What To Look For In A Breeder

Breeder/Exhibitor Ed, Breeding/Genetics

written & submitted by Kathryn Zerkel

1. All reputable breeders have a zillion questions to ask why you chose their breed and why you want a puppy.
2. They belong to at least one of the breed clubs and have a code of ethics to follow.
3. They only breed a bitch once a year, if that often, and they do not breed them until at least 2 years of age.
4. They make sure dog and bitch are both health tested for everything possible within that breed.
5. They show their dogs and can tell you what they are striving for in their breeding program.

KNOWING WHEN TO RUN AWAY FROM A BREEDER:

1. If credit cards are accepted RUN AWAY.
2. If they have many litters a year RUN AWAY.
3. If they say their breeding dogs have no problems therefore need no testing RUN AWAY.
4. If they have several different breeds RUN AWAY.

And remember to be VERY wary of those that advertise champion backgrounds, yet when you look at the pedigree the champions are several generations back.

What We Can Do For The Doberman

Breeder/Exhibitor Ed, Breeding/Genetics

written and submitted by Bill Garnett

Back in December, I was watching the confirmation hearings for Dr. Robert Gates regarding his becoming the next Secretary of Defence for the United States. During that hearing, a chord was struck, or if you will, a question was asked, and I paraphrase, “When does one stop thinking of their own accomplishments and center their concerns around the well-being of those they serve, protect and promote?” At that point, I couldn’t help but reflect on the words of our late President John F. Kennedy when he said, “ask not what your country can do for you . . . ask what you can do for your country.” At the risk of being overly dramatic, but also being as serious as I can be, a question arose in my mind. As Doberman fanciers when do we begin to think of the Doberman in terms of . . . not what the Breed can do for us . . . but what we can do for the Breed? As I began to dwell on that sentiment, I thought of myself and reminisced about the path that I had taken regarding my involvement in the sport of pure bred dogs and Dobermans in particular. I thought of how that involvement not only affected me, but in the long run, how had it affected the Doberman and its heritage . . . if at all.

As a young college student attending my first dog show in Richmond, Virginia, I was drawn to the Doberman ring. With its magnificent presence, beauty, grace and athleticism, it was only natural, being somewhat of a hot shot athlete, that I would find the Doberman to be my kind of dog. Not too long after that, I purchased a back yard pet named Max, and so began almost a half century love affair between me and the Doberman Pinscher. According to a “local expert”, Max was show-able, whatever that meant, so I entered him in a few shows in the American Bred class. My reasoning for entering him in the American Bred class was that I had purchased Max in America. That tells you how much I knew in those early days. However, being of a very competitive nature, I found the dog show ring to be right up my alley, and it helped that Max even won a class or two which peaked my enthusiasm even more.

At a show in Virginia Beach, I met a man by the name of Monroe Stebbins. Mr. Stebbins was a man of athletic build, a broad smile, Hollywood handsome and an impeccable dresser. Monroe, as he later asked me to call him, was showing a big winning dog by the name of Ch. Ebonaire’s (sic) Touchdown. As I recall, a smooth standard sized dog of balanced proportions. I was hooked . . . hook, line and sinker . . . I was hooked! And for the next twenty years, I pursued the art of winning like nobody you’ve ever known. I devoured everything and anything related to the art of showing dogs. I watched handlers and picked their brains whenever one would talk to me. I became obsessed with winning until one day, years later, after “I” had won everything one could win at a dog show, it finally hit me . . . it was all about me . . . it had nothing to do with my dog. The dog just got me into the game. That’s when I began to realize that there was more to the sport of pure bred dogs than winning a red, white and blue ribbon. I then asked myself what could I do for the Doberman besides using it just to get into the game. That’s when the three Ps kicked in and completely changed my whole outlook on the sport of pure bred dogs. That was the moment that I realized that our function, as Doberman purists, was to Preserve, Protect and Promote the Doberman, not just satisfy an insatiable appetite for winning.

In order to Preserve, Protect and Promote the Doberman Pinscher, for the next twenty-some years, I studied and read everything and anything regarding the Doberman’s standard that I could get my hands on. I have studied the standard backwards and forwards until I am blue in the face. I picked the brains of every knowledgeable Doberman person that would talk to me (many turned out to be not that knowledgeable, but that’s a whole other story) until I had become as knowledgeable regarding the Doberman and its standard as anyone who might challenge that statement. Granted, some may not like my black and white objectivity . . . some might not like my outspokenness . . . and some may think I’m far too literal in my interpretation of the standard. But what you must understand is that I live in a black and white world . . . no shades of grey . . . totally devoid of subjectiveness and personal ego, and because of that, it is my firm belief that an objective interpretation of the standard would serve breeders and judges well in their pursuit of getting it right.

But enough talking about me. I did so because I needed someone to play off of by which to make my point. And what is that point? I sense a large segment of the fancy is more hung up on winning, more so than I ever was. So much so that only a few people are paying attention to what’s happening to the Doberman. For instance, most people don’t see or understand the slide in temperament. Few people recognize the loss of balance, the lack of compactness and squareness, and even less people seem to understand the importance of proper size. And finally, the loss of soundness of mind, body and joints doesn’t seem to be of concern to a majority of Doberman people. My question is: How can that be, when those attributes are the very essence of what makes up a standard conforming Doberman? Few, if any, seem to care or give a damn as long as what they are showing is winning. They live by that mentality . . . if it wins, it must be right. Unfortunately, anymore, it may be more accurate to say . . . if it wins, it most likely is wrong.

In life, we all play the hand we’re dealt. Likewise, in the sport of pure bred dogs, we do the same. By that, I mean we buy or breed a dog to show hoping that it turns out to be a nice standard conforming example of the breed. But what if it doesn’t? In poker, we fold a bad hand, but in dogs, it’s not that simple. If we are any kind of people at all, that dog we bought or bred, whether it’s a good or bad example of the breed, is with us as our buddy for hopefully ten or twelve years. You just can’t throw it away like a bad poker hand and draw another, as some actually do. So what do we do? We start looking at our dog through rose colored glasses and before long we say . . . it looks like a Doberman . . . it eats like a Doberman . . . it barks like a Doberman . . . it acts like a Doberman . . . so it must be a Doberman, and before we know it, we have convinced ourselves that . . . it is a good Doberman.

So good or bad, we’re off to the shows. And, all too often, like some poker players who bluff a bad hand, we huff and puff and bluff until we find enough people who buy into our bluff, and before we know it, we have a Champion on our hands … we are looked upon as breed experts, and our expertise is sought far and wide. And that, my friend, is how some breed experts are made. And not one of you reading this article can tell me that has not happened.

Now the question that I put before you today is this: Who among the following breeders and exhibitors, in years to come, will one day ask themselves the question, “What can I do for the Doberman?” and turn their whole approach or outlook one-hundred and eighty degrees to the Preservation, Protection and Promotion of the Doberman? Who will downplay the pursuit of winning and become more of an expert in their understanding of the standard? Who will stand up and turn down the “fad of the moment”? I ask you who will suffer the slings and arrows and stand strong and tall and not be intimidated? Will it be the Santanas, the Carys, the Claggets, the Martins, the Lucoffs, the Auchs, the Smiths, the Sparagnas, the Blooms, the Lewises, the Krukars, the Kosters, the Cuzzolinos, the Wentzels, the Mattsons, the Irvines, the Witts, the Dezerns, the Teagues, the Caseys, the Van Ormans, the Moores, the Greens or the Jameses? The list goes on and on. Who will step forward and lead by their example by saying, “What can I do for the Doberman?” Who will control the destiny of the Doberman Pincher a
s we know it and as the standard describes it? Who will become the givers? Who will Preserve, Protect and Promote? It’s crunch time my friends . . . critical mass time . . . the clock is ticking . . . and the speed of geometric progression is about to set in.

Now to my last and, perhaps, my most important observation. Who is most responsible for the mess we find our breed in today . . . Loss of balance . . . lack of compactness . . . long bodies . . . improper size? And finally, the loss of soundness of mind, body and joints. You tell me, who’s responsible? The judges? The breeders? The handlers? Some say it’s the breeders. Some say it’s the judges and some even blame it on the handlers. Well here’s the way I see it. In my narrow little world of objectivity, it’s clear as a bell to me that the answer to that question is . . . WE THE JUDGES.

