[ SHOWGSD-L ] Labradoodles and outcross breeding and Joan Ford
- From: GSD0110@xxxxxxx
- To: showgsd-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Mon, 20 Aug 2007 09:36:18 EDT
I just did a staircase in the home of a couple who recently moved here from
England. Shortly after they moved here they bought a Labradoodle.... The
father of the dog is a standard Poodle.... the mother is a Labrador Retriever.
This Labradoodle has an EXTREMELY bad temperament.... He is afraid of his
shadow.... He has EVERY skin allergy known to mankind..... and has had eye
infection after eye infection. I could easily finish a good dog on what they
have
spent on vet bills for this dog..... Their idea was that a complete outcross
would have the "smarts" of a Poodle (unfortunately that didn't work out for
them either) and the outgoing personality of a Lab. They also thought they
wouldn't get the health issues associated with Labs or Poodles.....
My son has a puppy who is 8 months old.... He is 1/2 Australian Shepherd and
1/2 Australian Cattle Dog.... He is very smart (not as smart as my GSD's but
smart)... and he is very athletic. But he is cryptorchid....So much for the
theory about outcrossing solving the problems of dog breeding.
Joan Ford always said that outcrossing would set your breeding program back
5 years. When I show people the pedigrees on my dogs it scares some people
to death because they are linebred so closely.... But I haven't had a recurring
health issue since I started breeding this way.... I try to remember all the
things Joan looked for in a breeding prospect...things that many people
overlook...like general health....for Joan they had to have temperament beyond
reproach.....the bitches had to have vulvas large enough to be bred naturally
and have puppies naturally....males had to be "powerful" not only as movers
but to her movement was VERY important (structure is proven by movement). To
Joan an OFA number wasn't nearly as important as "knowing what you are
dealing with"....
Joan bred few litters and almost always got something good in each
breeding... usually more than one per litter (no I am not joking). She got
few
problems because she did her homework BEFORE she did the breeding. She could
overlook weak ears but never a weak rear without strong follow through... a
long
coat didn't bother her but never a curly or coat that was really wavy... and
if it had a health issue she was aware of it didn't get bred by HER... she
looked at stools... dogs or bitches that had continual loose stools didn't get
bred. In short she was very selective about which animals she bred... over the
years she outcrossed,linebred and inbred... and she was successful with all
three methods.
If Joan had done an inbred breeding and gotten health issues she would
eliminated the culprit from her breeding program... She would never have
outcrossed to mask the problem. Joan Ford had an amazing eye for a dog. If
she ever
came up to you at a dog show and told you that you had a good one.... You had
a good one. But she used that eye primarily in her own kennel and she
looked for things that many people overlook. She believed in and used Lloyd
Brackett's breeding practices.. she always told me that pedigree was
important.... but when it comes to breeding the two most important dogs in the
pedigree
are the one over your knee and the one directly behind the one over your knee.
The advice she gave me was to be VERY selective and breed dogs with your
head and not your heart.
I guess I am just really missing Joan today. There was so much more to learn.
Gary Lewis
_www.GarterGermanShepherdDogs_ (http://www.GarterGermanShepherdDogs)
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