CARING FOR YOUR DOG.
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THE BROOD BITCH. All the best books and all the best breeders will tell you without any hesitation that the most valuable asset any kennel which is striving to breed winning stock can have is a good brood bitch. This basic concept cannot be doubted. What makes a good brood bitch? Basically all of the general things which the previous chapters of this booklet have touched upon. Namely, health, well adjusted in temperament, freedom from hereditary disease and of good quality. Mostly it will be the ability of the bitch to mate normally, conceive easily and deliver without undue fuss a healthy, good-sized litter and then, equally without fuss, raise the entire litter to weaning age. For purposes of producing show dogs, even more is required. She will have a good pedigree. Not merely the three to four generation paper which is the normal attachment to all pure bred dogs, but one which perhaps hails a line of notable pillars of her particular breed. She should exhibit the special traits of the family concerned. She will have attained the standard height and expected weight set down in her breed standard and she will not depart from any breed requirement to any degree which could be considered of a serious nature. Most of all, she will have the ability to pass on the desired features to her offspring and she will have the temperament to transmit to her brood, by example, that all is well with the world. The temperament and disposition of the brood bitch is of paramount importance. Until the pups leave home they will learn from, and mimic, their mother – both good and bad! It is virtually impossible to breed mentally sound and stable puppies from a bitch with bad temperament. Her puppies will, as a result, have the best possible start in life. They will be well formed, well fed, healthy and well adjusted. The bitch that panics easily, is a fussy feeder, and has a history of ill health cannot do these things for her puppies, or for you, no matter how beautiful she may be. She is best avoided as a prospect for the whelping box. Avoid also the orphaned or hand reared female, unless you can be absolutely sure that the reasons for the artificial rearing were accidental and not familial degeneration of the ability to procreate normally and without help. A future of misery is in store for the breeder who insists on veterinary intervention when his bitch is reluctant to breed normally. Such bitches will generally follow through into expensive caesarian deliveries, be reluctant mothers, leaving their overwrought owners to supplement or completely hand rear the puppies. Without natural sustenance it is rare for puppies to fulfill potential as 100% healthy adults. These litters almost always run their owners into financial loss and, worse, it is often the female puppies from such unfortunate ventures that perpetuate the family woes. A truly good brood bitch is beyond price, but if it is your aim to become a noted breeder, no price is too much to pay for such a gem, if indeed one were to become available. Since we have opted to be custodians of our breed, as breeders, it is our responsibility to the future gene pool to see that poor natural breeders are not perpetuated – no matter how good looking we perceive them to be. By simply not breeding from them is far less harsh than nature’s means of culling. In short, we aim to produce puppies which are sound both mentally and physically . THERE
IS MORE TO BREEDING DOGS THAN PRODUCING PRETTY LOOKING SPECIMENS.
THE BROOD BITCH IS THE KEY TO THE IMMEDIATE FUTURE BECAUSE SHE HAS
TOO MUCH INFLUENCE ON HER PUPPIES BEYOND HER CONTRIBUTION TO THEIR
GENETIC MAKE UP. |
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