If we judges knew and understood the standard and judged to that understanding, you would be amazed at how fast breeders would start breeding standard conforming Dobermans. It’s not rocket science. Water seeks its own level and takes the path of least resistance. But water driven by politics, cronyism, incompetence and a win-at-any-cost mentality will soon flood its banks and drown out any and all vestiges of what our forbearers had in mind when they left us their legacy. Is that how we want to be remembered? I think, and should hope, not.

Remember: Your Doberman loves you unconditionally . . . more than you’ll ever know. Return that love . . . for you are all that it has.

“The DOBERMAN PINSCHER is a SQUARE, COMPACT, MEDIUM size dog of BALANCED PROPORTIONS, NOBLE in its carriage, COURAGEOUS by nature, keenly INTELLIGENT and SOUND of MIND, BODY and JOINTS” . . . Bill Garnett

What Is A Good Breeder?

Breeder/Exhibitor Ed, Breeding/Genetics

Written by Peggy Adamson
Text of a speech given before the Annual Symposium of the “National Dog Owners and Handlers Association” in Feb. 1969; and published in their newsletter.

The breeder is the mainspring of the dog world. Without the breeder, there would be no dogs. Without the dogs, there would be no kennel clubs, no dog shows, no judges, no handlers, no trainers, no dog food companies, no dog publications.

Despite their importance, the breeder represents a very small segment of the dog world, which in turn, creates the dog business. Furthermore, they are the ones who seldom, if ever, make a profit, even in the most popular breeds; and since they cannot take a livelihood from their breeding activities, they must be able to rely on some other source of income.

Why then, do people ever become Breeders??

A breeder has, in his mind, a perfect dog that he someday hopes to create. He presses on to breed his ideal dog, unfettered by desires to be a conformist, or to pander to the buying public. Like the artist or sculptor, he is activated by a creative, inner drive which is totally unaffected by considerations of what will sell or what won’t. Unlike the sculptor however, he is working with living flesh and is constantly fighting time. He can never put his work away and come back to it later. The raw material on which he labors is constantly changing – sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse; sometimes as a result of his efforts and sometimes in spite of them. Nature and Time are his greatest adversaries, yet when he least expects it, they may prove to be his greatest allies. The sculptor can use the chisel to chip away at his mistakes, but it may take years for the breeder to see where he has made a mistake – a mistake which in some cases may never be remedied.
 
True breeders speak the same language, whatever their breed. Without the slightest previous communication, they discover that they think the same way, they have the same ideals and goals and standards of behavior and the same awareness of responsibility. Like the Beautiful People in the social world, they immediately recognize each other – not because they know each other’s names or who they are, but because as kindred spirits they realize what they are.

Just WHO and what IS a Breeder?

Technically, anyone who owns or leases a bitch and produces a litter out of her is a breeder of dogs. It is of no matter what considerations were involved in the choice of mate or what the puppies were like, or how they were disposed of- perhaps to the nearest pet shop. This person has bred a litter, the minimum requirement to becoming a Breeder. He is now on the lowest rung of the breeding ladder. How far upward he goes will depend on many factors, some of which are under his control, and some of which are matters of luck. Some people paint all their lives but never become real artists; some people raise hundreds of litters of puppies, but never become true Breeders.

Let us consider how people buy their first pure-bred dog. It usually comes about in one or two ways. In the first case, the person passes a pet shop with a litter of puppies, frolicking in the window, lingers to watch and impulsively decides to buy one of them. Presto! he has now become a dog-owner. In the second case, a person sees a dog in the street, in the movies, or on television, likes it’s looks and makes up his mind to have one just like it. How does he go about it?
 
He picks up the newspaper, sees a litter advertised, goes to look at it, and comes home with a puppy. Few people in either group have ever seen a dog magazine or been to a dog show. They want to buy a dog (and I say this in quotes) “with papers” although they have only the foggiest idea what they mean. The dogs that these people buy are like children who grow up with no family.
 
A much smaller portion of pure-bred dogs are bought as a result of advertising in dog magazines and other trade publications. These are the dogs which form the bulk of our dog shows. For the most part, they are bought from Breeders. They are not usually the result of impulse buying, but of considerable searching, looking and even waiting. Many of these dogs are the second pure-bred dog for the owner, the first having come from one of the two groups first mentioned.

How does a dog-buyer move from the first or second group to the third? Some never do. But if, by sheer luck – and it is often just that- the buyer gets a reasonably good breed specimen, he may become interested in the breed and want to find out more about it. He may attend a dog show, read books and magazines, seek out training classes and dog clubs and by his own efforts become what the cognoscenti regard as a “Dog Person”. But he has to do this all on his own.

Had he bought his dog from a real Breeder, everything would have been much easier for him. Just what does he get from the Breeder – or let us say, what can he expect?

Family Pride

First and above all, he gets a pride of ownership, not only in a breed but in a family. The pedigree he gets with his dog will mean something to him – the real Breeder will see to that. It will come alive to him – if not immediately, certainly eventually! There is magic in a name which stands for something, and it will rub off on all that possess it.

We see this in the case of our great families in the social and political world, the Rockefellers and Roosevelts, the Astors and the Kennedys. In the dog world we find it in illustrious kennel names. These names do not become illustrious overnight, nor are they illustrious merely because they are familiar to people through aggressive advertising. A name which is synonymous with quality in the mind of the public is that of a great store, “Tiffany’s”. How long would it retain it’s aura if we began to hear television commercials shouting its’ prestige, or urging “Rush to Tiffany’s this weekend for the greatest sale of the year”? Thus, because a name is known to the public is no assurance that it is a great name. Only years of high standards and good taste will create a name that is an asset to a human being, to a product, or to a dog.
 

The Influence of the Real Breeder is Far Reaching

He invests the people that buy his dogs with the desire to become breeders themselves and an appreciation of all this entails. From him, they learn a philosophy of showing, a code of ethics in sportsmanship. They learn how to train their dogs, or where they can be trained, how to handle their dogs and where and when or whether to show them. The breeder encourages them to go to training and handling classes, read books and dog magazines, advise them how to breed their bitches, raise their litters, take care of their old dogs. He answers innumerable questions and gives out emergency advise when they can’t get a veterinarian. All this, a good Breeder attempts to do. Unfortunately, as the years go on, he realizes he has created a Frankenstein, which grows constantly bigger and threatens to devour him. For this reason, all Breeders eventually reach a point where the more conscientious they are in recognizing the demands on them, the more difficult they find it is to take care of all of them.

The Breeder is Like the Head of the Family

He gives those who buy his dogs a sense of “belonging”. This is of the utmost to people with their first or second dogs. They develop an interest in the dog’s ancestors, about which the breeder can give them a wealth of information, and in the dog’s relatives. Thus is built up a great family pride– in their own dogs and in all the other dogs that carry the same kennel name. They learn from the breeder more about their breed and what constitutes a good specimen of it than they could ever find out from any book. The breeder, in a good many cases, is also a specialis
t. This is to say, he is an authority on his own breed and can be expected to know more about it than any judge who is not a specialist. He teaches those to whom he sells his dogs to evaluate their own dogs, many times encouraging and training these people so that some day they may be able to become specialists themselves.

The real breeder disciplines himself not to expect gratitude or appreciation for his services– which is well, because those who benefit most will rarely give public recognition to the fact. The real breeder does what he does because of what he is. he can not do otherwise.

Breeders have a great deal to say about their Breed Standard. They give generously of their time to the national Breed organization and it is through a consensus of the breeders that the Standard is arrived at, or changed.

The Breeders are the Aristocracy of the Dog World

If there is a caste system, they are at the very top. Each breeder has a great sense of his own worth. Individually, that is. He is proud to be what he is and what he stands for. However, he rarely thinks of his worth collectively with other breeders. That is because Breeders are independent and individualistic. Therein lies their strength – and also their weakness. It is why their importance as a group is constantly overlooked in the hierarchy of the dog world. There are many more women Breeders than men Breeders, yet the American Kennel Club , which could not exist without breeders, allows no women to be a part of it’s governing body. (**NOTE: Remember, this was written in 1969) Even an all woman club which is a member of the AKC must be represented by a man. Obviously, this discrimination on the basis of sex is a matter which advocates of equal rights for women have not as yet taken notice of!

The great advances made by any breed – and I am not here referring to registration increases – have all been brought about by the Breeders.

