While I am on the educating side of things...something that has been bugging me lately is the idea of virtue. I see way too many dogs in the ring lately that are in the catagory of mediocracy. They have no glaring faults, nor any spectacular virtues. For those who are listening...be careful of this. I would much rather have a dog with a glaring fault and a glaring virtue in my breeding program rather then a mediocre dog. A mediocre dog will most likely be bred to another mediocre dog, which means you will result into more mediocre dogs. Yes, some of my dogs might not be perfect but I always look at them in having an outstanding virtue, if they don't have that then they won't last at my house.
(A side note...for those who don't know I have a pedigree database of about 13,000 Cardigans. Helen Jones and I communicated a ton about pedigrees, we shared that passion. In recent years I haven't kept it up unless I am interested in a dog or a line. So, it really is mostly older dogs and about every dog I have entered I can just do a sire and dam and have a 10 genereation pedigree. If you ever need a pedigree, email me, I can usually help!)
In Cardigans...faults I have dealt with are things like fluffies. I would much rather have a good structured dog that is coated versus a poorly structured dog that is nicely coated. Many years ago some breeders believed that if you didn't have that occasional fluffy in that pedigree, you would start getting coats that were too short and not as dense and waterproof as we need in the Cardigan breed. I am not sure if I totally agree with it, but knowing pedigrees like I do...I know how to incorporate fluffies in my lines without producing tons of fluffies. Now it may eventually haunt me, but I believe that if you do the research and know whats behind your dogs, you can incorporate an outstanding fluffy without hindering your lines. And no, I do not do the fluff test, maybe I should, but other health clearances are way more important to me then that one.
One dog that some of the newbies around might not remember was a sable named Pawcific Justa Legend PT. He is pictured below. Legend was a dog I bred from my first litter. He was born in Australia and then I imported him and his sister, Ch Pawcific Justa Dream, back to the USA. Legend had two major faults, his coat and he had one floppy ear (after an injury) which prevented him from being shown past 5 points with a major. Legend was an absolute stunning mover, he had a front to die for with a long upper arm, flowing tail set and a gorgeous masculine head. He was not an overdone dog and a perfect size in my opinion without being too big or too little. So, many might ask why you don't see him in my pedigrees? Well, quite frankly it's the fate of not ever having any girls to breed to your stud dogs. He was used 3 times at stud. The one was from my very own Ash, which ended up being a nick, in other words we criss crossed some lines that did not mesh with one another. His second two litters were from outside bitches produced several nice dogs and in turn one of his daughters is the mother to CH Peak's Pippin's the One, who has had a great show career as well as a great performance career (sorry can't remember all of her titles, otherwise I would list them!). When I sold Legend, I froze him before I did so...once I get that perfect girl to go to him, you will see another litter out of him. In the meantime he is frozen in time as a dog that many would have petted out because he had a strong fault, the smart ones would have gone on with him because of his outstanding virtues.
So, I think I could ramble on for days about this. I probably will do another installment on this another day or later when I get a chance to sit down again. One more thing before I leave...in this day in age, we for some reason don't have the breed mentors we used too. Many breeders have stopped passing on the knowledge that we have, so that those younger generations can start where you left off instead of go backwards...I think this is extremely important and feel that the more knowledge I can share with others, the more good I am doing for my breeds.
Signing off...Emily
4 comments:
As someone who is just starting out in Cardigans and in breeding, I for one appreciate any mentorship that comes my way. It seems terribly counterproductive to have to reinvent the wheel. Some of the advice I've received may be conflicting, but hey, that's what critical thinking is for. Thank you for your post, and I just may take you up on the offer to share your database at some point. :-)
I completely agree with you on the virtue vs faultlessness issue. And about taking on an exceptional fluffy into a breeding program. We have done it a couple times. I also include half-masks in my 'it has to be exceptional' category. I know this can be a little more controversial since markings are not as simple the fluff gene.
How long ago did you have Legend?
I appreciate the depth of the post too.
As a newbie, coat and markings are honestly the last things I'm concerned about. Structure, type, temperament, and health are where my priorities have to be. I would definitely use a dog with coat or odd markings if they had the pedigree and traits that I felt I needed. Breeding can be such a roll of the dice anyway.
Legend was born in 1997. I think I placed him around 2000. He was born in Australia and came back with us. His sister, Dream, many know better as she won BOB at Richland KC under Helen Jones when she came out to judge.
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