The View from Rain Mountain:
Looking for Mr. Gooddog
Finding the Right Stud for Your Princess

Part 1, published in the July 2002 issue of the Eventer
Part 2, published in the August 2002 issue of the Eventer
Part 3, published in the September 2002 issue of the Eventer


The View from Rain Mountain – Looking for Mr. Gooddog, Part 1
by Ginger Corley

Finding the right boy for your girl is a challenge.  First you have to know about pedigrees, tail males, genotype and phenotype, out crossing, line- and in- breeding, and many more confusing terms and contradictory theories.  Considering how long winded I am, it will take us a few articles to get through the subject of choosing a stud.

The importance of choosing the right stud is critical to a strong breeding program.  It will be what differentiates you from the casual backyard breeder who breeds Muffy to the next door neighbor’s dog simply because they are both purebred.  You are not a backyard breeder.  You are a dedicated hobby breeder whose goal is to improve the breed overall and to produce dogs that meet your breed standard in every way.  You’ll start your search for the perfect stud by looking at all the available dogs in your breed and first eliminating those that are completely unsuitable.  So I’ll start by discussing some of the things you’ll want to avoid, hence eliminating many studs in your first cut.  This will then allow you the time to critically assess the remaining, smaller number of studs.

Don’t Stop Thinking About Tomorrow (and I don’t mean the song)

You’ll notice that I mentioned a breeding program.  I’m presuming that, since breeding is an addictive hobby, you are not planning on raising just one litter.  And let’s face it, even if you plan to raise just one litter, you might as well do it carefully and professionally though you are very likely to find yourself getting hooked and saying, “Okay, just one more.”  Next thing you know you’ve been doing this for so long that you date events in your life by the litters you were raising at the time.  Let’s see, the fall of 1990 I was raising the Flood litter.  And yeah, I was starting up a software company then too.

A breeding program is something that may exist on paper or it may exist as a picture in your mind of the perfect dog and how you are going to combine the pieces of various dogs to reach that one perfect dog.  I’ve had that picture in my mind for many years and have recently started to put it on paper.  I’ve hit that picture at various times too but the key is to hit the mark and to go forward from it with consistency.  I’m five generations into my bloodline now and I’m still working towards producing what I want to breed with consistency.  So do as I say and not as I do (or at least not as I have finished yet) and put your breeding plans on paper.  And of course, you’ll want to change it and update it on a regular basis.

To get back to making your decisions about just which Mr. Gooddog is right for you Princess Perfect, when you are looking for a stud, you must consider the future.  Breeding plans cover many generations.  So your choice of which stud to use this time must also take into consideration what you plan for your next generation.  If you breed Princess to Studley, will the resulting pups fit into the plans you have for breeding your next generation?

Here’s an example:  I have a dog named Jenna spending a few months with me so I can breed her and raise a litter.  I’m her original breeder, own her mom, her half brother, and many of her nieces and nephews.  Jenna has some wonderful traits that I want to maintain.  I would like to get a female pup from her that I can keep both as a show dog and as future breeding stock for my line.  Many of the dogs I have now are the result of breeding my bloodlines into the WoodsRunner line of my friends’ kennel in Maine.  So when I’m looking at who to use as stud for Jenna, I’m thinking of where her offspring can be used when they are old enough for breeding.  All the other young breeding stock I have now are mixes of my Rain Mountain bloodline and the WoodsRunner line.  So maybe my breeding program will be best carried out if I breed Jenna outside this mix so that I will be able to breed Jenna’s pups to the pups of Bella and Bailey, two other females I’ll be breeding in coming years who are both the mix of Rain Mountain and WoodsRunner lines.  I want to go outside my normal lines a bit so that I can come back to them in the next generation.  Another example:  I have a great male dog, Thunder, who has nearly all the qualities I want.  Remember I said “nearly.”  I have a couple friends who also admire him.  Between us, we actually bred litters so we would get female pups that would produce what we all want if bred to him.  They were conceived with the idea of making them strong where he is weak.  So when the day comes that they are old enough, we’ll be able to breed them to Thunder, getting the traits that he is strong in while they contribute in areas that he is weak.

