Post by K9JaY on Nov 2, 2007 10:49:13 GMT -5
I wanted to share what my personal philosophy is on breeding and what to look for when buying a puppy for any type of working purpose. I had written this in another thread, but thought it might be a good topic in it's own thread. I hope this is helpful in any way.
I feel the number one and most important requirement is, that the puppy I select does actually come from a current working line in the specific field that I want to get into (hawking, in this case). Here's why.
Today, there's a lot of different man-made competitions out there that supposedly prove "breed suitability." What I like to do is look at how nature picks out what is and isn't breed suitable. It's pretty simple. If it does what it's supposed to do to survive in it's natural environment, and adapts to it's surroundings and doesn't die... it's breed suitable! Easy as that. Here's an example: in the snowy areas of the world, animals tend to have "snowshoe-like" feet. How did it get that way? Let's take the snow leopard. Odds are, through history, snow leopard's decendants didn't ALL have big feet. It's just that the ones who did, performed better, ate better, survived in the area longer, and were around long enough to pass their genetics to the next generation. Pretty soon you got a bunch of snow leopards running around with this same genetic trait. Guess what? If, in a litter, one kitten pops up without the big feet, like it's decendants from long ago... it doesn't eat very well. Odd's are, it won't pass on that genetic.
Now, where it gets complicated is when you add us into the picture (the human factor). We have eliminated nature's breed suitability program, or replaced it I should say, with our own requirements. Our requirements for working dogs is a bit different than the animal's ability to live in the wild. Our requirements are really, if you think about it, ultimately based on performance at our one particular task we ask them to do, instead of literal survival in the wild.
This is, of course not the case with show dogs or your typical house dog, regardless of whether it is by class, considered to be a "working dog." Their purpose in their human family has usually nothing to do with genetic ability at all. Let's be honest. We usually pick out the cutest one with the biggest ears and the saddest eyes lol. The unfortunate part of that is, we slowly but surely breed the working traits out of the dog.
Along with that thought, I would also like to say, I never look at confirmation as a primary reason for selection. Not when you're looking for a functional dog for a working sport. Look at this example. We may know a guy that is really well built and can lift a lot of weight. That's impressive. But now let's say he's an aspiring football player. There's a chance you take that physical specimen out to the football field and a guy half his size will run circles around him at his position. My point? Physical structure doesn't necessarily mean anything. Can it? Of course. But, it's not the deciding factor as to whether or not something can perform. PERFORMANCE should be the deciding factor as to whether or not something can perform.
Let's use an example in the hawking world. I'll use Joby's log for Grim. Joby did an outstanding job last year logging the details of his team's hunts. In another thread, he lists out some characteristics to look for a in a mini-doxie for hawking. I don't feel there's anything wrong with that. Certain characteristics, he feels, tend to make flushing rabbits easier for the dog. I believe that he's right, from everything that I read. But my point here is, why do I believe that he's right? Because he bagged a boat load of bunnies last season in large part, thanks to his 2 mini-doxies. So before getting into all the details of what to look for in a good hawking dog, let's just look at the dog. The proof is in the pudding. By going out there and doing the work that Joby would be breeding for, he has simulated the "breed suitability test" for any future hawking dog puppy owners. He, in essence, recreated a version of nature's "breed suitability test." He just bent it to what he wanted to accomplish... hawking!
The next complication, unfortunately, is the science of breeding. Unfortunately, 2 dogs with outstanding performance ability that are bred, do not guarantee they will produce similar ability. There's always that chance that 2 outstanding dogs continue to throw past genetics of dogs that were not so genetically and mentally gifted at what they do. That's where generations of breeding for a single purpose is SOOOOO valuable to a potential working dog buyer. The more breeding generations a breeder then stacks that displayed these high level of abilities in the sport, the stronger your chance is that the offspring will carry these desireable traits. Another beautiful advantage to this method of breeding is, these types of breeders will also begin to breed out health issues that ail dogs today (hip dysplasia, cancer, organ conditions, etc.) Only healthy dogs can continue to do these high energy sports. It's easy for a physical specimen of a dog to lay on the couch all day and just "look good." That doesn't mean that their potentially isn't all kinds of problems "under the hood." Get that dog out in the field, and you'll really see what it's made of!
I have a friend of mine, Adrian, that is very active in a particular dog sport called French Ring Sport. I have to say it's an amazing test of a dog's physical ability. This sport was built primarily for the Belgium Malanois (a type of Shepherd). Unlike the sport of Schutzhund, French Ring Sport has absolutely NO confirmation portion of their program, but in my opinion, is a much more difficult sport as a whole. Well, one day I had asked my friend Adrian why this was. Didn't they care about the physical structure of the dogs like Schutzhund did? In more words or less, his answer was, "Jay, it takes years and years to accomplish a Ring III title for these dogs. With the kinds of jumps, turns, twists, patience, focus, and everything else it takes, only the most physically and mentally gifted dogs can accomplish a Ring III title. They couldn't accomplish this kind of training without being nearly flawless physically and mentally. If we already know that, then what would we need confirmation for? To prove what's already been proven?" That answer changed how I looked at breeding as a whole from that point forward.