In distinguishing between the Breeders in the best sense of the word and those who fall short of it, I shall refer to these people as The “Breeders” and the “Puppy Raisers” The primary difference between the Breeder and the puppy-raiser is the awareness of responsibility; responsibility to his breed, to his goals, to the dogs he has bred and to the dogs he hopes to breed. He also has a never-ending responsibility to the people who have bought his dogs, to the people who are about to buy his dogs and to the public image–not only of the dogs he has been producing but of the breed itself.

The Breeders are essentially givers. They give to their chosen breed much more than they will ever receive. Their rewards are intangible rather than financial. Here again is the great difference between the Breeder and the puppy-raiser. The latter produces puppies in order to sell them, getting them off his hands as quickly as possible before their cost has eaten up his hoped-for profit. The breeder, on the other hand, has an entirely different motivation. He breeds a litter only when he can devote the necessary time, money and work to it. he never breeds when he knows he will be up against a deadline; that is to say, a time when he knows all his puppies must be sold.

Never, never does he breed a litter unless he plans to keep something from it, which hopefully will bring him one step closer to producing his ideal dog. If the litter is disappointing, he may sell the whole litter; but the better the breeder, the less often he will find it necessary to do this. The Breeder is constantly selecting and pruning his stock, sometimes because he no longer needs it, and sometimes because he has discovered a reason why he does not want it. The two reasons are very different. In the case of a dog he no longer needs, the reason may be that he has gotten from that dog what he wanted in order to further his breeding plans. In the case of the dog he no longer wants as breeding stock, he may have uncovered a reason why this dog would be detrimental to his breeding program.

The Breeder is Constantly Faced with Difficult Decisions

Actually, the latter are his breeding cast-offs. Yet they may be delightful as individuals. They are not so faulty that they should never be bred, yet they fall far short of the Breeder’s standards. They are like the so-called “seconds of sheets and towels by Famous Makers” that stores advertise as “slightly irregular”

The breeder does his best to put these dogs in the homes of people who are not primarily interested in breeding, but all too often they turn up later with litters advertised in newspapers and magazines, trading on his name and reputation to help sell the puppies. Though the dam and/or sire may carry his kennel name, the puppies are not of his breeding, a distinction that the dog buying public seldom realizes. Sometimes this causes the Breeder embarrassment. Much more often, it fills him with annoyance. Many years ago, this situation occurred in one of the dog magazines with a Collie Breeder, who proceeded to feature the following statement in all her advertising: “The purest water is at the well”.

The Breeder’s Greatest Problem is to Hold Down His Dog Population

The better the breeder, the difficult this becomes and each time he breeds a litter, he increases it. For this reason, the breeder does not, and cannot, breed often. He keeps more dogs than he should, not because he wants to but because he will not part with a dog unless he is sure it will be for the dog’s best interests. As a result, many of these dogs live in his house to the day they die, as treasured pets, even though they are no longer used in the breeding program, either because they have already contributed or because they can not make the contribution he wants. Occasionally, in the case of the one who has already contributed, he may either sell or give this dog to someone else, who will indeed be fortunate and can thus benefit from the Breeder’s handiwork. This person may be another breeder, or he may be a novice. In the case of the dog he does not wish to use in his breeding program, it may be sold or given to someone who is not interested in breeding and who wants just one dog as a lifetime companion.

The one dog owner who gives a dog his individual attention for the duration of its’ life, loving it, training it, perhaps showing it, can do for the dog what no Breeder ever can. Because the breeder is so well aware of this he sometimes parts with his very best dogs, often to the surprise of others. If this dog happens to be a male, there will be no loss to his breeding program unless the dog goes to a distance place, but in the case of a bitch, he usually reserves some breeding rights. Where a sizable sum is involved, this usually is a right to select the stud and chose a puppy from the first litter. In this case, the Breeder is taking a calculated risk, and one which he frequently finds disastrous; namely, the gamble that there will be a bitch in that litter that he can select to carry on with. If there is not, he has lost far more than the one fine dog he has sold, and there is really no way of estimating the full extent of his loss.

The breeder is always thinking in terms of the past and the future, while the single dog owner is concerned with the present.

The Puppy-Raiser does not Care to Whom he Sells His Dogs

The important objective for him is to get them sold, and as quickly as possible. He is like the gardener who scatters his seed all over the ground with little regard for it’s subsequent growth and cultivation.

The breeder, on the other hand, has deep concern for the ultimate destination of what he has produced. To him, a dog is not an over-the-counter commodity to be sold to anyone who wants it and has the money to pay for it. This matter of attitude is another one of the great differences between the breeder and the puppy-raiser.

When the Breeder sells or disposes of a dog, whether very young or grown, he is parting with something th
at is much more than what it looks to be in the eyes of the prospective buyer. The buyer sees a beautiful specimen of the breed- healthy, sound and a look of quality. The breeder sees all these things, but a great deal more. To him, the dog represents years of hard work– often menial work– years full of excitement, exultation and disappointments. He does not merely see the beauty in the individual dog before him, but a long line of ancestors, dogs that he knew and loved and that went into the making of this particular individual. When the Breeder looks at an animal he has bred, his view has an extra dimension– he sees that dog in DEPTH.

The Breeder Carefully Screens Prospective Buyers

He knows that changes of ownership can have a traumatic effect on a dog, especially if there are several of them. The dog becomes confused and loses his sense of security, an absolute necessity if he is to have confidence. This situation is as disastrous to a dog as it is to a child, in fact more so because there is no way to explain to a dog what is taking place.

From the standpoint of the breeder, the ideal one-dog owner is a pearl beyond price. The more such people he can enable to possess his dogs, the more successful he will become as a Breeder, and the more successful he is as a Breeder the more likely he is to have more good dogs than it is practical for him to keep. Unlike the puppy-raiser who breeds his bitches every season and often has several litters at a time, the breeder rarely breeds his bitches more than three or four times in a lifetime, and some times not even that many. The expenses of maintaining his dogs year after year are exorbitant, and coupled with this never-ceasing drain on his resources is the gnawing awareness that even though they get the best of food, veterinarian care, and love, he cannot possibly give them the advantages which would be theirs in the case of the ideal one-dog ownership. For this reason, he is usually reluctant to sell to other breeders, feeling that the dog would not be bettered by the change of homes where it would still be one of many.  He can give each dog he owns everything that money can by and his limitations of his can allow – he can literally give the dogs his entire house, and all his furniture – piece by piece! But the only thing he cannot give is the important feeling of being # 1 dog in the household, and the chance for constant exposure to the outside world.

The Puppy-Raiser Rarely Asks Questions

If the buyer wants a dog and has the money to pay for it, he has met the only requirements necessary to take possession of the dog.

But the Breeder’s attitude is very different. The Breeder not only asks many questions to which he must get the right answers or he will not sell the dog–he must also know something of the buyer’s background. What dogs did he have before? How old were they when he got them, and what eventually happened to them? What were the things that he liked about each one and what were the things that annoyed him? From these answers, the Breeder will have to determine what kind of dog-owner this buyer has been, and what kind he is likely to be. Did he have only one dog who lived to be 13 or 14 or more, or did he have several dogs, each of which he disposed of for a variety of reasons. Obviously, the latter buyer is going to be a bad risk. He is like the car driver who has many accidents, none of which he believes to be his fault.

When considering a buyer, the breeder must project his thinking into the future. He must decide whether the germs of future trouble are lurking in the buyer’s present situation and thinking. If a young man, is the buyer likely to go into the Army, or to college? If an older man, does his wife want this dog? If a bachelor, who will care for the dog if anything happens to him? What attitude does the buyer have toward his past disappointments? Does he blame everyone except himself? Is he the type of person who is always trying to get as much as possible for as little as possible? Would a really good dog be wasted on him?

To the extent that the breeder can make these evaluations successfully, he will save himself many future complications. No matter how many dogs he has, as long as his money and his health hold out, his dogs are a problem to him, but only a problem. The problems of keeping them well fed and comfortably housed may seem difficult at times, but they are not serious. In the hands of the wrong buyer, however, the dog becomes a hostage. Why?? Because the breeder cares. It could not matter to the puppy-raiser because he would not concern himself about such matters.

Regardless of how carefully he screens the buyers, the Breeder will still have occasional disappointments. Human nature being what it is, this is inevitable. Dogs will be returned to him– and he will accept them– not because of any fault in the dog, but because the buyer himself, or the conditions of his life, have changed.