I try to keep at least the next three generations in mind when I’m making my breeding plans.  With Jenna, I’m hoping to use a bloodline that is very good but hasn’t been used much by other breeders.  It will contribute the leg length I can use more of in my line, then I can breed them back into my line where I have great bone and bulk that many other lines in my breed are lacking.  After that, I should be much closer to my ideal dog and to seeing it appear more consistently in my litters.


The DOs and DON’Ts should be the DON’Ts before DOs

In the next few columns I’ll go through the specifics of looking at phenotypes – the combination of two physical specimens – and genotypes – the combination of two genetic specimens – but first I want to start with some very simple things to stay away from.  Since I’m in the process of choosing a husband for Jenna, we’ll continue to use her as an example.

Owning a male and a female and breeding them because of the convenience is the first big mistake I made.  I didn’t stop and think about if they were really right for each other.  With hindsight, I know that each would have produced wonderful pups if bred to other dogs but when bred to each other the resulting litters did not improve the breed.  The best I produced was a lot of very nice pets.  At this point in my career I was essentially a naïve backyard breeder.  For Jenna, now that I know better, I’m going outside for a stud since none of the boys I have is actually the right mate for her.

Breeding dogs costs money and if you plan to do it right, you will have to spend money, either in cash or a puppy back, on your stud fee.  If you want to produce quality pups, you will choose the best stud.  Being a class breeder means we’re trying to improve our breed.  We want to do such a good job that our pups will be in high demand and will sell for premium prices.  Skimping on the stud fee will cost you more in the long run.  Even though I’m selecting the stud for Jenna’s litter and I could find a stud to use for very little money, her owner agreed with me that we should use the best we could find, no matter the cost.  We’ll get more in detail in later articles about the cost of breeding and raising a litter but keep in mind that it will take money out of your wallet and if you do it right, you will NOT make a profit.  The only people that make a profit on breeding dogs are puppy mills.  So when you prepare your budget (trust me, don’t breed a litter until you have cash on hand for everything you can think of in the way of planned expenses and emergencies then multiply that amount by two), include a stud fee that will be at least as much as the highest amount you think you can sell a pup for.  For example, Cavalier King Charles Spaniel pups sell for about $1,500 each.  So presume that a stud fee is going to cost you at least $1,500 and possibly more for a stud with a great resume.

Just because a potential stud is local, he may not be the best.  Today through the wonders of science (as in airplanes and artificial insemination) you can breed Princess Perfect to a dog that is either across the country, around the world, or even dead.  You might need to budget travel into your expenses for a breeding.  Traditionally the bitch will travel to the stud since you want the boy to be comfortable and able to perform his duties, which he is more apt to do on his home turf.  Jenna is staying with me because her owners did not have access to studs where they live but there are a few here that we can choose from.  Among our choices are dogs in both Washington, Oregon, and western Montana, all within easy drives from here.  Another friend is sending her Princess Perfect here later this summer for the same reason.  She wants to have her girl in the right neighborhood to meet cool dudes when the time is right.

To minimize the problem of geography and since my breed is still somewhat rare, we make a point to place our potentially breedable pups in geographic areas where they will be handy for breeding in later years.  For example, a friend in South Carolina had a great litter and though I didn’t have room to bring a pup into my household, I was able to help her find a home for him in the Seattle area so that he would be handy in future years.  There are young girls in this area that might be good future mates for him.  Even in more common breeds, you may find the local area dominated by bloodlines that you already have or that just are not the best match.  Or perhaps, when planning for future generations, you would be best to go to a stud located thousands of miles away. 

A dog may also be the flavor of the month on the show circuit but is he the best mate for your girl?  Dogs that win in the ring are those with great presence.  For example, we like the look of the dog that prances and holds his tail high.  But maybe your breed is not meant to carry its tail high.  That wonderfully lush coat may be hiding faults thanks to a very adept groomer and judges that are not on the ball.  Trust me, I’ve put championships on dogs that may not really have rated them with some well planned out shows and careful selection of judges and competition.  Does the dog have the natural ability to do the job it was designed for?  In our breed we have some truly wonderful dogs that are winning in the show ring.  But checking around tells me that they each have some reason that makes them the WRONG mates for Jenna.  I’m actually considering a dog that has never stepped foot in a show ring or been seen by anyone outside of his own hometown.

