THE CHOICE OF A SIRE.

Otago Witness, Issue 2251, 22 April 1897, Page 34

THE CHOICE OF A SIRE.

Although great improvement in the quality of colonial-bred dogs has taken place duriug tho past few years, it is open to question whether our breeder* have given sufficient attention to the choice of the sires made usa of. In too many'casoa owners of brood bitohes secure the service* of prominent prize-winners, without studjing whether the said prize-winners are suitable to mate with their stock. When the object in breeding in merely to make money by the sale' of the puppies, the use of a well-known champion is, generally speaking, advimblc, as new fanciers are always on the look-out for puppies bred from, or closely related to, well* known winners. To the true fanoier, tho real charm in breeding dogs for exhibition is the thought that by oareful selection and a 6tudy of the charactsristics of the different 8&r«in8 of the breed ha fancies he may at some time produce a specimen excelling in the beat points of the' breed. It is true that many well-known winners have been bred by chance, aud that there is a certain amount of luck in breeding good dogs ; at the same time the careful breeder has every advantage on his Bide, and must gooner or later achieve success. A few years ago, when pedigree bitches were comparatively scarce, and the number of desirable stud doga was very limited, breeders had, little or no choice in tho matter. Now, however, in many breeds we h&ve representatives of the bent strains in the world, and the haphazard style of breeding «o long in vogue in the colonies should give place to careful and systematic I selection both of sires and dam?. To the ! owner' of a well-bred brood bitch I would say, I carefully note her defects and try to counteract i them by the use of a sire exotptionally good in I those points in which she is defective. In some I cases, such as lightness of bone, want of eize, &3., the defects miy be constitutional, and when_ such ii known to be the case, of. course, allowances must be mido accordingly. The practice of breeding from priz> wioners simply because they are priza- ! winners is foolish in the • extreme. Then, | again, some breeders continue to breed I from bitches of uncertain pedigree, and although som'3 improvemsnt may, and probably will, be 1 made iv the progeny, same of them will sarely throw back to thair ancestors. The true secret of sueoeas in breeding is to mate together dogs of undoubted pedigree, each possessing nob only the points of the breed they represent, but also the characteristics of the family to which they belong. Certainly the breeder of eporfcing dogs should make it a rule to breed only front dogs able to do the work required of the particular breed they represent, and if this were insisted upon owners of stud dogG which are useless in the field would foon ba in a minority. It has been conclusively proved that doga bred from parents whose training has been neglected are far more difficult to break than those bred from working stock, and the want of intelligence shown by many show dogs of the present day is probably due to the fact that too little attention has been paid to practical work in the field and too much given to show points. M»Dy of onr promine.it fanciers fully recognise this fact;, and are desirous, by ni3aus of field trials, to Jtelp to remove the idea so generally entertained by sportsmen that ihow dogs are comparatively useless in the field, Oae other point in connection with the choice of a sire, and that ia that oa!y thoroughly healthy dogs should be made use of. OI courso, all doga are liable at times to ba out of sorts and condition, but ia the c*bo of dogs which are always more or lsss troubled with skin diseases, impure blood, &c, it is not advisable to U3e them for stud purposes, however well bred they may be. I have no^ referred to the question ofm-breedi'Dd a subject

About which much discussion has taken place, hut it 18 one which is well worth the study and attention of intelligent breeders.