us.