The hot winner on the show circuit may also be the hottest thing on the stud circuit.  My sisters and I tried the “But everyone’s doing it,” theme on our mother too.  (I remember the dark ages when we wanted to get our ears pierced and she was convinced only “fallen women” had pierced ears.)  Friends of mine have a wonderful stud dog and he has produced some wonderful offspring.  But instead of using him, I’m trying to get far away from him in the choice of a stud for Jenna.  I already own his bloodline in other dogs and he carries a fault that I think Jenna may carry also.  So I’ll sit back and wait and perhaps one of Jenna’s daughters will be good for breeding to him.  He has been bred A LOT and I think his influence on our breed, though good, may be a bit overwhelming in generations to come.

Boy can I tell stories about using a stud because he belongs to a friend.  Don’t let your friend influence you or make you feel like you HAVE TO breed Princess Perfect to his or her stud.  I have a few friends with studs that they think would be perfect for Jenna but I’m thinking of a dog that is owned by people I only know slightly over those belonging to close friends.  I think it would result in better pups.  I once heard a saying that is unfortunately true:  “If your worst enemy owns the stud that is best for your bitch, kiss and make up.  It will be best for you and your breed in the long run.”

No matter how perfect the dog is, I firmly believe that some temperament is inherited.  I learned the hard way by breeding a dog that was shy.  Even though she was well trained and socialized, her pups were shy and spooky.  I now put just as much emphasis on temperament as I do on all the other criteria when choosing a stud.  I have a breeder friend who is bemoaning her decision last year to breed her somewhat whiney and needy bitch to a whiney and needy stud.  They had eight wonderful pups that are now growing up to be whiney and needy adults.  I would run away even faster from a dog that had an aggressive temperament, be it either with other dogs or humans.  In Jenna’s case, she has a very sweet temperament though she is a bit reserved.  So one of the criteria for selecting Mr. Gooddog will be a good temperament that is more outgoing than hers.


Jenna Goes to the Singles Bar

I still have not made the final selection of exactly which mate is best for Jenna so we’ll continue using her as our example in the next few articles.  This is such an important topic with many areas to cover.  We need to look at making decisions based on the phenotype – what your dog looks like and what a possible stud looks like.  We need to look at genotypes – what genes Princess Perfect carries and what genes each potential Mr. Gooddog carries and how they would look combined in a litter of bouncing baby balls of fluff?  What are the pros and con of in breeding and line breeding compared to out crossing?  What do those things mean anyway?


Additional Resources on Choosing the Right Stud
for Your Bitch

I know that after ten litters and five generations, I’m still a rank amateur.  So please don’t believe everything I say.  As soon as you think you understand the basics, something will come out of left field and throw you back k to the beginning.  Being a breeder means a constant learning curve.

Go to the experts.  There are a lot of books out there on breeding.  I've found a few that are realistic and actually give you information you can use.  These are not books about how to whelp and rear puppies or all the medical details of breeding, simply the theory behind how you should make the basic decisions of which dogs are to be bred.  There are also seminars sponsored by various breed clubs and organizations.  These are a great way to get up close information and the ability to ask questions.  Im always obnoxious at these events since I figure that if Im paying someone, I want to get MY questions answered.  No one has ever accused me of being shy and I still have to be reminded of my kindergarten lessons of sharing.  Here's a few of my favorites
  • "Planned Breeding" by Lloyd C. Brackett . "Let the sire of the sire be the grandsire of the dam, on the dam’s side" is one of the best known sayings in the world of breeding animals and it originates with Mr. Brackett, a well know German Shepherd breeder, now deceased. A llama breeders organization has been kind enough to publish this seminal work and give permission for me to link to it.
  • Breeding Better Dogs, Dr. Carmen Bataglia. Dr. Bataglia both has a book published under this title, a website where he publishes many papers, and frequently conducts seminars. I've been lucky enough to attend his two-day seminar and came away with a great deal of valuable information.
  • Born to Win, Breed to Succeed by Patricia Craige. I have a very dog-eared copy of this book that I refer to every time I write this column. Pat Craige Trotter (she has married since publishing the book) has the credentials to back up what she writes about, having won the Hound Group at Westminster at least ten times with her Norwegian Elkhounds. She also does occasional seminars and I was lucky enough to not only attend one but to have dinner with her. She is a very fun person and I'd love to be able to talk with her again some day.
  • Fred Lanting has also published a great deal on the subject of dog breeding.  I've also had the opportunity to show dogs under him (he is a United Kennel Club judge).  You can find many of his papers and articles on the SiriusDog.com website. He has also kindly given me permission to post this link and to recommend his papers.
Remember to read everything you can find, analyze what you have read, question everything, and make up you own mind.  You will find a lot of conflicting information.  You may have special circumstances such as I do, working with a rare breed.
Mentors are a Breeders Best Friend

