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Setting the Type

The individual attempting to set type must have a very clear understanding of the essence of their breed.
By Richard G. Beauchamp - Cambria, California, USA

If there is any one point you can get long time pure-bred dog fanciers most anywhere to agree upon is the inconsistency of type that exists world-wide. A good part of the difficulty in maintaining consistency of type both in the ring and in the whelping box is due to the demise of the highly influential, large breeding kennels of the past.

Those kennels housed enough dogs and bitches to be able to establish and maintain a "look", a "style" if you will. This look often would set a standard that influenced large areas, sometimes an entire country. It made judging easier and it gave the novice, even the experienced breeder a model to aim for. Unfortunately the day of these large breeding kennels has all but come to an end.

Today, the hobby breeder produces our show dogs. That same hobby breeder is, by and large, limited by space and economics to a relatively small breeding nucleus. This limits the number of litters produced annually and often necessitates retaining "good" but not necessarily similar-in-type offspring to show. Today we find some breeds with as many different styles at a given show as there are entries.

I graduated from the "only one correct type -- that of the standard" school of thought. Not only did I graduated, I was class valedictorian! There are those of us, foolish purists that we are who see a given breed one way and one way only.We struggle to reproduce that ideal as consistently as possible. It goes without saying this is a very old fashioned and arduous way of breeding dogs. But then, all the good lines I have ever known have been developed the old fashioned way -- through hard work, persistence and an unswerving dedication to a goal.The individual attempting to set type must have a very clear understanding of the essence of their breed. This "essence" is in effect a distillation of the myriad things included in a breed standard and in a breed's history -- those things which make a breed unique.

There is a pop quiz I have often given in my breeding lectures. First, I challenge the audience to think a few moments on what constitutes the real essence of their breed. Then I ask them to turn to someone who they don't know and in 50 words or less express this essence.You would be amazed at how many are absolutely stumped when it comes to that which actually characterises their breed. Thus the information they pass on to the listener barely gives the remotest clue as to even the breed's general appearance.

DEFINING ESSENCE

" A good part of the ability to define the essence of one's breed is to have a clear picture of the breed's proportions."

This in part creates what fellow American judge, Anne Rogers Clark has referred to as the "breed template".
This template is the image through which we view all representatives of a breed. Every breed has correct proportions, whether stated in the standard or not. These proportions determine the desired look of the breed. A breeder must understand these relative proportions and have them clearly established in mind before he or she embarks upon a breeding program. This is no less important for the breeder than it would be for a builder, who would never find himself midway through creating a structure before deciding whether it should be a simple cottage or a Tudor Mansion. Before pounding the first nail a builder would have size, proportions and relationships firmly calculated and know exactly how every timber relates to the next.The breeder must also be crystal clear on the history and purpose of their breed.This will help answer a good many of the questions that are not answered in the breed standard.

WHERE TO START

Only after the foregoing data is mastered should the prospective breeder embark upon locating that important foundation stock. The clever novice (and that includes even experienced breeders taking on a new breed) will seek out the successful breeder for their initial purchase. This is a breeder who has a long standing record for producing quality. It is not someone who has hit the "the jackpot" and produced a big winner or two. It is at the feet of the talented and successful breeder that the wise beginner will learn how success was achieved.

"I can assure you outstanding breeders did not arrive at the top of the mountain by falling there!
They got there by hard work, knowledge and objectivity."

Their experience and advice must be treasured. The little tips they give can save the novice years of trial and error. As firm as I am in my belief in one ideal type, so am I dedicated to my belief that the hobby breeder interested in setting a type needs only to house bitches. It is absolutely pointless -- in fact counterproductive, for the breeder limited by space to have that space occupied by a male. The male will seldom if ever be used (and then only by the most experienced of breeders) on the mother that produced him, his sisters or his daughters. What then would be the reason for a small breeder keeping a male in house? This becomes even more obvious when one stops to realise the hobby breeder has access to any producing male in the entire country.