What happens to These Dogs?

Few people realize the number of older dogs that live to the age of 13 or 14 in the homes of Breeders. In the business world, these dogs would be considered obsolete equipment and destroyed. But the Breeder’s world is different. He recognizes a responsibility toward anything that he has brought into the world and takes care of it until the dog is dead– or he is. If he can find the right person to sell or give it to, he does; but if he can not, he continues to keep it himself. The drain on the breeder’s strength and finances is merciless. Occasionally, when faced with severe illness or drastically reduced income, he may have to decree that some or all of his dogs be put to sleep. And even this costs money. When a breeder makes this decision, few people understand it.

The general public and those who have never known the responsibility which goes with more than one or two dogs will probably regard this as cruelty. But, as previously stressed, the Breeder has a responsibility for whatever he brings into the world until it goes out of it. If the dog is in the wrong hands, he must try to get it back, and then either keep it or see that it is put into the right hands. If the Breeder is no longer able to do this, there is only one way he can be sure his dogs will never know hunger or abuse. That is euthanasia. To the breeder who loves his dogs, there is no more tragic decision he will ever have to make. when he himself is faced with incapacitating ill health, or even death, he must recognize the cold hard facts regarding the future of his dogs. Without his guiding hand and sense of responsibility, the dogs are much better off dead. A breeder will make any sacrifice to avoid this situation, but when it arises, he will do what he knows is necessary. Why? because he is a Breeder and feels responsibility towards his animals

Now, what of the Breeder’s Responsibility to His Breed?

A successful breeder usually becomes something of a public figure. He may be requested to write about his breed, to speak about it, to judge it.

His relationship to his breed is something very different. As a judge and as a writer, he must be completely objective. Indeed, he must bend over backwards to achieve this impartiality.

The breeder’s responsibility to his breed does not permit him to use opportunities either in judging or writing to exploit his own stock. He is abrogating this responsibility to the breed, not to mention considerations of good taste, if he uses a magazine’s breed column to promote his own breeding, or in judging to favor the same. He can make known his bloodlines and his winning through the paid advertisements, providing they are honest and factual, but never uses the public space to get free publicity. When the breeder writes for the public, he is representing his breed, not himself or his stock, and it is this broader perspective that sets apart the true Breeder with a sense of responsibility from the commercial one whose only consideration is to
promote his wares.

A Breeder has Great Care for the Public Image of His Breed

He tries to inoculate these values in the people to whom he sells his dogs, and in everyone with whom he comes in contact. He is reluctant to criticize what he considers the shortcomings of other Breeders, or to fault the products of their handiwork. He scorns high pressure salesmanship and the advertising techniques of Madison Avenue. Giving straightforward answers to the people who have bought, or are about to buy, his own stock, he neither glosses over the faults nor makes exaggerated claims or predictions. He is forthright in his thinking, his talking, his actions. People instinctively trust him, not because he asks for their trust, (which he does not) but because of what he is.

The real Breeders are the heart and soul of the dog world. They stand proud and often alone, resisting commercialism, undeviated in their search for perfection and idealistic in their code of ethics.

What Is A Breeder?

Breeder/Exhibitor Ed, Breeding/Genetics

by Peggy Adamson, Damasyn Dobermans

A Breeder (with a capital B) is one who thirsts for knowledge and never really knows it all, one who wrestles with decisions of conscience, convenience, and commitment.

A Breeder is one who sacrifices personal interests, finances, time, friendships, fancy furniture, and deep pile carpeting! She gives up the dreams of a long, luxurious cruise in favour of turning that all important Show into this years “vacation”.

The Breeder goes without sleep (but never without coffee!) in hours spent planning a breeding or watching anxiously over the birth process, and afterwards, over every little sneeze, wiggle or cry.

The Breeder skips dinner parties because that litter is due or the babies have to be fed at eight. She disregards birth fluids and puts mouth to mouth to save a gasping new-born, literally blowing life into a tiny, helpless creature that may be the culmination of a lifetime of dreams.

A Breeder’s lap is a marvelous place where generations of proud and noble champions once snoozed. A Breeder’s hands are strong and firm and often soiled, but ever so gentle and sensitive to the thrusts of a puppy’s wet nose.

A Breeder’s back and knees are usually arthritic from stooping, bending, and sitting in the birthing box, but are strong enough to enable the breeder to Show the next choice pup to a Championship.

A Breeder’s shoulders are stooped and often heaped with abuse from competitors, but they’re wide enough to support the weight of a thousand defeats and frustrations.

A Breeder’s arms are always able to wield a mop, support an armful of puppies, or lend a helping hand to a newcomer.

A Breeder’s ears are wondrous things, sometimes red (from being talked about) or strangely shaped (from being pressed against a phone receiver), often deaf to criticism, yet always fine-tuned to the whimper of a sick puppy.

A Breeder’s eyes are blurred from pedigree research and sometimes blind to her own dog’s faults, but they are ever so keen to the competitions faults and are always searching for the perfect specimen.

A Breeder’s brain is foggy on faces, but it can recall pedigrees faster than an IBM computer. It’s so full of knowledge that sometimes it blows a fuse: it catalogues thousands of good bone, fine ears, and perfect heads…and buries in the soul the failures and the ones that didn’t turn out.

The Breeder’s heart is often broken, but it beats strongly with hope everlasting… and it’s always in the right place ! Oh, yes, there are breeders, and then, there are BREEDERS!!

Tail Male Line

Breeder/Exhibitor Ed, Breeding/Genetics

Theresa Mullen
Terrylane Dobermans, USA

BEFORE WE START…

Some guidelines for “talking” pedigrees and reading pedigrees—-a SIRE’S position on a pedigree is always at the top over the dams side. A dog is “SIRED BY” a particular male, “NEVER OUT OF” when talking males and sires.

A dog is “OUT OF” a particular bitch, “NEVER BY” a bitch. So, it’s — BY a certain sire and OUT OF a certain dam. The sire is listed first, then the dam. So, the proper terminology in the proper sequence would be — Ch. My Pretty Boy — BY Ch. Mr. Wonderful, OUT OF Ch. Miss America.

Bitches are relegated to recognition by their number as they appear in the pedigree — the “FIRST DAM” or simply “THE DAM” is the mother — “SECOND DAM” is the grandmother — “THIRD DAM” is the great grandmother — and on and on.

“TAIL MALE” line, is the continuous, unbroken chain of males and their progression through the generations tracking on the sire side only. The “TAIL MALE” begins with the “SIRE”, then goes to his sire, or the dogs “GRANDSIRE”, then goes to the grandsire’s sire, or the dogs “GREAT
GRANDSIRE”, and on and on.

“TAIL MALE” tracking has for hundreds of years been done with all forms of livestock and animals, as the male has always held importance above the females influence with “stockmen”, in general. This is primarily because the “herd” of females is sought to be improved upon by bringing in a superior male to breed with the “herd”.

Also, the genetic importance of the pair of “sex chromosomes” — which is that pair that establishes the gender of the offspring — is passed on and determined by the male. The male carries the ” XY ” in his genotype that make him a male — or the ” Y ” is what determines if the offspring will be male. All females carry ” XX “, and can only contribute an ” X ” to her offspring.

So, we know one thing for sure about the male line — that is that the ” Y ” is definitely coming from the male and is continuously passed from generation to generation by only the male/sire/father –NEVER the female/dam/mother. This is why the “TAIL MALE” tracking is so important. We know FOR SURE and ABSOLUTELY that each male gets his male sex chromosome from his father. The rest of the genetic package is purely random and cannot be established who is the contributor specifically.

The charts I’ve included track the “TAIL MALE” progression through the generations. I’ve started them with CH. GRA-LEMOR DEMETRIUS VD VICTOR and charted down through to the present. Only MALES are on the chart. Sires that have prominent daughters are not in the same category as “Tail Male”, so I will cover those sires under the “Maternal Families” at a later time.

When starting at the top of the chart—the dogs underneath each dog are his sons. Many will only have one or two sons. This is not unusual, even for sires that have had many, many Champion offspring. If there is one extremely interesting fact that comes out of this project, it is that “huge numbers” of offspring do NOT insure a sire of being an IMPORTANT sire. Some of these sires have produced 1 or 2 males that have gone on to have just as much influence as a sire producing 40+ Champions. That is why breeders should NOT DISCOUNT the quality sire that is not the top producer of the time, but has quality offspring consistently. You will be able to follow the progression of the generations traveling down through the chart. The oldest dogs are at the top, and the modern dogs are at the bottom.

