The line game, my version

Ok...here is my attempt at the line game...although did it all and then realized when I merged the image the lines are not a color, so hard to see...maybe someone else can figure out how to correct that! I give up! So, for my lines I tried to do not only the angles, the length to height ratio, but also the length in loin, head planes, and added a short one to articulate the length in hock. Secret is first, she has some gorgeous angles, that is why she can fly.

Diesel is next.

Then did Della for comparison sake, as she doesn't have quite the angles as the other two. So, what do you see in all three? What do you like? What don't you like? Remember they are all at different stages, but the angles will stay the same. Rip them apart, I give you permission! I know why I have all three in my backyard!!

Body Talk

This weekend I went to a training session for Body Talk Access. Body Talk is an amazing technique that helps people balance health related items by using an energy based technique to encourage the body to work at it's optimum. For those of you are interested in learning about this technique, visit http://www.bodytalksystem.com/ You can also use the technique on animals. My physical therapist is a trained Body Talk practitioner. She was the one to encourage me to learn the technique so that I can help in immediate situations in both dogs and humans. Body Talk is not designed to be something that replaces doctor visits, but rather something that will help the body's natural wisdom and help to maximize it's efforts in recovery. Please go to the website to learn more as they do a great job of explaining the theories, techniques, and research behind Body Talk.

Sparky New Champion picture!

Sparky looks really good...of course I was going "stay stay stay" in me head and so didn't ever get fully upright, so don't like me as well. In the craziness of the day, I spaced getting a photo of Lincoln, so no photo coming of him. Oh well, next time!

Hello blogland...

Hey all! I just wanted to say that I will pick up the front discussion hopefully in the next few days. I keep trying to get to my parents house to get some pictures off of that computer, but haven't had a chance too! Thanks to C-myste for doing a wonderful job about making lines all over dogs!!! For those who haven't gone to CCI website, http://www.cardicommentary.de/ in a while, I encourage you to do so. They keep adding things that I love and a bunch of things on balance, length to height ratio, etc. that will help in this discussion we have going on blogland! It is amazing to me once you measure your dog and really feel where everything is...how many dogs are actually TOO long for their height ratio of 1.8:1. Don Lassila years back created a tool to measure this. I have experimented with it and maybe some of you might want too. Of course measuring is always the best, but this tool sometimes helps go over several dogs at one time and just see how big of difference a too long dog is, a too short, and the correct length to height ratio.

While I am on that theme...I was talking to a Papillon breeder the other day who measures her puppies at different stages through their growth. After many years of doing this she now has the tool to be able to guess if a dog at a young age is going to be proportionate by adulthood. The interesting thing is, most of the dogs that are perfect "slightly longer then tall" (according to the Pap standard), are dogs that some breeders have told her are TOO long. So, in both breeds your eye can be fooled and the only way to help with that is to measure and get the FACTS about which dog is really too long and which is correct.

Always remember that in a Cardigan, the majority of length comes from the ribs NOT the loin. This is one of my pet peeves and is hard for me to live with a long in loin. I would much rather have a too short that is proportionate ratio of the rib versus loin.

LCKC day 1...

For those who are wondering... Sparky became a New Champion today!!!

AND...Lincoln won his first points, but also went onto BOW and BOS for a major win!

Fronts part 3...

Puppies are 4 months old in these pictures. This is just about the time I let the girls go to their new homes. I happened to have boy #2's owner come over and so got his pictures as well. Unfortunately boy #1 is no longer in the pictures. One of these days I am hoping to get a chance to see him again. You might all ask Richelle, as she knows the owners of him and I think has seen him most recently! :-)

Boy #2

Girl #1

Girl #2

Comment on fronts part 1 discussion...

Sorry...too long to add to comments.

Le'o commented on pictures. I wish I had the skills to take better pictures! In fact they are more for me to remember what that puppy looked like and not to use like this in trying to get points across by using only pictures. Thus, getting back to a previous comment made on one of my lists...the best way to learn about all this is to get your hands on dogs!! My house is always open and I will tell you everything I do and don't like about my dogs and could trace about every characteristic back in the pedigree. (For those who don't know I am a pedigree fanatic, literally have 13,000 Cardigan pedigrees, most of them being older dogs, as I don't tend to put new dogs in my database unless I am curious about that dogs pedigree.)

Le'o's last comment on this discussion needs a big THANK YOU! For those who haven't gone and looked at the skeleton picture in the IS (p. 13), please do. Boy #1 actually has a longer forearm, thus making him taller. You have to be careful of this, as longer pasterns are going to make the feet turn out more, not so much a dog taller. So, look again at boy #2. He actually is the one with longer pasterns. It will become apparent when I post the older pictures. On the side shot you can see it much better. That arch in his foot is not present as in the other three puppies. When I evaluate puppies at this age, I don't want to see ANY turn out, none. Boy #2 is at this age slightly turned out. I did not like this feature but since he was my best male (that wasn't a mismark) I grew him up.

