07/22/2026
I thought this was so well written.
Fantastic principles worth reading, refreshing, remembering and re-remembering as a breeder
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1. Don't make use of indiscriminate outcrosses. A judicious out cross can be of great value; an in judicious one can produce an aggregation of every imaginable fault of the breed.
2. Don't line breed just for the sake of line breeding. Line breeding with complimentary types can bring great rewards; with unsuitable one, it will lead to immediate disaster.
3. Don't take advice from people who have always been unsuccessful breeders. If their opinions were worth having, they would have proved it by their successes.
4. Don't believe the popular cliche about the brother or sister of the great champion being just as good to breed from. For every one that is, hundreds are not. It all depends on the animal concerned.
5. Don't credit your dogs with virtues they don't possess. Self-deceit is a stepping stone to failure.
6. Don't breed from mediocrities. The absence of a fault does not in any way signify the presence of its corresponding virtue.
7. Don't try to line bred to two dogs at the same time; you will end by line breeding to neither.
8. Don't assess the worth of a stud dog by his inferior progeny. All stud dogs sire rubbish at times. What matters is how good their best efforts are.
9. Don't allow personal feelings to influence your choice of a stud dog. The right dog for your bitch is the right dog, whoever owns it.
10. Don't allow admiration of a stud dog to blind you to his faults. If you do, you will soon be the victim of auto intoxication.
11. Don't mate together animals which share the same fault. You are asking for trouble if you do.
12. Don't forget that it is the whole dog that counts. If you forget one virtue while searching for another, you will pay for it.
13. Don't search for the perfect dog as a mate for your bitch. The perfect dog for every bitch does not exist -- never has, never will.
14. Don't be frightened of breeding from animals that have obvious faults, so long as they have compensating virtues. A lack of virtues is by far the greatest fault of all.
15. Don't mate together non-complementary types. An ability to recognize type at a glance is a breeder's greatest gift. Ask the successful breeders to explain this subject --- there's no other way of learning. (I'd define non-complimentary types as ones which have the same faults and lack the same virtures).
16. Don't forget the necessity to preserve head quality. It will vanish like a dream if you do.
17. Don't forget that substance plus quality should be one of your aims. A fool can breed one without the other.
18. Don't forget that a great head plus soundness should be one of your aims. Some people can never breed either.
19. Don't ever try to decry a great dog. A thing of beauty is not only a joy forever, but a great dog should be a source of aesthetic pride and pleasure to all true lovers of the breed.
20. Don't be satisfied with anything but the best. The second best is never good enough.
20 Basic Breeding Principles by Raymond Oppenheimer
📸 of 'Goose'
Stoic's Somewhere Down In Texas
(Jason/Bee)
