> Let's face it. If one is breeding for health, one may have to sacrifice a > little here and there on type. There is no question that one will get > farther in the show ring if one ignores health issues and breeds only for > type and conformation. Higher volume breeders also have an edge in the show > ring; they have more litters to choose from.
I agree with everything you said, except that I also believe you can have both. It just takes a lot longer when health enters the equation. Why? It is simple. Look at how many of the top, top winners and especially the top producing stud dogs over the years were fully tested and/or lived a nice long life of 13-15 years. Breeders who breed with health also in mind were not able to use most of these dogs and were forced to look elsewhere for dogs of slightly less type most of the time. Not that you can't breed really good dogs that way, you can--but it takes a lot more skill and time. The other thing to remember is there is always a political side to showing. If I had owned all the dogs who eventually became CKCSC champions, I could not have finished the vast majority of them. I do not have the money to get to many shows and the ones I do get to are usually the large ones with a lot more competition. I do not have an *in* with any judges, don't talk with any of them personally, haven't visited their houses, purchased dogs from them, no judges have ever visited me, nothing. On the other side of the coin, several of my own dogs would have finished had they been owned and shown by certain others (actually a few almost did finish). There is always a great deal of subjectivity as to who wins. As honest as I am with myself, I doubt even I could judge completely objectively! There tends to be a lot of subconscious stuff going on in the deep recesses of our minds. I am positive that nothing I do is completely objective. I am human. And I'm pretty sure most judges are too. People see my dogs at shows. They are not any less typey than the top winners and are more structurally sound than the vast majority. I honestly believe are competitive with the best and they do WIN at shows. They are typey AND healthy! Laura Lang ========================================================= "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 2002 by its original author.
