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The Stud Dog...Continued

by Rick Beauchamp

Thus far what we’ve looked at is what the owner of the bitch should be considering when in the process of selecting the best possible stud dog for the breeding being planned. But what about the more experienced breeder--the one who has bred and kept quality bitches over the years but now it seems, has hit the jackpot? Here, in this latest litter is the dream dog--the male with "all the right stuff."

I would think the dog would be one that the breeder feels has a preponderance of the line’s best characteristics plus the quality or qualities that seemingly could take the breeding program a giant step forward. Let’s register him as Mr. Wonderful (add your own kennel name) and we’ll just call him "Wonder" for short.

Wonder could have come about through one of several well thought out breeding approaches: inbreeding, linebreeding or outcrossing. The latter probably being the least popular with the experienced breeder. Most breeders believe the offspring resulting from an outcross are less apt to be less dominant in transmitting virtues than the linebred or inbred dog. On the other hand, the outcross breeding is also more apt to bring in the characteristic that has proven most elusive in a breeder’s own line.

Regardless of approach, Wonder has arrived. There he stands in the living, breathing flesh. He has "it" and more. That’s the good part--the easy part. Well, if not the easy part, at least the part that’s done! But now there are some questions that must be asked. And the answers are not so easy to come by.

Does his genotype back up his phenotype or was this simply a fortunate accident? Will the dog be able to pass himself on--both what the line has and what he has as an individual? What will the downside, the problems, be that will be encountered in Wonder’s use?

Those are the questions my friends. Now let’s go on and see if some of them can be answered.

Personally speaking, I would want to know a dog that might be used on many of the bitches in my kennel and potentially be responsible for hundreds of puppies in his lifetime, had both a significant sire and a quality dam. Ideally the bitch tail line would be one of the consequential ones that has borne the major weight of establishing my own line. If the sire of the litter could boast the same kind of heritage I would be just that much more optimistic about the young dog’s future as a sire.

You might show Wonder and you might run a lot of advertisements and he may do a lot of winning. Terrific! The thrill of victory, the agony of defeat, and all that.

Enjoy that for what it is because gathering every Best In Show rosette in the land will have no bearing on what appears in the whelping box sired by our boy of the hour. He will have to qualify as a producer just like every other dog--through his offspring.

How then can we find out if the "heir apparent" will be able to produce the quality for which we chose to keep him in the first place? There is one way, and one way only. He must be test bred. Test breeding a young stud is a long, time consuming and costly affair and it should begin as soon after the dog is sexually matured as possible. This does not mean he should be bred to death the minute he is capable of breeding. It simply means his mates are selected carefully and lined up for breedings when it is appropriate for the male to have another breeding.

The test stud must be linebred, inbred and out crossed. He must be given the benefit of quality bitches and if space and suitable placement opportunities exist, he should be given a shot at what he can do with the merely adequate bitch. Copious notes must be taken to see what the common denominators are among his offspring.

This takes a number of litters and it requires your seeing all of his offspring as often as you can along the way. See them develop. See them go on to fulfill their promise or disappoint. What similarities both negative and positive exist through all the litters? What are the peculiarities when the dog is linebred--outcrossed--inbred? Do not trust these characteristics to memory. Write them down. Keep a pedigree, description and photo, if possible, of every dam to which the dog is bred.

You are learning what this dog’s genetic makeup enables him to produce. If your only concern is that he sires living puppies for those who plunk down a stud fee, you needn’t bother with all this. This approach is only for people who are serious about improving their line, making a contribution to the breed and in the process, determining just what the young sire is capable of doing.

What to Look For:

Observe the individual offspring in each of Wonder’s litters and note the similarities as well as the differences. Both are equally important. Look for overall consistency of quality in young Wonder’s progeny. If there aren’t at least some quality puppies in most of the litters I would not be too enthused about the young dog’s future as a sire. If you find he is regularly producing disqualifying or very serious faults, eliminate him and those offspring from your breeding program! If you don’t do this, it will haunt you for the rest of your life as a breeder.

But let’s say the dog is on the positive track. Hopefully you’ll begin to see similarities in the puppies regardless of whether they are from similar pedigrees or not. Hope for general uniformity among the good ones. You’re going to have the occasional big one, the small one and the ugly one. There might even be one along the way that has faults yet to be invented. It is totally unrealistic to expect all the puppies in a litter to look alike. Look for the good ones to resemble each other.

