Here is your first day of following a litter... Well spend a little time playing catch up :-) and these files will be uploaded as we go along for future reference.. ******** One of the most common discussions there is when it comes to breeding a dog is “WHY”. The answers greatly, depending on the motive. Some people want to breed to have a litter, some people want to make money and some want to breed because their friends “supposedly” want a puppy. Unfortunately, all three of these excuses are not valid when it comes to breeding dogs. These are the litters that typically produce most of the dogs that end up in rescue. Excuses being: a litter is too much work to the fact that there are suddenly no buyers, including your friends that all wanted one… In addition to the work, puppies take a huge amount of time and money to raise – unless you skimp on the first two, than the last is probably not true… So the question to be asked is “why should Gemma be bred and have a litter of puppies”…. First off, Gemma is mentally and structurally sound - she is social, stable in all situations and has two parents with outstanding temperaments and littermates with outstanding temperaments. Temperaments are extremely important, both in companion dogs and show dog. A flakey or aggressive dog is hard to show and even more difficult as a pet. Gemma is exceptional when it comes to her structure… She has a correct head, straight legs, perfect tail, super hindquarters, a really good body (shape, width, depth and length), tight feet that would her allowed to run all day with the carriages. When she trots, all of her pieces work together. No legs that flop around in front, no weird movements in the rear and from the side, her feet never touch the ground and her structure works in harmony. (thedca.org) for more information on the Dalmatian standard. One important part of Gemma is that she looks like her breed. If you draw her outline and take her spots off, there is no other breed that Gemma could be. Some Dals look like Labs, some look like Dobermans, some look like whippets and the list goes on and on – all structure related.…. Looking like the breed is something that is extremely important to me as a Dalmatian breeder. Gemma is that way because her pedigree is strong in that aspect AND the breeding she comes from is strong in that aspect. There is no other breed that Gemma, Meribel, Amery or Tanner could be, but a Dalmatian. Health wise, Gemma has been tested for everything. She was hearing tested bilateral hearing in both ears as a puppy. At the age of 2 years, I completed the rest of her testing and submitted everything to OFA (offa.org). She has good hips, normal elbows, normal thyroid and her eyes have been examined. About the only thing I haven’t been able to get done is her heart (cardiac), but that too will be done and her eyes and thyroid will be retested in a couple of years. Finally, you are thinking to yourself – “She’s a Grand Champion too, that means she should be bred”. First, let me say that not all champion dogs should be bred. Champions are often made because they show in one area, show against other dogs of the same look or are sent out with handlers and go to a million shows. Yes, judges confirmed what we knew about Gemma. She completed both of her titles in quick fashion in the biggest Dalmatian entries in the country. She completed her regular Championship with three-5 point majors (the maximum number of points you can get in a win) in a row. She completed her Grand Championship with five-5 point majors in straight shows. It’s always nice to have the quality validated, but a championship is just an end to a means. Some will say it’s ego-related and I would be lying if I said it was not… The dogs don’t care if they are champions or not… Responsible breeding is too much work to just use average animals. Our goal is to breed a structurally sound dog, who is also healthy in the mind and in the body. All of this is achieved by breeding dogs who meet the standard of perfection as set by DCA and by be pro-active and health testing dogs. So this is just a quick overview…. Next chapter will be – “Researching stud dogs and how did we come up with Bravo?” Bring on the questions!!!
Posted on: Thu, 24 Jul 2014 15:42:20 +0000
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