If you are lucky, you will find a mentor.  A good place to start is with the breeder you got your dog from.  If you got your bitch from a quality breeder, you probably have an agreement or contract that covers breeding.  For example, I don't place breeding quality pups unless we have an agreement that allows me a certain amount of input to any breeding decisions.  I like to retain the right to veto the choice of a stud.  Usually I'll work with the owner to help choose the stud and frequently will be able to get stud service at a reduced price.  So check with your breeder first.

Go to your breed club for added resources.  Keep in mind though that breed clubs are usually just as full of politics and back stabbing as a good family feud (or at least the feuds we can have in my extended family!).  People feel VERY passionate about their dogs.  But breed clubs are also a fantastic resource where you can talk to people who have been involved in your breed since God was a child.  What they know, you and I can only hope to learn.  In our breed club, we have an email group on an informal basis where many of us breeders share information and problems.  Lately we've all been discussing things such as the many small litters were seeing in our breed and a wave of monorchidism and cryptorchidism.  Ideas from one person can be very helpful to others.  If your breed club doesn't have such a group, take some initiative and start one.

Don't hesitate to find a mentor in another breed.  Once of the people I've learned the most from breeds Irish Water Spaniels, a sporting breed, where I raise Chinooks, a northern breed.  But many of the basics transcend what breed you have.  Dogs are dogs and a Chihuahua and a Great Dane still have enough in common that knowledge of one breed can translate to another.  We both breed dogs that have to work and perform so who cares if hers are retrieving ducks and mine are pulling sleds.  From her, I've learned to concentrate on the basics of sound structure and deal with the fine points later.

A great article was recently published on the subject of mentors and I highly recommend it. "The Tragic Loss of Bloodlines and Mentoring in America is by Carol Hawke and should be considered a must-read.
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 I've also found that some of the larger email lists can be very helpful.  Showdogs-L has over 2,000 people on it from around the world.  If you encounter a problem or have a question, you're able to post it and are bound to get many replies with a variety of viewpoints.  I get a lot of the information and examples I use in these articles by asking on Showdogs-L.  I also subscribe to two email lists specific to my breed.

Looking for Mr. Gooddog, Part 2
Strengths and Weaknesses

In the first part of our discussion of finding the right stud for your Princess Perfect, we covered some of the misconceptions and easily made mistakes.  I’ll continue to use Jenna as our example since I’m still searching for the perfect Mr. Wonderful for her.  It’s of utmost importance since Jenna’s owner has entrusted me not only with his dog but to find the best stud for her that will provide him with his next generation.  So Jenna is still cruising the canine singles bars in Search of Prince Charming.

Our next step is to critically evaluate Princess Perfect, or Jenna in my case, to determine what strengths she has and what you would like to improve upon.  Two terms are important here.  Phenotype is what the dog looks like.  Genotype is what genes the dog carries.  For example in looks Jenna is a very well balanced though small Chinook.  This is her phenotype.  She is a dark red-gold color but her dam was gray and tan and her sire was buff.  So her genotype for color is unknown.  She could have genes from her dam and the dam’s sire and dam along with the genes she got from her sire and from her sire’s dam and sire.  Exactly which color genes she inherited from each parent is unknown.  That’s where the mystery and chance comes in.