Also, interesting to note, that the overwhelming dominance of CHAMPION males almost exclusively dominate. Only one or two modern sires are NOT CHAMPIONS.

The figures for Champions produced, whelping dates and other specifics are the ones that I had available at the time I was doing my work on this project. So, if errors are found, they are not intentional and I apologize.

This project is a huge undertaking, as there are no modern texts, manuals or books that one can go to obtain this information in one easy step. Most of the modern books contain a few pedigrees and condensed comments about dogs, so my project has taken many directions.

One area that I am very dismayed about is the difficulty one has with gathering information that should be readily shared with fellow breeders. I come from a racehorse background in early life and with Standardbreds (racing harness horses) we are able to get facts and figures from the registry and the “SIRES AND DAMS” yearbooks. One is printed every year — which contains the sires and dams, both alive and deceased and their production records going back several decades. NOTHING is hidden and is there for all to see.

It is most disheartening to me that there is no way the AKC will allow this type of publication, as they consider this information “PRIVATE” and not for public viewing unless the owner volunteers it. These “horse” SIRES AND DAMS books are a thousand pages of bloodlines, and production records. I can go to a sire and it will tell me how many offspring were born that year, how many two year olds, three years olds and on up, and which mares were bred to him, and on and on. I can go to a dam listed alphabetically and each foal (offspring) will be listed by year — by sex, color, sire and any race record he/she has and at what age it was obtained.

I can only hope that there could be more disclosure about statistics that would allow the true evaluation of Doberman (as well as all breeds) breeding stock. For people like me, who studies every detail of the breed and especially pedigrees and bloodlines, it is not so important. I can for the most part “figure out” what I need to know. But for the new fanciers and exhibitors and future breeders that desperately NEED to have this information it is frustrating. There is so much more to study and know now than there was 20 or 30 years ago — so many more dogs — literally hundreds and hundreds that will be bred and contribute to the future of the Doberman.

I hope you will all enjoy reading this project and examining the charts. We have many more to examine, as the other sire lines are just as fascinating. And the maternal families are very helpful in trying to understand their most important contribution—-just as important as the sires.

Part 1: Domossi, Emperor, & Dictator

In 1951, when breeder extraordinaire and icon of the Doberman breed Peggy Adamson wrote her article “ILLENA AND THE SEVEN SIRES“, there were ONLY SEVEN MALES AND ONE BITCH that had produced more than TEN Champions. This information is necessary to put into perspective where we’ve come with our breed in the last 50+ years.

In the early formational years of any breed, you find a limited number of breeders considered the “core foundation” that take the available population and develop the breed. These breeders are very, very small in comparison to the numbers of people in this 21st century who are breeding Dobermans in particular, and all breeds in general. As the popularity of a breed grows, the numbers of people who desire to own them and go on to breed them also grows exponentionally. The numbers of Champions in these early days shows that the total Doberman population was small compared to today’s numbers.

Today’s breeders have a much different task when selecting sires and dams. Not to diminish the influence of the early breeders, but their choices of stock was limited, so therefore the chance of going too far astray was not that great. Today’s breeders need to be far more knowledgeable about all areas of the breeders realm—-the STANDARD, anatomy and physiology, health issues, working aptitude, proper temperament and definitely a good handle on the pedigrees of the dogs available. There are literally hundreds of choices that a breeder can pursue, as there are many sires and dams out of all the foundation lines that exist today. The breeder must become a breed “scholar” to
have continued, generation after generation, success—-a monumental task.
In 1951, the top sires were:
Ch. Westphalia’s Rameses–11 Ch.
Ch. Favoriet Von Franzhof–13 Ch.
Ch. Westphalia’s Uranus–14 Ch.
Ch. Emperor of Marienland–18 Ch.
Ch. Domossi of Marienland–20 Ch.
Ch. Alcor V. Millsdod–26 Ch.
Ch. Dictator Von Glenhugel–37 Ch.

This noteworthy group established the famous “SEVEN SIRES” that laid the foundation of the Doberman in this country.
Of interest also is that of the foundation “Seven Sires”—three died as a result of heart attacks:
Domossi at the age of 7
Emperor at the age of 8
Alcor just before his 10th birthday.
Emperor is the son of Domossi.
The other four lived beyond 10 years
Dictator, Domossi and Favoriet were reds; Alcor and Rameses were dominant black; and Emperor and Uranus were #3’s — black and carrying red. None carried dilution.

The American Doberman was at its zenith in the decade from the 40’s to the 50’s. Rameses was the oldest whelped in 1938 — and Domossi and Uranus whelped in 1939. Emperor and Favoriet were whelped in the spring of 1941 and Alcor and Dictator in the fall of 1941.

Domossi and Dictator were full brothers — two years apart — Domossi the older. These two full brothers were line-bred on Ch. Seiger Muck V. Brunia — the grandsire tail male and the great-grandsire on the maternal sire. Emperor was sired by Domossi. So these three sires were closely
related.

The other four sires are all related — sharing the common ancestor Ch. Kurt vd Rheinperle-Rhinegold. This is most significant as this dog alone represents a huge contribution to the establishment of the Doberman breed in the USA. Uranus is the grandson of KURT; Rameses is a son of KURT; Alcor and Favoriet are sons of Uranus, making them great-grandsons of KURT.

Another interesting note about these sires — both prominent lines trace tail male ELEVEN GENERATIONS back to a dog named HELLEGRAF. So, the lines are joined together by this dog of old and through the “SEVEN SIRES” we have come another TWELVE GENERATIONS to the modern times where we continue to improve on what these sires have given us.

These “Seven Sires” and their first and second generation progeny were manipulated by the “core” breeders of the 1940’s and forward. They were crossed intensely with each other … and were divided into two “sire lines” as Dictator, Domossi and Emperor were tightly grouped — two brothers and a son. And the other line … Uranus, Rameses, Alcor and Favoriet, all sons or grandsons of CH. KURT VD RHEINPERLE-RHINEGOLD. As you can see … these 7 males and the inclusion of “Illena and Jessy”, two bitches that were greatly influential in this foundation breeding era, represent the Dobermans that all American Dobermans trace.

Remember always, that we are confined to what these ancestral dogs have passed on. We work with the health issues and the conformation, temperament and working abilities that we’ve inherited. The first fifty years from Hellegraf through his tail male lines were dogs that were all foreign bred — Germany, Holland and others. The dogs that were brought here in the late 30’s to early 40’s were to establish the breed in this country. They were reportedly the best available at the time, as many were bred in their homelands and left offspring to carry on their lines there.

This is not to say that there were not Dobermans imported into this country in earlier times. However the popularity of the Doberman began its upward spiral with the emergence of this era and particular decade. This time has forever stamped it’s influence on the modern Doberman in all areas of interest. This was truly the “infancy” of the breed in this country and was marked by dramatic line-breeding and inbreeding between the various offspring of these prominent sires. This is not unusual whenever a core breeding population is used to establish a breed. Superior animals are used as the initial grouping of breeding animals and the inter-breeding ensues. Because of the nature of this necessary beginning with any breed, the traits that will forever be “locked in” will continue to be seen throughout the generations. So, it is no wonder that sires that displayed both positive and negative traits in this influential time, continue to influence the breed in our modern times. It seems that the health parameters that existed with the early dogs were very evident, leading one to deduct that the Doberman as a breed had limitations when its lifespan was scrutinized by the early breeders. Like many other breeds that have very short life-spans, like Danes, Wolfhounds and other large breeds, there is the acceptance that these breeds are not going to survive to 13+ years for the great majority of the population.

The sire line that we’ll examine first is the “TAIL MALE SIRE LINE” line established by the two brothers Dictator and Domossi. Since they are full brothers, they trace to LUX VD BLANKENBURG tail male. They trace to this dog SIX TIMES in six generations — making LUX the dominant figure in their pedigrees.

CH. DOMOSSI OF MARIENLAND
Domossi sired only one male that has had any great influence on our present Dobermans. That male was CH. EMPEROR OF MARIENLAND. Domossi was a shade under 27 inches and was considered the most compact and short bodied of the seven. He had a good tail-set and always carried his tail up and alertly. He had good, strong pasterns but was the straightest in angulation of the seven.

