Hi List- There have been a few interesting threads over the past two weeks that I have felt compelled to respond to, but packaging and trips to the post twice daily with the Christmas coffee orders, end-of-year Show week-end and whelping a litter of eight pups (who should live forever, as they are double Beans and Kelso descendants) has kept me running, not sitting and expounding upon...So I will post in order of oldest thread first...
Peggy Mickelson wrote: " Over the years I've been involved in this sport, three dogs come to mind as having had a MAJOR impact on their breeds...changing the look of the breed entirely. They were the German Shepherd, CH Lance of Fran-Jo, the Golden, CH Cummings Gold-Rush Charlie, and the Smooth Fox Terrier, CH Ttarb the Brat. Brat was an import from Tasmania (we bow again to our friends down under)...the other dogs were American Bred. I don't think we will see anything like those dogs in Cavaliers...those three STAMPED their offspring unmistakably and literally changed their breeds. That's what I call having an influence........ ' Oh, how it warmed my heart to see reference to Charlie, as it seems so many people in dogs (all breeds) are relatively new to the sport and don't know beyond last years' #1 rank (I'm am exaggerating here...). Gold-Rush Charlie, shown and bred thru the 70's, held the #1 Golden Retriever position for over 20 years. His BIS record was surpassed several years back, but he remains the record holder in All Breed points...until very recently he remained ranked #3 Sporting... I truly feel that his influence, both in his progeny and in his show career, did change the Golden Retriever breed in the USA (for better or worst-that's your choice!). As a multiple group and BIS winner, he changed many judges view of what a show quality Golden Retriever should look and act like (he was a innate showman and gentleman, and had that "je ne sais quoi" charisma that true grand dogs have- the pug Dhandy's Favorit Woodchuck and shepherd Covy Tucker Hill's Manhattan had the same "look", among other greats). However, there a many famous show dogs that don't manage to pass on their look. Charlie did "stamp" many of his get with his unique head type, ear shape and carriage, blend of neck to shoulder to back, substance and coat (uh-oh, there's were we get controversial as to his contribution in the Golden world!). Within our own kennel, he was not line breed, but was rather considered "First Generation" of a line..that is, bred to bitches (usually with little in common genetically, but we tried to find like phenotype) and those resulting pups kept based on possessing those unique properties, and then line bred to one another. Thirteen or so generations later one can still find that "Charlie" head, topline, substance and temperament, at least at Gold-Rush. What other Golden breeders who bred their bitches to him and where striving for (and if they got it, and kept it) was up to them-though it does seem as if many of us were after the same thing. Anne of Cavatibs wrote: "I am surprised to see that from 1970 to date neither dog is listed on the OFA web site. One wonders what other major impact these dogs made on their respective breeds. Without health in these highly (presumably) bred dogs, you have nothing. And Terrie wrote: "However, it is my understanding (and please remember this is long before my time in the breed, I was a toddler when Charlie was around) hip clearance testing was in its infancy in comparison to where it is today. I don't know exactly when it became GRCA's advertising policy to include hip, eye, and heart clearances. But I don't think one can compare in any breed the frequency and types of health testing, or lack thereof 30 years ago to today." Well...Hip clearances and the OFA were very much the order of the day by 1972. Again to history-Charlie was bought at 5/12 weeks (!) as 2nd or 3rd pick pup from a well established breeder, with Ch. parents. Ann (my mother in law) had no intention of showing him-she was a PhD. student (in genetics), as was her husband, and they just wanted a well bred family pet. As Charlie grew, and his qualities began to show, they were literally accosted on the streets over and over by dog show folks (often not only Golden Breeders) insisting that they had a great dog. They finally relented, attended a show and won BOB- buckle collar, leather obedience lead and Larry running on the wrong side and stacking him facing the wrong way! And so his show career began. When Ann was told she needed to get his hips x-rayed, she trotted him off to the local vet, and to resulting picture didn't pass. Naivety ruled the day, and Ann didn't realized that it was 1.) a poor xray and 2.) she could resubmit. After much research, she surmised that good hips are not due entirely to genetic factors, and rather than "throw out the baby with the bath water", she choose to breed him. This decision to breed him without the clearance was, and remains an enoumous controvsery amoungst Golden people. However, his hip status was never a secret and outside breeders who choose to breed to him were fully aware of it. Looking back at that old xray (Ann has a photo of it, framed and over her office desk for all to see), I feel he was probably an OFA fair with proper positioning and better film quality...every breeding dog in our kennel this day is OFA, eye and heart cleared ( in fact, there are quite a few OFA excellents in the yard) but that's not to say that we might make the decision to breed one that isn't, if that dog possessed an outstanding quality we needed. This holds true for my Cavalier breeding, as well ;>)! Peggy also wrote" "When we speak of influential dogs, it is well to keep in mind that some dogs who could have and should have been influential did not become so because they belonged to people who may have been disliked, or to people who did not accept all comers for breeding, and therefore did not get used much. This happens more here in the US (and maybe in Canada) than in other countries, where it seems breeders have a better sense of what is important. I've known bitches to be sent to dogs when their owners just about hated one another...but not in this country. Here, often it is who the owner is that determines whether a dog is used often enough to have an effect on the breed...and I'm not just speaking of Cavaliers here." YES,yes, yes, yes, yes! (Gee Peggy, we ought to have dinner!) I can't tell you how many times I've had to defend myself to my dog friends when going to a particular dog that, "I'm breeding to their dog-not them!". It is such a pity that this attitude, along with the "My bitch/stud dog is too good for anyone's but my own" is sooo prevalent lately. Such a closed crowd, these USA Cavalier folks are. Probably true of Golden folk too, to a new person, but as I was born into it, I couldn't tell. It has been a disappointment though, and one reason I ended going south (AU/NZ) with my breeding program... And finally, I will end this massive...uh..missive with the word of the wise Jeanie Montford: "breed the best to the best and hope for the best" Think I'll stick to that, too. Mele Kalikimaka all- Kim Johnson Allegria Cavaliers and Gold-Rush Goldens ========================================================= "Magic Commands": to stop receiving mail for awhile, click here and send the email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?body=SET%20CKCS-L%20NOMAIL to start it up gain click here: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?body=SET%20CKCS-L%20MAIL E-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] for assistance. Search the Archives... http://apple.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ckcs-l.html All e-mail sent through CKCS-L is Copyright 1999 by its original author.
