09/10/2025
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1BwPWRUhsE/?mibextid=wwXIfr
A breeder cannot be categorised as successful if he/she has produced a few useful dogs in a veritable sea of dross. To my mind, success is not simply about producing a few winners, but rather it is about consistently producing dogs of a generally high standard. Dogs that can not only win in good company the show ring, but are also well adjusted, fitting into family life and able to undertake specific tasks (if they belong to a working breed). For the breeder, this requires more than just financial backing, it requires a fair measure of luck and a good deal of sound knowledge of their breed. The basic quandary is whether or not a breeder is correct in his or her estimation of what constitutes a superior animal or producer. A great many breeders do exist who are still unable to evaluate their own stock with a truly open mind and nothing is more certain to lead to disaster than "kennel blindness" - one of the most contagious diseases to be found in breeding circles. (Breeders of poor quality stock can survive as "reproducers of dogs" for a long period of time and even delude themselves and others just as ignorant, that their very survival is indicative of some degree of talent). All the careful plans a breeder makes are subject to the final random assortments of genes that dogs will inherit. "Chance", the intrinsic part of inheritance, cannot be over emphasised. The greater one's knowledge, the more one can make some prediction of "chance" - at least in terms of limiting the range within which dogs might logically be expect to fall. M B Willis 1978