I’ve heard people rave about how similar the puppies were in their litter or how they would rather have a consistent litter than just one or two good ones. Quite frankly, I see that as pure nonsense! The "no fault" litter can just as easily be a no quality litter. Toads all look alike. What does that tell you?

You as a breeder are aiming for the good ones--the more the merrier. Don’t concern yourself about the mediocre ones insofar as show stock is concerned. They won’t be shown (or shouldn’t be), and they certainly shouldn’t be bred from. They have no consequence in a breeding program other than making sure everything you breed has correct Boxer temperament and is healthy. A good part of the Boxer’s essence is in that courageous and carefree attitude. Anything less is not a Boxer.

What the stud dog owner should be hoping for is a dog whose offspring are immediately recognizable; dogs that ringside spectators will not have to open a catalog to see who they are sired by. These are the offspring of the truly great sire.

Stud Dog Shopping:

When I’m looking for a stud dog I make it a point to attend the national specialty and watch all the classes--dogs and bitches--puppies on up. I circle the numbers of the entries that catch my eye. Now understand, I’m not talking about something that catches my eye because it’s flashy and shows its head off . There’s nothing wrong with that, it’s icing for the cake you’ll be baking. The dog that gets my circle is the one that meets my type expectations. I don’t check breeding, I just circle the number. I pay as close attention as I can to both the similarities and the differences in the dogs whose overall look has earned them a notation. If the standout also excels in what I feel my particular bitch needs, I put a single diagonal line across the circle. I make it a point to go over this one. If the individual is one that impresses me as something I’d like to see come out of my kennel, I put another, intersecting diagonal across the circle.

I’m interested in seeing what differences lie within my selections because if they prove to be by the same sire or sires, these differences can be an indication of the areas in which the sires are not dominant. Then I must know if my bitch line can carry the absence of these characteristics.

Later I go over my notes and hieroglyphics and see if there is a consistency in breeding behind the dogs I’ve noted. Very often I’ve found that there are one or two sires that will get the credit. However, other times I’ve initially been disappointed because although there was consistency in type, it appeared there was no consistency in breeding. That is, until I did some research.

Invariably there was an answer beyond the obvious. Often I’ve found an extremely influential grand sire who stood immediately behind the sire or the dam or for that matter, behind both. This could be the magic dog. The one who could provide the answers. That is of course if he is indeed compatible with your bitch line. To repeat--no one dog can do it all for the breed!

Wouldn’t it be great though, after you’ve found the dog that you’re looking for, to be able to get educated answers from the owner to those all important questions--what the dog has proven dominant in; what kind of bitch should be bred to him or the kind of bitch that should not be bred to him.

If the dog has been properly test bred and the results carefully noted, you will be able to get those answers. However if the owner tries to tell you his dog can solve all your problems irrespective of the bitch, save yourself a lot of headaches (to say nothing of the money involved) and go elsewhere.

I owned a very famous stud dog of another breed who, in fact, now 30 years after his birth still stands as the top producing sire of all time in his breed. When people would ask me what faults the dog produced, I had one very short answer--ALL! However, he produced one hell of a lot of quality when bred to the right bitches.

I have to admit I helped. When I would spot a bitch that I thought was exactly the kind he did well with I would try and buy her or if not that, try and convince the owner to breed to my dog. As a result he produced Group and Best In Show winners in practically every major dog showing country in the world.

In Summary:

Stud dog management is a critical part of dog breeding. Anyone who thinks otherwise is naive. The problem is that too many people are not willing to invest the time, money and patience required. They want puppies next month for show dogs next year. If they assemble enough dogs and bitches, breed often enough in enough different ways, something good is bound to emerge if only by accident. True, but what about all the residue? And what kind of future does the good one produced by this shotgun method promise?

Give the good bitch the benefit of breeding her to the best stud dog in the country that backs up and adds to her quality. Remember, gambling is for the experienced breeder. There is only one stud dog for a top class bitch--the right one. Better she should be bred once in her lifetime to the right dog than three or four times to second best, because that is what you will invariably wind up with--second best!

So, does this tell it all? Is this the magic formula that guarantees success? Not by a long shot. It simply puts you at the beginning of a remarkable journey--a journey that just might lead you to the Holy Grail of dogdom--the dog you’ve always dreamed about.

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