Making a List – Good, Better, and Best

Let’s look first at what Jenna’s strengths are in her conformation – her phenotype.  She is very well balanced.  She has the right construction in her front and rear AND they match each other.  In other words, the angles of her shoulders, chest, and front legs are not only right for her breed but they also balance her rear construction – her hips, topline, and rear legs.  This balance means that she has the ability to move well both in the front and rear.  I’m not the greatest authority on canine structure but I strongly recommend the book (and I believe there is a video to with it) Dog Steps by Rachael Paige Elliott.  I include the fact that she has very sound hips that have been rated as Good by OFA under the definition of balance.  Though primarily a family pet these days, our breed was designed to pull sleds and a sled dog must have sound, balanced structure that is capable of pulling a load over long distances without coming up lame.  Even your toy breeds need to have correct structure if they are to live healthy lives.

Jenna also has a luxurious coat.  Considering that she comes from the warmer climate of California, her winter coat was thick, the right length, and with excellent color.  Even now that she has shed it for a lighter summer coat, it’s still got a great texture.  She has the most preferred color for our breed – the rich red gold – despite coming from a sire and dam that have less preferred colors.  As we say in our breed, the ear set and color of the dog doesn’t pull the sled but traditionally Jenna’s coat color is preferred and I would like to produce more with her color.  The most important thing in a sled dog is that it has the right amount of coat – not too long that will collect ice or too little that the dog will get chilled.

Jenna has a very nicely shaped head.  In our breed the girls don’t have as well proportioned heads as the males do so I’m always looking for girls with the right proportion.  Our breed is known for having a distinctive head though it’s hard to get in our females for some reason.  We strive for a broad back skull and a well defined stop.

So now it’s your turn.  Take a good look at Princess Perfect.  What do you like about her?  When you’ve taken her to shows, what have the judges told you are her best points?  When you talk with her original breeder or other knowledgeable in your breed, what do they tell you are her strengths?  Make a list as you will come back to this list again.

Jenna’s strengths
  • Great Balance
  • Strong hips
  • Excellent movement
  • Correct coat texture, thickness, and color
  • Good head
Nobody (or Dog) is Perfect

Now comes the hard part.  I’m Jenna’s original breeder and I hate to admit that she has any faults at all.  But no dog is perfect, even Jenna or your Princess Perfect.  But we need to make a list of faults just like we did strengths and I always figure I have to pick out at least three, even if they are minimal.  If I find more than three, maybe I should not breed this female since the idea is to breed our best.

Jenna’s first fault is that, though she is very well proportioned, she is small for our breed.  I’d like to see her size increased.  To me, it is far more important to breed a dog that is correctly built than one that is simply big so I don’t consider her small size a major enough fault to eliminate her from my breeding program.

Jenna does have excellent structure and her balance is great but she almost had too much rear angulation.  She has a wonderful, ground covering stride but it more like that of a German Shepherd than what is efficient for a sled dog.  So this over angulation can also be considered a fault.  The good news is that it is a fault that can be used to our advantage when looking at sires as I will be able to use one that perhaps doesn’t have quite enough rear angulation.

I would also like to have just a touch more leg on Jenna’s pups.  Though she is within the correct range of height to length proportion, I personally want to have dogs that are a bit more to the other end of the acceptable range.  Jenna’s brother also has the same proportion and by choosing mates with a better leg length, his pups are turning out with exactly the proportion I want.

Jenna’s Faults
  • Small size
  • Too much rear angulation
  • Slightly longer body length
Extremes Don’t Average Out

These faults lead to an important point to remember.  Breeding extremes doesn’t always average out.  For example, if Jenna is small, I don’t want to breed her to a dog that is over sized in hopes of getting something in the middle.  I’m more likely to end up with half small and half big.  I’m better off breeding her to a male that is the correct size.  That means that her children will carry the genes for the correct size rather than some having big genes and some having small genes.  I may go to a male that is on the higher end of the size range for our breed but not oversized.  In that same vein, just because she has more rear angulation than necessary I’m not going to breed her to a male with no angulation at all.  I’ll look for a male with the correct rear angulation.  I may be able to use one with slightly less angulation than desirable but if I go to a dog with no angulation the pups will all either be over angulated like their mom or have not enough like their dad.  Again, I may use a male with slightly less angulation than the ideal but not an extreme.  Just as I will breed her to a dog with the height to length proportion I want to have in her pups, not an extremely leggy dog.

