What dog has made the biggest impact on your breeding program to date? I think our most successful cross has to be the Bosco/Fiesta cross. That cross combined fantastic working ability, beautiful head type, correct shoulders and cobby body from Bosco with a super strong rear from Fiesta (Sunfarm's Celebrity Fantasia).
What bitch has made the biggest impact on your breeding program to date?Which dog and bitch in your breeding program was most successful or that you feel contributed the most to the breed. Why?
How do you raise your puppies? We raise our puppies with continuous soothing music. That may sound strange but the music along with constant handling, seems to produce alert, stable puppies. Puppies are handled daily and temperament tested at 7 weeks. We feed Diamond puppy food made into gruel until the pups are old enough for solid food.
How did you come up with your kennel name? We came up with Hill St. Blues from the TV show popular at the time.
Do you believe you have a distinguishable line? I do believe we have a distinguishable line. Although we got away from the cobby bodies we like for a time, we are getting back to that look along with a pretty head type with our young dog, Polo. Then we can take progeny from Polo and breed back to Eli, who has a bit longer body and extremely strong rear
If you were going to rate type, temperament and soundness in order of importance, what would be the or- der and why? This is not a fair question...LOL. OK, I will try. Although I feel all three characteristics are equally im- portant....without a good stable temperament, you have nothing in a breeding program. When I was breeding Aki- tas there was a gorgeous top winning stud dog who was known to growl at trees. That is how aggressive he was...and yet folks would stand in line to breed to him! (Obviously the dog was not very bright ei- ther). An ACD should not be a initiate fights. He should be able to carry his own weight, but if he likes to start fights, I would back off from breeding this dog. The ACD is a "working dog" therefore soundness is paramount...and as far as type goes, you should be able to clearly recognize and ACD by his/her silhouette.
What do you think are the most serious faults in the breed today? Being an AKC licensed judge for ACDs, I have had the opportunity to get my hands on various types of ACDs from across the country. I have always been disappointed by the lack of sound rears in our breed. I know others complain about fronts,
Ch. Hill St.'s Eli's Coming
but without a sound rear to balance the front, it is difficult for the dog to keep from breaking down when asked to herd,run an agility course, or even
play hard. Besides incorrect rears, missing teeth comes to mind along with too much of a size(height) differential.
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