> Rosanne wrote:
> I was having a conversation with another breeder yesterday, and can't =
> remember what influence a great grandparent, or great great, has on a =
> litter of puppies. Do I remember correctly that it is 1/16? Of course, =
> it would be different if that were doubled up.
> If nothing in the pedigree matches for four generations or more, could =
> matching "names" have an influence at that point?
It is pretty well known that there are, in every breed, dogs that are known as
"sperm carriers,"
who get their bitches in whelp but who seem to contribute little to the
offspring. These dogs
are particularly useful when one is trying very hard to build a line based on a
particular bitch.
It is unfortunate that often these dogs are among those we'd like to perpetuate,
as well...but
they just seem to have no influence. At least not visible influence. Therefore,
a dog such as
this who appears in a pedigree, no matter how often, will appear to have made no
contribution.
How much influence a particular animal has in a pedigree will, then, depend
on the individual
dog. Linebreeding to such a dog doesn't always give any expected result...it is,
in fact, a waste
of energy.
However, having said that, it sometimes happen that such a dog will have a
son who, while
not having any physical resemblance to the dog in question, will be able to "out
produce" his sire.
This is why it is helpful to know more about the dogs in your pedigrees than just
their names.
The most beautiful dog in the world may be a "dud" as a sire. However, it
just may be that
one or more of his sons, while not wonderful enough, maybe, to even get a
Championship title,
is able to reproduce offspring carrying more resemblance to the beautiful,
well-known sire.
The real test of a great sire is not how many Champions he produces, but how
often he produces
BETTER than himself. In the end, very few dogs meet this criteria--but when a
dog can produce
better than himself a few times, then that is the dog you want many times in your
pedigree...assuming
that "look" is what you want. Linebreeding for the sake of linebreeding is
silly because if you don't
know what you're after, or even what you are likely to get, you aren't going to
get anywhere except
by accident. Not an intelligent approach to breeding living creatures, IMO.
And, of course, one must always consider bitches in these pedigrees.
Sometimes I think some
people would be better off trying to linebreed to a particular bitch.
When you study a breed, in this case, Cavaliers, look back at old pedigrees
and see how many
of the great kennels were based on a dog...and how many on a bitch. Bitches who
stamp their offspring
are often more worthy of receiving credit than some of the dogs who tend to get
all the glory.
Peggy
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