So in conclusion, my advice would be when buying a puppy, I feel we should be looking for a breeder that has created or continued a breed suitability program that's closest to the functional part of our sport and in turn, simulates nature's selection process, but bent to what we want to accomplish... and that's to kill bunnies!
I feel the number one and most important requirement is, that the puppy I select does actually come from a current working line in the specific field that I want to get into (hawking, in this case). Here's why.
Today, there's a lot of different man-made competitions out there that supposedly prove "breed suitability." What I like to do is look at how nature picks out what is and isn't breed suitable. It's pretty simple. If it does what it's supposed to do to survive in it's natural environment, and adapts to it's surroundings and doesn't die... it's breed suitable! Easy as that. Here's an example: in the snowy areas of the world, animals tend to have "snowshoe-like" feet. How did it get that way? Let's take the snow leopard. Odds are, through history, snow leopard's decendants didn't ALL have big feet. It's just that the ones who did, performed better, ate better, survived in the area longer, and were around long enough to pass their genetics to the next generation. Pretty soon you got a bunch of snow leopards running around with this same genetic trait. Guess what? If, in a litter, one kitten pops up without the big feet, like it's decendants from long ago... it doesn't eat very well. Odd's are, it won't pass on that genetic.
Now, where it gets complicated is when you add us into the picture (the human factor). We have eliminated nature's breed suitability program, or replaced it I should say, with our own requirements. Our requirements for working dogs is a bit different than the animal's ability to live in the wild. Our requirements are really, if you think about it, ultimately based on performance at our one particular task we ask them to do, instead of literal survival in the wild.
This is, of course not the case with show dogs or your typical house dog, regardless of whether it is by class, considered to be a "working dog." Their purpose in their human family has usually nothing to do with genetic ability at all. Let's be honest. We usually pick out the cutest one with the biggest ears and the saddest eyes lol. The unfortunate part of that is, we slowly but surely breed the working traits out of the dog.
Along with that thought, I would also like to say, I never look at confirmation as a primary reason for selection. Not when you're looking for a functional dog for a working sport. Look at this example. We may know a guy that is really well built and can lift a lot of weight. That's impressive. But now let's say he's an aspiring football player. There's a chance you take that physical specimen out to the football field and a guy half his size will run circles around him at his position. My point? Physical structure doesn't necessarily mean anything. Can it? Of course. But, it's not the deciding factor as to whether or not something can perform. PERFORMANCE should be the deciding factor as to whether or not something can perform.
Let's use an example in the hawking world. I'll use Joby's log for Grim. Joby did an outstanding job last year logging the details of his team's hunts. In another thread, he lists out some characteristics to look for a in a mini-doxie for hawking. I don't feel there's anything wrong with that. Certain characteristics, he feels, tend to make flushing rabbits easier for the dog. I believe that he's right, from everything that I read. But my point here is, why do I believe that he's right? Because he bagged a boat load of bunnies last season in large part, thanks to his 2 mini-doxies. So before getting into all the details of what to look for in a good hawking dog, let's just look at the dog. The proof is in the pudding. By going out there and doing the work that Joby would be breeding for, he has simulated the "breed suitability test" for any future hawking dog puppy owners. He, in essence, recreated a version of nature's "breed suitability test." He just bent it to what he wanted to accomplish... hawking!
The next complication, unfortunately, is the science of breeding. Unfortunately, 2 dogs with outstanding performance ability that are bred, do not guarantee they will produce similar ability. There's always that chance that 2 outstanding dogs continue to throw past genetics of dogs that were not so genetically and mentally gifted at what they do. That's where generations of breeding for a single purpose is SOOOOO valuable to a potential working dog buyer. The more breeding generations a breeder then stacks that displayed these high level of abilities in the sport, the stronger your chance is that the offspring will carry these desireable traits. Another beautiful advantage to this method of breeding is, these types of breeders will also begin to breed out health issues that ail dogs today (hip dysplasia, cancer, organ conditions, etc.) Only healthy dogs can continue to do these high energy sports. It's easy for a physical specimen of a dog to lay on the couch all day and just "look good." That doesn't mean that their potentially isn't all kinds of problems "under the hood." Get that dog out in the field, and you'll really see what it's made of!
I have a friend of mine, Adrian, that is very active in a particular dog sport called French Ring Sport. I have to say it's an amazing test of a dog's physical ability. This sport was built primarily for the Belgium Malanois (a type of Shepherd). Unlike the sport of Schutzhund, French Ring Sport has absolutely NO confirmation portion of their program, but in my opinion, is a much more difficult sport as a whole. Well, one day I had asked my friend Adrian why this was. Didn't they care about the physical structure of the dogs like Schutzhund did? In more words or less, his answer was, "Jay, it takes years and years to accomplish a Ring III title for these dogs. With the kinds of jumps, turns, twists, patience, focus, and everything else it takes, only the most physically and mentally gifted dogs can accomplish a Ring III title. They couldn't accomplish this kind of training without being nearly flawless physically and mentally. If we already know that, then what would we need confirmation for? To prove what's already been proven?" That answer changed how I looked at breeding as a whole from that point forward.
So in conclusion, my advice would be when buying a puppy, I feel we should be looking for a breeder that has created or continued a breed suitability program that's closest to the functional part of our sport and in turn, simulates nature's selection process, but bent to what we want to accomplish... and that's to kill bunnies!