Domossi was the only one of the seven that had a missing tooth — a premolar, but had proper occlusion. Domossi’s major contribution besides the tail male sire line through Ch. Emperor of Marienland was through his daughters. They were crossed with the other seven and of significance is that 10 of Dictators Champions were out of Domossi daughters.

DOMOSSI is the sire of CH. DOW’S DODIE V. KIENLESBURG — who in turn is the dam of two extremely important dams. CH. DOW’S DAME V. KIENLESBURG is the dam of 9 Ch. and the foundation of the Brown’s breeding program. From this bitch came CH. BROWN’S ERIC (27 CH) who sired CH. BROWN’S DION (35 CH), who is the maternal grandsire of the great sire CH. BROWN’S B-BRIAN (27 CH). DION was instrumental in the breeding program of TOLEDOBE Dobermans of Judy and Pat Doniere. DAME is also the prominent maternal influence in the pedigree of CH. JO’S BRANDY ALEXANDER ( 9 CH) as she appears 8 times in 5 generations.
This male is the grandsire of the great producer CH. MARIENBURG’S SUN HAWK (86 CH).

Dodie is also the dam of DOW’S DITTY V. KIENLESBURG — who in turn is the dam of one of the most prolific foundation bitches of the breed and the foundation dam of the AHRTAL Dobermans of TESS HENSSLER. She produced 16 Champions including CH. HAGEN VOM AHRTAL, who produced XANDU VOM AHRTAL, who in turn is the sire of the great CH. CASSIO VOM AHRTAL (42 CH).

Domossi daughters were a vital influence at this time and were extensively crossed with the other six sires and their sons, producing many important Dobermans that extend to today’s pedigrees.

CH. EMPEROR OF MARIENLAND
This sire was considered the most elegant of the seven. He sired CH. ROXANNA’S EMPEROR OF REEMON (8 CH) who in turn sired the male CH. RANCHO DOBE’S RIFF, who sired CH. RANCHO DOBE’S BACH, who sired CH. RANCHO DOBE’S CELLO the sire of the great producer CH. RU MAR’S MORGANSONNE, C.D. (27 CH). This sire line is alive today primarily with the DOB MANN Dobermans of Edd and Irene Bivin through the sire CH. GERENT’S ELDO RADLEY DOB MANN (49 CH) and with the FOXFIRE Dobermans of Michelle Santana and Clarice Tom with Eldo’s grandson CH. FOXFIRE’S DEVILS N’ DEMONS (27 CH).

CH. ROXANNA’S EMPEROR OF REEMON is also the sire of the prominent dam CH. RANCHO DOBE’S KASHMIR, the dam of CH. RANCHO DOBE’S PRIMO (11 CH), the sire of the influential sire CH. RANCHO DOBE’S STORM (12 CH), who is the grandsire of the two great sires — full brothers CH. FELIX
VOM AHRTAL (30 CH) and CH. FLORIAN VOM AHRTAL (13 CH). Each of these two sires have their own prominent sire lines alive today. FLORIAN is represented by SOQUEL Dobermans of Linda Hoff, CH. SOQUEL’S DISTANT THUNDER(45 CH) and FELIX is represented by the lines from CH. TARRADO’S CORRY to the present, ARRAY Dobermans of Linda Rayman, CH. ARRAY POINT BLANK (39 CH) and his son CH. PLATINUM’S BACK IN BLACK (41 CH), PLATINUM Dobermans, Sue & Art Korp.

So, in examining these two sires — DOMOSSI and his son EMPEROR, we can see clearly that these two sires have contributed much to the modern Doberman. The remaining sire line descending from DICTATOR has emerged as the most prominent and prolific in the history of the Doberman breed.

CH. DICTATOR V. GLENHUGEL
Much has been written about this most influential sire, as he was owned by Peggy Adamson, one of the pillars of the American Doberman, breeder extraordinaire and respected judge. DICTATOR was a red dog of wonderful conformation — bred by John Cholley of Ohio. He was the younger full
brother of Domossi, another of the “Seven Sires” that were the foundation of the Doberman in this country.

Dictator stands alone in this era as the premier sire, having produced 52 Champions in an age when the Doberman population was a fraction of what it is now. One must use their imagination to visualize the awesome position in the breed that this one dog was elevated to by virtue of his producing record — a monumental feat in any era, but especially the early formational period of our breed.

Dictator and Domossi were a product of the best of the German imports. They were line-bred to CH. SIEGER MUCK V. BRUNIA through his two imported sons CH. BLANK V.D. DOMSTADT, their sire — and CH. SIEGER TROLL VD ENGELSBURG, their maternal sire.

Dictator sired 77 litters in his public stud career — a most popular sire. His very successful progeny were the product of combinations of the Seven Sires daughters and granddaughters. His influence is still alive and represents the sire line descending from his son CH. DAMASYN THE SOLITAIRE (12 CH) through his son DUKE OF LOMBARDI (2 CH), to his son CH. DAMASYN DERRINGER (13 CH) to his son CH. GRA-LEMOR DEMETRIUS V.D.VICTOR (51 CH). Another DERRINGER son, CH. DAMASYN CARLY OF JERSEYSTONE (14 CH), was influential through his daughters — many offspring were the product of DICTATOR lines combined with CARLY lines. CARLY was prominent in many of the TOLEDOBE Dobermans of Judy and Pat Doniere.

CH. GRA-LEMOR DEMETRIUS VD VICTOR (51 CH) was the driving force as a stud dog in the late 60’s to early 70’s. He was an impressive, powerful black dog that has stamped his style and prolific male influence forever on the modern Doberman. His two most recognized sons were CH. KAI ESA’S PASSING PARADE, CD — who was a red dog, whelped in 1974.

The other male, also a red dog, was MARIENBURG’S RED CLOUD (1 CH). RED CLOUD produced CH. MARIENBURG’S GREAT SPIRIT (3 CH), and through his son CH. BALI-MOR’S WAR NO MORE, CD, ROM (2 CH) became the grand sire of the prominent sire CH. LEMIL’S FIRECRACKER (27 CH). This red male, whelped in 1987 established a sire line that is represented today by the LEMIL Dobermans of L. Michelle Lewis and the MI-TI Dobermans of Carol Silverman, Jackie Lavadiere and Shirley Baker.

CH. KAI ESA’S PASSING PARADE produced 5 Champions, among them CH. BEAULANE WINDFALL (7 CH), who is the sire of the great CH. ELECTRA’S THE WIND WALKER (98 CH) — an icon among sires. He is responsible for establishing lines from not one but three prominent sons that have many Champion offspring and descendents among them. They are CH. BEAULANE THE NITE RYDER (18 CH), CH. AKELA THE VINDICATOR (37 CH), and CH. ELECTRA’S CHUBASCO (6 CH). Plus, he has many other Champion producing sons that have contributed through their sons and daughters to the quality of the present Doberman.

WIND WALKER’S most prominent son is CH. BEAULANE THE NITE RYDER (18 CH) and on to his son CH. BRUNSWIG’S CRYPTONITE (107 CH). This branch of the tail male line represents a most powerful influence today. CRYPTONITE has established the top producing sire in CH. CAMBRIA’S CACTUS CASH (155 CH) through his sire CH. RAHDY’S SAIL THE SEVEN SEAS (27 CH). SAIL THE SEVEN SEAS is a line-bred sire, the product of WIND WALKER in the second and third generation.

CRYPTONITE’S other top sons that established lines of importance are the two sires that are emerging as renowned brood bitch sires—-CH. PRIMARY CAUGHT REDHANDED (20 CH) and CH. RAVENSWOOD CAIRO V. AQUARIUS (33 CH). CH. TELSTAR’S ICON (8 CH) has produced a noteworthy sire, CH. AEOLUS THE MASTERPIECE (3 CH). CRYPTONITE has also produced five other Champion producing males, that are listed on the Tail Male Chart.

NITE RYDER is also the sire of the important brood bitch sire CH. KALEPH’S RUNNING WITH THE NITE (17 CH), and CH. BRIARWOOD NITE SHIFT (10 CH), and CH. BEAULANE TOP GUN (8 CH).

Of particular interest with this tail male line is that WIND WALKER, NITE RYDER and CRYPTONITE have powerful influences through the male line, but also exert a prominent role in producing sires that produce the top brood bitches. Most sires produce better sons or better daughters. This line is especially worthy to notice that great brood bitches are also produced from
this sire line.