This brings me to another point. Some of us breeders have different ideas on where the front should turn out. I was taught that it is in the wrap, not the foot. So, it is a big pet peeve of mine when I see front foot turn out from the pastern not from the wrap. Thus why some of my dogs tend to be straighter then some people like and I will forgive a bit wider front before I forgive a front that has a long pastern and turns easty westy. In person is much better trying to explain this one.

And since I am going off subject a bit...Australian lines grow a slight bit different. You have to wait for them to mature and I have had many puppies go really wide at stages. So, a puppy that looks similar to one of these puppies we are looking at, may not grow exactly the same. Different lines mature differently...breeding is always interesting, isn't it?!!!!

Of course all IMO.

Fronts (part 2a)...

Here are side shots of the puppies around this age as well.

Boy #1

Boy #2

Girl #1

Unfortunately I don't have a good enough side shot of Girl #2 around this time.

Fronts (part 2)...

Typically after 7-9 weeks of age, I don't really look at puppies. They go through odd stages, some worse then others. This was about the time this litter started leaving for new homes, so some pictures are a bit scattered on ages. But, here are the four puppies between the ages 10-12 weeks.

Boy #1 - about the only front shot I have of him before he left for his new home.

Boy #2

Girl #1 above is around 10 weeks, below is around 12 weeks.

Girl #2

Fronts (part 1a)

One thing I have an issue about evaluating fronts from the front, is that I like to as part of the evaluation look at the whole front, that means where it is placed, how it falls underneath the body, and how the head and neck fit into the body, so part of that is seeing puppies from the side as well. So, I am including the side shots of these puppies which may help some of you on the first puppy especially.

Boy #1 (is he still long in pastern from this angle? Does he have enough front prosternum at this age? Or is he just simply taller on leg?)



Boy #2


Girl # 1 (yes, everyone will know who this is.)

Girl #2 (as noted from someone, this puppy never takes the best photos, even as an adult we still have trouble, so it is harder to evaluate this puppy.)

So, now seeing the side shots and how the fronts are set, would you stick to your comments earlier on the front view?

Fronts (part 1)...

For my front discussion...I wanted to try and educate what I look for in a Cardigan puppies front versus how they turn out as adults. Now I have pictures after pictures I could highlight this with, but thought I might take one of my more recent litters that are just growing up and in the show ring now.

Here are four puppies, my top puppies in this litter, and four different front assemblies at 7 weeks of age. For the purpose of this discussion I am giving them numbers not names...but you will know who they are if you go on my website. FYI, the first puppy was sold as a pet due to his markings, but wanted to include him as without the bad markings, he would be my top male.

Puppy boy #1

Puppy Girl #1

Puppy boy #2

Puppy girl #2

So, of these four puppies. Which front do you like best? Why do you like it? Which one would you rate first through fourth and why?

More to come...

Clu and other news...

Sadly, no puppies for Clu this time. This is the third attempt, so I have decided to send her back to her breeder. It's going to be sad with Clu leaving as she is such a sweet sole, but hopefully with a bit of luck Susan can get her pregnant and I can get something back out of her! Clu is pictured above, her full name is Shadowalk Exclusive.

Other news...we have two new faces going to join the Pawcific gang. One is a replacement for Clu and is a girl I have had my eyes on for a while now. Her name is Nola, she is an Owain daughter. She is pictured above when I evaluated the litter at 8 weeks of age. She reminds me a lot of Secret and how she grew, so we will wait and see how she develops. She is almost a year old right now.

The other addition is a bit of a secret, but some of you might know already...it goes back to my Legend!! (hint hint hint!!!) My friend Leann is going to take him/her home and going to co-own the puppy. And yes, it is a red puppy...more to come!

Good Ole Owain

Today was a pretty sad day for us here at Pawcific, but a good one as well. Our Good Ole Owain left for his new forever home with Susan in Tacoma, WA. Sometimes as breeders you get attached to those special dogs that make your breeding program yours. Owain is one of them. He earned his Championship easily with multiple majors, finished his TD with my Mom, Kathy, finished his PT, thanks to my good friend Shannon, which completed his VC, and has sired two Championships to date (Ch Ryder and Ch Secret), with others hopefully to come. His new owner, Susan, is the best. She is a huge gardner, works for the Museum of Glass (one of my favorite museums!), and is a friend of Jan who owns Owain's son, CH Ryder. I know Owain will love his new home, although at the same time it is sad to see one go that has been with you for so long.

And for those in the front discussion...I thought it would be beneficial to take a front shot this morning after he got cleaned up. This is a dog that did not look like this as a baby. And many wondered if he would ever get a chest...typically this line is very late in maturing, most doing their big wins as a Veteran...and Owain is no different then his ancestors. I just love that wrap, shape, and the way he turns out...not too much, but just enough. Maybe one of these days I can dig up some of his earlier shots. Most of them are at my parents house, so I can't easily get them!