Temperament is Always Critical to Breeding Decisions

No matter how perfect the dog is, if it doesn’t have the right temperament for its breed, don’t breed it.  I have made the mistake of breeding shy dogs myself and it resulted in shy puppies despite my following every recommendation for socializing them.  I learned from my mistakes and now have dogs that are outrageously out going (some will say, too outgoing).  My breed is meant to be friendly though a bit of reserve around strangers is allowed.  Jenna’s mom has never had a reserved moment in her life and her sire was also very outgoing.  Jenna has a bit of reserve though I think most of it comes from living in the middle of nowhere most of her life then suddenly returning to suburbia and my hectic household.  Where my other three dogs – Jenna’s mom, brother, and niece – mob strangers with love the minute they walk in the front door, Jenna will hang back a moment and assess the situation before going in and soliciting pets.  It doesn’t take her long after that to climb on your lap.  But since I know that shyness in my breed can be genetic, I’m not going to breed Jenna to a male that has any sign of shyness.

I’m lucky that there is very little aggression in my breed but I understand that it too can be genetic.  So please, please, please take temperament into consideration when choosing Prince Charming.  The news today is filled with stories of aggressive dogs and the problems they cause.  Yes, most aggression is caused by bad owners, not bad dogs, but it’s not a chance to take lightly.

So What Does All this Mean?

Now that we have a good list of Jenna’s faults, we can start thinking of what type of male would be the best for her in order to ensure that our next generation is even better than the present.  So let’s recap what we have talked about over the past year:

With all this out of the way, we can start next month with looking more closely at the phenotype and genotype of the various studs available to us and determining exactly which will be the best for my Princess Perfect, Jenna.  Will it be Bachelor #1 (Bannack), Bachelor #2 (Rorik), or Bachelor #3 (Tahoma)?  Stay tuned and you can find out as Looking For Mr. Gooddog continues.

Looking for Mr. Gooddog, Part 3
Bachelor #1, Bachelor #2, and Bachelor #3

I do hope that you are not yet tired of the tale of the search for Mr. Gooddog.  As a breeder, finding the right sire to use with your bitch is probably the most critical decision you will make so I want to make sure we cover all the details.  In July we talked about what not to do and in August we talked about evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of our girl.  Now it’s time to talk about balancing those strengths and weaknesses by evaluating our potential studs.  I hope you all remember Jenna, my girl Chinook in search of the perfect mate, as I’ll continue using her as our example.

Looks May Not be Gene Deep

Two key terms to keep in mind are genotype and phenotype.  Phenotype is what the dog looks like and genotype is the genes.  For example, Jenna is red-gold, the typical color for our breed.  So her phenotype is for the gold color.  However her dam is gray and her sire is buff, so her genotype is unknown.  Gold is the typical color for our breed and buff and gray (or black since gray is simply dilute black) are seen less frequently.  All her grandparents were the typical gold color but obviously carried the genes for these less common colors.  So I have no definite information as to what color genes Jenna carries.  When we talk about our studs, we’ll have to differentiate carefully where we are working with known traits we can see -- phenotype traits – and where we are hoping for traits – those that may or may not be contained in our dog’s genes.

What’s Important?

One of the things that makes people crazy about my breed, the Chinook, is that our dogs have an optional ear set.  They can be pricked up, flopping down, carried rose style like a Greyhound. Or any combination thereof.  Our dogs are sled dogs and our saying is that “Ears and color don’t pull the sled.”  Hence I’m not going to use color (or earset) as major criteria for choosing Jenna’s mate.  I’d far rather concentrate on traits that are important for a sled dog, primarily sound structure.