TIPS FROM THE GREAT BREEDERS

What then is the ideal way to begin? I have interviewed scores of breeders around the world for my forthcoming book, "Success In Show dogs..." Regardless of breed, great breeders concur on two things: First, as has already been pointed out, the beginner must go to a successful breeder for their foundation. Second, it is critical that the beginning breeder buy the best possible daughter of the breed's best producing dam that they can afford.

Why the great breeders advise obtaining a daughter of a top producing dam rather than the dam herself, is only because they all agree only a totally mad person would ever part with the great producing bitch.

"Without a doubt the bitch is the cornerstone, the very foundation of everything one will do as a breeder."

Most of the breeders interviewed seem to agree that the foundation bitch need not be a glamour bitch as long as her credentials are impeccable. Often as not it is the well bred, basically sound but not particularly flashy female that will end up the producer of merit.

Would I add anything to the advice of these breeders? Just one thing. If you could possibly arrange to do so, I would purchase two daughters of the producing bitch -- litter sisters or even half sisters by different sires if need be.

Why so? There is no better way to assure yourself of establishing a tidy little producing nucleus than by this method. The sisters can then be bred to the two most appropriate studs available for each of them. Should fortune smile upon you the studs will be scions of equally impressive matriarchal lines. It would not be entirely unusual to have both quality male and female offspring emerge from these initial breedings. Again, it is not necessary or advisable to keep in house any of the males regardless of quality. Believe me, there will be little difficulty in placing any males with top show potential. It is important, however, that some sort of stud arrangements be made so that you will have access to a male of this calibre as a cross for one of his "nieces" should it later be appropriate.The proper male may not emerge in these first generation breedings. But this is of little consequence in that your initial breedings have given endless possibilities of crossing the resulting bitches back and forth between the bloodlines already combined.Surelyif you have been using superior studs equally endowed with great producing heritage in their own right, you are already the owner of a considerable number of intelligently line-bred bitches. At this point you could even be suffering from an embarrassment of riches.

PARTNERSHIPS

"Solution? A partnership."

Even the most limited breeder able to work closely with a partner can create miracles. It is important that the partners have basically similar goals in mind and be in agreement as to what constitutes the essence of their breed. They must also both be dedicated to
setting type and maintaining it. Neither must be unduly influenced by win records or fads or fancies.There is no greater proof of the value of this partnership process than what I observed while judging in Russia. Restricted by 70 years of Communist domination, pure-bred dog breeders networked their breeding programs between partnerships of sometimes five, six and seven breeders. All living in apartment complexes, all severely handicapped by lack of funds and lack of nutritional supplements for their dogs.Even at that, when the iron curtain was lifted, quality sprang forth as if from an underground stream. As soon as only a year or two after Glasnost, quality entries of one and two hundred dogs were not unusual in some breeds. It is truly amazing what can be accomplished with dedication and a spirit of co-operation. While quarantine countries bemoan the restrictions imposed upon them as breeders, no restrictions are so incapacitating as those that were faced by the dedicated dog fanciers of the former Soviet Union.

It is also interesting though, that a good many, if not most of the United Kingdom's greatest exports were whelped in the kitchen behind the stove in the most modest of homes. Living quarters were shared with their human owners and kennel runs were a tiny patch of a garden.

So, is it easy to establish and maintain type in this day and age? No, I can't say it is easy. But then it never really was, except perhaps for the few blessed with the means to maintain those super kennels of the past. Can it be done today? Of course it can. There are few too many who weren't aware of how difficult it would be and have gone ahead and done it.There are small hobby kennels all over the world which limit themselves to one litter a year, often less. These small but important breeders are counted among the most influential in their respective breeds. Their influence did not come about in a day, a week or a year. It took time but it is not necessary to even open a catalogue when their stock appears in the ring. By its quality, by its similarity it is recognised.

From CANINE CHRONICLE magazine

Look at the Illustrated Breed Standard of the Chow Chow for proportions.

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