The influence of the sires that are active today will not be fully felt by the Doberman breed for many years to come. As you can see with the brief analysis of these first three sires of the famous “SEVEN SIRES”, that often the true worth or harm that a sire is capable of contributing can change the entire course of the direction that a breed will take. The manipulation of the bloodlines by the current breeders is of the utmost importance to the continued positive path that our breed needs to take. This is why knowledge of the past dogs and analysis of how and why breeders did what they did, is paramount to be successful and continue to improve and preserve the Doberman.

PART 2: Rameses, Favoriet, Uranus, & Alcor

In the last instalment, we covered the three sires Ch. Domossi of Marienland, Ch. Emperor of Marienland and Ch. Dictator V. Glenhugel. As you’ll remember, these three sires are closely related. Domossi and Dictator were full brothers, although from different litters — Dictator being the younger. Emperor was the son of Domossi. And, so the three were a very close grouping of sires.

You’ll remember that Domossi daughters were far more influential in their contribution to the Doberman breed than any of his sons, with the exception of Emperor. Emperor founded the sire line of Ch. Ru Mar’s Morgansonne, CD, whose son Ch. Azteca’s Beacon is the grandsire of the prominent modern sire Ch. Tolivar’s Boo Radley Dob Mann and his offspring.

Domossi daughters are responsible for 12, or almost a quarter of his brother Dictator’s total tally of Champions.

These three sires figure very prominently in today’s modern bloodlines. Of interest to remember about the seven foundation sires is that, the above three and the other four that we are about to study — all trace “TAIL MALE” back to a dog named **HELEGRAF**. He is found eleven generations back into the past behind all the seven sires.

RAMESES, FAVORIET, URANUS AND ALCOR
These four sires are all related, sharing the common tail male ancestor CH. KURT VD RHEINPERLE-RHINEGOLD. This is most significant, as this dog alone represents a huge contribution to the establishment of the Doberman breed in the US.

Rameses is a SON of KURT.
Uranus is a GRANDSON of KURT.
Alcor and Favoriet are sons of Uranus, making them GREAT-GRANDSONS of KURT.

So, as you can see, like the other three sires who were closely related — we have these four sires who are all closely related — all either a son, grandson or great grandson of KURT.

As individual specimens, Alcor far surpassed the others. He had a spectacular show career and was very successful in the Group ring, also. O
f the other three, Rameses and Uranus had successful show careers. Favoriet was little known as a show dog, his main recognition was that he was a half brother of the famous Alcor.

As far as physical comparisons — Alcor had the most notable gait which was correct, smooth and ground covering and had great strength of quarters. Alcor also had the best “turn of stifle”. Interesting to note is that the family of Domossi, Emperor and Dictator were strong in pasterns, but frequently lacked enough angulation. The family of the other four, closely related, were often weak in pasterns and tended to have too much angulation. In the two sires Alcor and Emperor — the two “families” were combined, for both of them were outcrosses.

As taken from Peggy Adamson’s piece on “ILLENA AND THE SEVEN SIRES” — “If a composite Doberman could be made, using only one of the many qualities which each of the Seven Sires was known to possess and transmit, it might have been:
Dictator’s temperament
Favoriet’s front
Rameses chest
Uranus’ ribspring
Alcor’s rear quarters
Domossi’s tail set
Emperor’s elegance
Peggy Adamson felt that ILLENA had the best head piece of all these foundation Dobermans. We will cover Illena under the Maternal Families that were influential.

Some information on KURT — he was a black dog, whelped December 28, 1931. Although Kurt was a Champion, he was described as “not prepossessing in appearance and indifferently successful in the show ring, but due to his heredity, he was a huge success as a sire.” We all know that it is not necessary for a great sire to be stellar in the show ring, but he must be a good specimen and possess extreme high quality in his ancestors roster. Kurt’s dam was a very beautiful bitch — a Siegerin, and possessed a tremendously quality packed pedigree.

Kurt benefited by the many years of breeding expertise that his owner, Westphalia Kennels, had gained in the breeding and Conformation arena. But, perhaps the most significant advantage for him was the fact that one of the truly great, great bitch producers of our breed was bred to him. This bitch being Ch. JESSY VD SONNENHOEHE. This genetically powerful bitch had already produced a SIEGER and a SIEGERIN when bred to Ch. Troll vd Englesburg. Jessy was bred to Kurt in 1938 and produced seven Champions in that litter.

Fourteen months later, Jessy was bred to a two year old, unknown, unfinished son of Kurt named PERCILES OF WESTPHALIA, who was out of Princess Latona of Westphalia by Astor of Westphalia. Astor is the sire of KURT– so again we see intricate, intertwining of the sires. From this breeding to Perciles, Jessy produced the great sire Ch. WESTPHALIA’S URANUS. Uranus sired CH. ALCOR, who is responsible for Ch. RANCHO DOBE’S PRIMO, who is the great grandsire of the great producing trio — CH. FLORIAN VOM AHRTAL, CH. FELIX VOM AHRTAL and the powerful brood-bitch producer, CH. KOHLEN.

URANUS also sired CH. FAVORIET V. FRANZHOF who was a most prominent bitch producer crossed with the other “Sires” and Uranus also sired CH. KAMA OF WESTPHALIA, who in turn sired the great CH. DELEGATE V.D. ELBE. DELEGATE sired Ch. Hagen Vom Ahrtal who is the grand sire of the great producer CH. CASSIO VOM AHRTAL.

Delegate also produced the wonderful producer CH. DORTMUND’S DELLY’S COLONEL JET, the sire of the great producer and exceptional brood-bitch producer CH. STEB’S TOP SKIPPER. This line is very prepotent for quality in both sires and dams. Top Skipper daughters figure very prominently in the pedigrees of many great producers since his time. We covered the sires descending from the great producer Ch. Gra-Lemor Demetrius vd Victor. DEMETRIUS was out of JERRY RUN’S BOO SPRITE, bred and owned by Grace Moore, and Boo Sprite was sired by CH. STEB’S TOP SKIPPER. So, again, we have the combination of the two sire groups coming together with DEMETRIUS within his pedigree. We will be examining this line descending from URANUS later, as the volume of sires and dams is a study by itself.

When you examine the **SIRE CHART** for these four sires, you will find that several things happened as these sires produced their sons and daughters and the line continued TAIL MALE. You will see that the full brothers, CH. WESTPHALIA’S RAMESES AND CH. WESTPHALIA’S RAJAH founded no prominent tail male sire line. They are represented by bitches that they sired and combined with the other SEVEN SIRES and their sons contributed to the pedigrees of many great producers.

Ch. KAMA OF WESTPHALIA is out of a daughter of RAJAH — and CH. FAVORIET V FRANZHOF is out of a daughter of RAJAH. We know that daughters of RAJAH combined very well. The ALCOR son CH. JET VD RAVENSBURG was out of a Favoriet daughter. When the JET daughter SINGENWALD’S JESSICA was bred to the DELEGATE son, CH. RAVENSBURG BERT — this breeding produced CH. SINGENWALD’S PRINCE KUHIO — the sire of 37 Champions.

CH. ALCOR V. MILLSDOD got a slow start as a stud dog, siring his first litter when he was three years old. He was nearly 5 when his first two Champions were finished. ALCOR was the first Doberman to twice win Best of Breed at Westminster. He also won permanent possession of the DPCA Trophy.

ALCOR produced CH. RANCHO DOBE’S PRIMO, who was out of CH. RANCHO DOBE’S KASMIR – a daughter of CH. ROXANNA’S EMPEROR OF REEMON. Roxanna’s Emperor was sired by Ch. Emperor of Marienland and out of Ch. Westphalia’s Roxanna — a daughter of KURT and JESSY.

PRIMO sired CH. RANCHO DOBE’S STORM — one of the most famous Doberman’s of the 50’s. He was owned by Len Carey and won Best in Show at Westminster an amazing two times. To quote F. F. H. FLEITMANN, a great authority on the breed, and saying in an article of the time comparing the German dogs with the American dogs — “the Germans have not yet produced a dog to beat Storm. But then there is quite a difference between Storm and the next-best American dog.”

