06/08/2020
I have recently read several posts from experienced and successful breeders in various breeds who are bemoaning the decline of their breeds, placing the blame on a new generation of breeders who either lack knowledge or whose prime incentive is commercial gain.
If a “breeder’s” main reason for breeding is MAKING MONEY we have to accept that they feel NO RESPONSIBILITY to the breed, its health and welfare or maintaining its Breed Standard. Such people will never consider their lack of knowledge an impediment because they feel no obligation to the breed. They will always be a thorn in the side of the dedicated breeder who is constantly aiming to improve their stock as in the eyes of the puppy-buying public (who seldom carry out sufficient research) a puppy is a puppy.
Those breeders who think breeding a winner is simply a matter of mating a winning bitch to a winning dog are another matter. They fail to realise the value and implications of the pedigree and do not understand what a valuable breeding tool this is.
However, you need to be able to READ a pedigree and this is where the truly great breeders score. The pedigree form supplies a lot of valuable information provided the reader has researched the dogs who appear in it. They will study a pedigree (of at least five generations) and - if they do not know all the dogs in it personally – they will research them through either seeking out photographs or simply by asking the older breeders who are still around exactly where these dogs scored and failed. In this way they build up a comprehensive picture of their dogs’ ancestry.
They will over a period of time be able to assess what faults and virtues lie behind their breeding stock and establish which dogs were responsible for producing them. They will analyse the level of line-breeding and consequently determine which dogs have the greatest influence on their own. With this information they will be in a position to decide which dogs can be doubled up on when a mating is being considered and which should not.
One of the greatest breeders of our time was Marjorie Bunting of Ragus Norwich, Norfolk and Border Terrier fame. Not only could Marjorie take a blank sheet of paper and write out from memory a five generation pedigree, she was able to describe in detail every dog whose name she wrote. She was one of the master breeders.
The great breeders also understand that correct is not produced by mating two extremes; rather the potential parent who lacks in one area should be mated to a dog that excels in that failing. As an example, a dog that is slightly straight behind will not produce puppies with perfect rear angulation by mating it to a dog that is hopelessly over-angulated. Its chosen mate should be a dog that has CORRECT angulation.
The ability to read a pedigree is an art and is something that can be learnt in time. The pedigree form is not just a piece of paper … it is something that can be the keynote to a breeder’s success.
CTTO: Andrew Brace