Last month we discussed making up a list of our bitch’s strengths and weaknesses so that we could look for a mate that compensated and complemented these factors.  Jenna’s strengths are her balance, movement, and overall sound structure; her only real weakness that we know of is her smaller than desired size.  It is important that you take a last, long, hard look at your girl before going ahead with breeding her.  Her strengths must outweigh her weaknesses and the weaknesses must be minor.  If they are not, she should live her life as a happy pet and not be bred.  I’ve done this with Jenna and decided to go ahead with a breeding so now I have to prioritize what’s important to keep in the next generation and what I want to improve upon.

Among Jenna’s strengths, her balanced conformation, strong hips, and excellent movement are the most critical.  Those are traits that are of the utmost importance to a sled dog.  Of her weaknesses, I would most like to improve upon her small size.  She is the size of a small racing sled dog where a Chinook is supposed to be an average to large sled dog that can not only go at a good speed but also pull a heavy load with great endurance.  It will be important to me that her mate be a Chinook of better proportion and height.  I want to use males that are of the correct proportion and the correct height – combining opposites would give me a litter of very short and very tall Chinooks rather than a litter of averages. 

So let’s look at our bachelors:  Bannack, Rorik, and Tahoma all have great height.  All three have a good ratio of height to length too.  Rorik has great rear angulation; Bannack and Tahoma could possibly use a touch more.  All three have great movement though perhaps not quite as outstanding as Jenna’s (hers is truly wonderful, one of her best features).  So that pretty well covers balancing the phenotypes of the boys against Jenna.  Just about any one of them would prove to be a good mate if we are only looking at their phenotypes.

What’s Hiding in the Genetic Woodpile?

I’m lucky enough to not only know the pedigrees of Jenna and all three potential suitors but to also know the dogs in those pedigrees.  I’ve met many of them over the years by going to national specialties, stopping by to visit their owners when I’m vacationing, and exchanging information and photos with other breeders.  I not only bred Jenna but also Bannack.  I know Rorik’s breeders well, have bred another dog I own to him, and own one of his daughters.  I have watched Tahoma grow up over the years and a close friend owns his sister so I’ve also watched many of his nieces and nephews grow up and been pleased with them.

This is why it’s important to get out and meet others in your breed.  Go to national and regional specialties.  Visit other breeders.  Visit people who have pets out of bloodlines you are interested in even if they are spayed and neutered.  Watch these dogs move, feel them over, and play kissy face with them so you get an idea of their temperaments.  If you don’t have the opportunity to do this, talk to people who have.  This is where finding a mentor comes in handy.  You want to have knowledge of what the dogs look like in that four generation pedigree that the potential stud owner will send you.

Though Jenna is a wonderful example of our breed, I also know that there are a few genetic problems she may be carrying.  Out of Jenna’s eight brothers and sisters, the males did have a problem with retained testicles.  (A male pup is born with his two testicles up in his abdomen.  They descend when the pup is anywhere between six weeks and three months of age.  If a male has only one testicle descend and the other stay up inside, he is considered monorchid; if both are retained he is cryptorchid.  Both are considered faults.)  This is thought to be a genetic trait so I want to know that the males don’t, as far as I know, carry this tendency also.  Bannack has sired sons that are monorchid though that was when he was bred into a line that is known to carry this fault; his own brothers did not have any problems with retained testicles.  Tahoma has not sired any pups yet though his littermates didn’t have this problem and the pups his sister produced didn’t have the problem.  Rorik has sons that have a matched set down at the appropriate age.  So of the three potential mates, Bannack gets a black mark because he has sired pups with this problem.  I don’t know if Jenna carries this trait herself but I want to minimize the potential.

Strong hips are also very important and genetic.  Jenna comes from a line that is known for good hips.  Her sire received an OFA rating of Good on his 11th birthday and was still running on a sled team and winning races into his 13th year.  Her dam is still my lead dog though she’s over ten now.  Jenna’s littermates have all received passing scores on their hip x-rays.  But hips are so important to a healthy working sled dog or family pet that I want to continue this record or even improve it.  Bannack and Rorik have ratings of Fair.  In addition some of Bannack’s littermates did not have passing scores on their hips.  Tahoma and his littermates have been consistently rated as Good by OFA.  So when it comes to ranking the boys by hips. Tahoma is in first place, with Rorik in second and Bannack in third.

