Fatter than God

Undertoad · 10-12-2005, 02:30 PM

Just in case you're not just being a wiseacre - I can never tell, I'm dense that way --

Dog breeders, of the sort seen in "Best In Show", are trying to improve a breed by selectively breeding for quality. A good breeder is looking for puppies that are good enough to be Champions, and thus both contribute to the breeding pool and to their own wallet.

Some littermates will be immediately rejected as not showable, and thus will be "pet-quality", rather than "show-quality" dogs. Mismarking, bad gait, anything "wrong" can rule a dog out of the show ring life but most of these make great pets. I met a Boston whose fault was that he stuck his tongue out all the time. Not showable - but an awesome little pup.

Bean, my dog who died a few months ago, was from a top dog named Dusty who was a super Champion - Best of Breed at Westminster, actually. But when Bean was born, his mother bit one of his ears off, and thus Bean went immediately from show dog to pet dog, and his price reduced from $3000 to $500.

(As it turned out, one of Bean's testicles did not develop and thus he would have been pet quality anyway. And due to certain congenital defects he should not have been bred, and was not.)

10-12-2005, 02:30 PM	#32
Undertoad Radical Centrist Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Cottage of Prussia Posts: 31,423	Just in case you're not just being a wiseacre - I can never tell, I'm dense that way -- Dog breeders, of the sort seen in "Best In Show", are trying to improve a breed by selectively breeding for quality. A good breeder is looking for puppies that are good enough to be Champions, and thus both contribute to the breeding pool and to their own wallet. Some littermates will be immediately rejected as not showable, and thus will be "pet-quality", rather than "show-quality" dogs. Mismarking, bad gait, anything "wrong" can rule a dog out of the show ring life but most of these make great pets. I met a Boston whose fault was that he stuck his tongue out all the time. Not showable - but an awesome little pup. Bean, my dog who died a few months ago, was from a top dog named Dusty who was a super Champion - Best of Breed at Westminster, actually. But when Bean was born, his mother bit one of his ears off, and thus Bean went immediately from show dog to pet dog, and his price reduced from $3000 to $500. (As it turned out, one of Bean's testicles did not develop and thus he would have been pet quality anyway. And due to certain congenital defects he should not have been bred, and was not.)

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