Now the fun begins. Every breed publication in the house, every old Quarterly, every Pedigree
Book, every DVD from every National Specialty we ever attended comes off the shelf. Perhaps
not all at once, but eventually there will be piles of breed history adorning the various table tops
in our home. The internet has certainly aided in the stud dog selection process. I am eternally
grateful to all those dedicated breeders who are also internet savy and thoughtful enough to build
such detailed websites with an abundance of information that is every analytic’s dream. The OFA
database is a wonderful source of data and holds tremendous promise as a research tool. As the
database is more widely used it will be an even better resource for breeders.
Armed with a short list of candidates, the search begins in earnest. It’s at about this juncture that
I pull out Pat Trotter’s book “Born to Win”. It was one of the first books I read as we got into the
sport of dogs and it is the one that I refer back to on a regular basis. Pat Trotter was one of the
most successful, if not the most successful breeder owner handler in the sport, and I find her book
to be both informative and thought provoking. She has some interesting theories on breeding
and the decision process used to put two animals together and it always causes me to think a bit
harder and longer about what I am attempting to do.
The sorting process can like be a roller coaster ride. I’ll find a dog that appears to “have it all” – or
at least what I am looking for. I am jubilant. The pedigrees align, the dogs look good together and
the offspring produced by Mr. Right are lovely. I can see the future progeny in my mind’s eye and
they are, of course, exactly what I am hoping to get from the breeding. And then something will
surface – you know – that thing that you think you just can’t get past. The dream fades, reality sets
in, the dog goes back into the “pending” pile and the process starts over again with the next candi-
date on the list. This goes on for months, until I run out of ideas and my friends get sick of listen-
ing to me. I file my notes, put my piles of books and DVDs back on the shelf, turn the computer
off and walk away. There isn’t another single piece of information out there that is going to make
a bit of difference in reaching a decision. It is time to “sleep on it”.
Before all the stud dog owners reading this rise to defend the honor of their men, let me just say
that I attribute much of the difficulty with this process to the dam. It is her combination of unique
strengths and weaknesses that make the selection process so complicated. If only she had a stron-
ger rear, better front, darker eyes – you name it – whatever the strength required to offset the
offending fault of the prospective sire, the selection process would be so much easier.
And then one day, often out of the blue, the answer comes. It has often been said that breeding is
a blend of art and science, and for me, this is when the art takes over. Mr. Right stands out above
the rest and I just know he’s the one. The pedigrees align, the dogs indeed look good together, the
offspring produced by Mr. Right are lovely, and I can clearly see the promise of the breeding in my
mind’s eye. Did anything change? Yes, but not with the dogs. What changed is that I can now, with
great acuity, describe exactly why I am doing the breeding, what I am hoping to accomplish, and
why this stud dog is the best choice for my bitch. I can almost smell the puppy breath!
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