Jenna’s sire had one fault that I want to avoid in future generations.  Though he had a strong topline and hips, his lower back, the croup, dropped off too steeply resulting in a low tail set.  In the extreme, this could limit the movement from the dog’s rear.  Neither Tahoma nor Bannack has any sign of this though Rorik does have the same fault.  None of Rorik’s offspring to date have had this fault but I don’t want to add it to the genes that Jenna may carry for a dropped croup.  I don’t know what her genotype is for this trait.

Summing It All Up

This is where I bring out the paper and pencil and write things down.  You can simply make a list of pros and cons or you can take the extra step and work it out in more detail.  One of the resources I’ve found valuable is using a method developed by Dr. Carmen Battaglia in his book, Breeding Better Dogs, which uses stick figures to help you predict the best sire to use with a given bitch.  (I have a link on my website to Dr. Battaglia’s website where he discusses this method in more detail.)  for now, a simple table will give us a ranking of the potential bachelors compared to Jenna.

Important Traits
 Jenna
 Bannack
 Rorik
 Tahoma
Size (both height and bulk)
 Needs improvement
 Good
 Good
 Good, slightly taller than average
Reach and drive, movement
 Excellent
 Excellent
 Average
 Good
Shoulders, chest
 Great
 Still filling out but good for age, shoulders correct
 Still growing, average chest, correct shoulders
 Mature chest and correct shoulders
Topline
 Good
 Good
 Good back but dropped croup
 Good
Rear Angulation
 Excellent
 Good
 Good
 Average
Potential Monorchid or Cryptorchid
 Has littermates that are monorchid
 Has offspring that are monorchid
 Has siblings that are monorchid
 No incidence
Hips
 Good
 Fair
 Fair
 Good
Working Ability
 Good honest worker
 Great working dog
 Has been great in limited working
 Unknown


Looking at all the traits laid out like this, it appear that Tahoma may come out ahead.  He might be able to use a bit more rear angulation but that is an area where Jenna is strong, with possibly a bit more than is needed.  I don’t know about his working ability only because his owners have not taken him out sledding.  He is primarily their family pet and companion.  Jenna comes from a line of excellent sled dogs though and I know that Tahoma’s siblings and cousins are honest working dogs so this is a chance I’ll take.  All three of the boys have good temperaments – if they didn’t they would not even be considered.

In, Out, Lines, and Everybody Into the (Gene) Pool!

We have not yet even touched on the pros and cons of inbreeding, out crossing, and line breeding but those are large enough topics to be a series of columns in their own right.  But one more topic needs to be addressed before we leave this subject behind.

In Part 1 of Looking for Mr. Gooddog we briefly talked about the popular sires on the stud circuit and how they may not be the right match for your Princess Perfect when you take it down to a point by point evaluation.  Most of you are probably working with more common breeds than I have but even so, you still need to consider your gene pool.  So for a moment expand the concept of the popular sire to that of the popular bloodline.  Jenna and Bannack are both of my own bloodline.  Dogs I’ve bred are being used by many other kennels in their own breeding programs so I guess you could say my bloodline is getting popular.  Rorik is from a bloodline that is also popular and deservedly so.  Tahoma is from a very good bloodline that has, for a variety of reasons, not been bred very often.  So I am very interested in tapping into these genes in hopes of maintaining good genetic diversity in my bloodlines.

I don’t claim to be an expert on the pros and cons of inbreeding (brother to sister, father to daughter, or other close combinations like these), line breeding (having common ancestors in the pedigree), and out crossing (no common ancestors or at least very few).  Among dog breeders, you can get very heated discussion on these topics rivaled only by discussion of what dog foods are best.  My opinion is that all these methods have a use in specific situations.  For now, we’ll conclude the discussion of Looking for Mr. Gooddog but will come back to the subject of breeding theories next month.

Last But Not Least

Thanks to all of you for the emails.  I have loved writing this series and hope I’ve shed a little light on how to make decisions.  If you have any questions you’d like answered, let me know.  I know very few of the answers myself but promise that I’ll do my best to find out the answers for you.




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