Day 4 “Your breeder should be able to explain every breeding.”
Ch Capriccio’s Aston Martin, May 2022 (1.5 years old)
Sure, I could give you a big old list of criteria that breeders can search for in potential pairings…but it’s really so much more than just that! Many irresponsible breeders do the absolute bare minimum in order to explain that their dogs were “able to be bred” (read: DM/vWD/EIC/OFA Hips & Eyes), but breeding isn’t as simple as putting together 2 dogs that have been screened.
(For those that are curious, this list can be composed of: Health Tests / Genetic Tests, Structure, Pedigree, Temperament and Titles/Workability and MORE in addition to the minimum testing required)
There’s also another thing that can’t be put into a calculated figure, which is the potential improvement that a breeder hopes to see as a result of each breeding. For example, do we want the stud to improve the b!tch? Are we cross-faulting (breeding opposite strengths/flaws) in an attempt to get the best of both mother and father (does this even work? some say yes, others say no)? Do the two parents share similar virtues, or is the breeder trying to introduce a new virtue (or correct a flaw) while preserving the quality of the stock that the b!tch or stud came from? Is this pairing linebred or an outcross (more on this later)?
Along with that - how many tiny details about the progeny do I (or CAN I…lol) record? There’s certain things that pet owners might not tell you about (such as mild allergies…or even intense ones) unless you ask. One litter may have pups that reached their final size at 12 months, and others that didn’t finish growing until over 2 years old! Are the pups good eaters - do they like their food? Did their teeth all grow in properly? Are they smart or are they one of the…um…dimmer bulbs?
Information like this is extremely important for what I think is proper breeding - it helps me properly identify the quality of a breeding, as well as make better-informed decisions as to future breedings. Also, it helps me better match puppies to future homes (so far so good) based on their activity level and temperament if I get feedback from current families!
So again, louder for the people in the back: IF YOUR BREEDER can’t tell you why they put a stud and a b!tch together (e.g. I wanted to improve / I wanted to preserve / I wanted to correct (dog)’s (property/quality)) - please avoid them. A good breeder will put time, effort, and a lot of thought into each and every breeding - some more than others.
Over the next few days I’ll be going over my process, starting with Pearl and her structure - what I like and dislike about her, and how I tried to breed forward with the last 2 litters. Lastly, I’ll discuss what my goals are with Pearl’s final breeding, and reveal the baby-daddy-to-be of our 3rd litter!
Cheers - Jenny
© 2022 All views and opinions are mine and mine alone.