CH. LAKECREST THUNDERSTORM
Ch. Lakecrest Thunderstorm was sired by Ch. Rancho Dobe’s Storm and out of Ch. Apache Lady of Lakecrest. LADY was beautifully bred, and carried two crosses in the third generation (great grandparents) to both Favoriet and Uranus. Both her sire and dam were similarly bred. This combination of STORM and LADY OF LAKECREST gave CH. LAKECREST THUNDERSTORM strong producing power. His most prolific sons that are represented in the modern Doberman are the two litter brothers CH. FELIX VOM AHRTAL and CH. FLORIAN VOM AHRTAL. The other top brood-bitch producer was CH. KOHLEN, who left no tail male line, but his daughter HOTAI SIBYL SELENE represents him well in the modern Doberman. Her descendents are very prominent today, and represented by Ch. Vivian’s Selena and her offspring, Ch. Elexa’s Final Flair of Selena; Ch. Elexa’s Odyssey of Nordlicht; Ch. Elexa’s Odessa; Ch. Elexa’s Odera. Sibyl Selene’s son CH. HOTAI SWEET WILLIAM and another son CH. HOTAI KARNIVAL KING figure in many modern pedigrees. We will cover Ch. Kohlen and his contribution to the modern Doberman later, as his primary influence is through his daughters.

CH. FELIX VOM AHRTAL
We are only going to spend a brief time with FELIX, as his descendents and their influence are another huge list. Our primary focus will be with CH. FLORIAN VOM AHRTAL, the black littermate of Felix.

Felix was a blue dog and one of the powerhouse sires that Tess Henssler had in the 60’s, along with her Cassio and the black littermate of Felix, which was Florian. Felix was a marvellous sire of both dogs and bitches and Tess made many combination breedings using the offspring of these three dogs. It was a credit to his quality and pedigree that so many breeders of the time were willing to use a blue dog on their good bitches, as blue was not a prominent color or one of popular choice. If you examine the chart, you will see that he sired some exceptional males that went on to contribute immensely to furthering the beauty and correctness of the breed. CH. TARRADO’S CORRY; CH. ALNWICK’S BLACK FURY BI
SMARK; CH. HIGHBRIAR BANDANA; CH. BRANDENDORF’S PERIWINKLE all left their mark on the modern Doberman for the better.

FLORIAN VOM AHRTAL
Florian was the black litter brother of Felix. He was a most important sire in his time, especially for producing great bitches. His daughters and granddaughters figure prominently in many pedigrees of top sires and dams, tracing to modern times also. His son CH. RAVENSBURG FALSTA was to carry on his tail male line into the 21st century as CH. SOQUEL’S DISTANT THUNDER who was the top producing living sire in the breed with 50+ Champions.

FALSTA was out of a DELEGATE daughter—-a littermate to CH. RAVENSBURG BERT who sired the great CH. SINGENWALD’S PRINCE KUHIO. DELEGATE and FLORIAN shared the common tail male sire URANUS, who we know was a most powerful sire of extreme quality. Falsta immerged as the grandsire of the fabulous producer CH. HIGHLAND SATAN’S IMAGE. Satan was truly unique in his time, as he sired 50+ Champions in an era where 25 was a true feat. He was a most common sire in many of the top winners and producers. And he sired a handful of prominent sons that made their mark through both sons and daughters.

SATAN was out of a PRINCE KUHIO daughter, and coupled with the influence of his grandsire FALSTA, whose dam was a full sister to the sire of PRINCE KUHIO — we see the strength of this dog coming through to strengthen the impact of Satan’s pedigree. CH. CAESAR MY LOVE tallied a total of seven crosses to URANUS in his pedigree, and this added to SATAN’S prepotency.

SATAN’S top producing son was the great sire CH. MIKADOBE’S CUPID. Cupid carried a great influence from Prince Kuhio from Satan. But, when you look at Cupid’s dam MIKADOBE’S KIBITZER, we see that her sire CH. HOLLYHIGH’S DAMON was a **DOUBLE** PRINCE KUHIO grandson — and Kibitzer’s dam was sired by PRINCE KUHIO. So, in three generations of Satan’s dam, PRINCE shows up **three times in three generations** — a 3 x 3 cross — extremely line-bred on PRINCE, and a beautiful example of powerful line-breeding with strong individuals. It’s not difficult to see, upon analysis, why CUPID was the great producer that he was. From Cupid, we proceed down the Chart and see his four prominent Champion producing sons that are influential today. Of these four, CH. LUJAC’S DANIEL immerged as the sire that was to carry on through CH. TERADEN’S CHOCOLATE SOLDIER and on through CH. ANGEL’S DARK THUNDER, and then to CH. SOQUEL THUNDERSTORM, and to his son CH. SOQUEL DISTANT THUNDER –prominent today.

CUPID’S other sons have lines alive today and are creating their bit of Doberman history in their offspring of the present — both grandsons and granddaughters. You can examine the charts and see many familiar names of sires active today.

CH. LUJAC’S DANIEL has an interesting pedigree upon examination. His dam, CH. LUJAC’S STINGER is a Satan’s Image daughter and her dam HIGHBRIAR WILLOW’S WAND carries three crosses to CH. FLORIAN VOM AHRTAL in three generations.

CH. TERADEN’S THE CHOCOLATE SOLDIER traces to CH. FELIX VOM AHRTAL through his dam, who was a CH. ALNWICK’S BLACK FURY BISMARK granddaughter — Bismark being sired by Felix.

FLORIAN’S DAM—-CH. WILLA VOM AHRTAL
I think it is noteworthy to take a look at Willa, as the combination of her pedigree with Ch. Lakecrest’s Thunderstorm to produce the two sires Felix and Florian really shows just how intertwined the sire groupings of [Domossi, Emperor & Dictator] and [Ramses, Favoriet, Uranus & Alcor] are and how they cannot be separated or isolated. These sires have forever influenced our Dobermans — and the “shuffling and reshuffling” of the billions and billions of genetic possibilities from their inheritance continue to make themselves present in the modern dogs.

WILLA’S pedigree combines the two sire lines, as well as many crosses to the great bitch producer CH. JESSY VD SONNENHOEHE.

Willa’s sire, CH. DORIAN V. AHRTAL, was by Delegate — who traces tail male as his grandsire to Uranus. Delegate’s dam was by Domossi and out of a Uranus daughter — making him 3 times to Uranus with a cross to Domossi and two crosses to Jessy.

Dorian’s dam — the foundation bitch of Tess Henssler’s — MEADOWMIST ISIS V AHRTAL, was by Emperor — a Domossi son out of a sister to Ramses and Rajah — they being by KURT out of JESSY. Isis’s dam was a daughter of Dictator out of a Domossi daughter — so you have 3 crosses to either Domossi (2x) or Dictator (1x) and you have KURT and JESSY twice.

Willa’s dam CH. ELECKTRA V. AHRTAL was sired by CH. DAGOBERT V. AHRTAL, who was a litter brother of Willa’s sire, Dorian. Elecktra’s dam MEADOWMIST BELLADONNA was by Emperor also, like ISIS who appears twice in this pedigree. You can just follow exactly what Tess did in planning this breeding.

Years ago, in the early 70’s, I was able to meet and talk extensively with Tess in her home. Jim Kibilowski, who owned CH. TEDELL ELEVENTH HOUR showed my CH. THORVALD VOM AHRTAL puppy bitch when we traveled to the east coast. He was very close to Tess, as Eleventh Hour –**SHAD** was by CASSIO. So, I was very fortunate to go with him twice and visit and talk, talk and talk more about breeding and her great dogs and her theories. The dogs were her life and she studied everything about them. She was my role model, as her vision and expertise as a true “dog” person left an indelible mark in my life’s pursuit with Dobermans.

Tess — one of the great foundation breeders — purposely went about planning to combine the prominent sire lines by combining Isis and Delegate — which brought her tremendous success and flexibility with her breeding program. She was able to breed sons and daughters of these crosses amongst each other and not get too close to any one sire or dam. Truly a remarkable study in genetics. We will examine other great foundation breeders and be able to “visualize” their breeding plans in later articles. But, it never ceases to amaze me how these early breeders studied and planned far in advance of just the litter/breeding they were doing at the moment.

I will comment about this one fact, and it is an important aspect to remember when we sit down to study our pedigrees and plan breedings — and that is the early breeders didn’t have the tremendous numbers of sires and dams to take into consideration when they were pondering breedings. They were working, for the most part, with the **SEVEN SIRES** themselves or their immediate offspring — sons/daughters and grandsons/granddaughters. Breeding is NEVER easy — but narrowing the selection process of available breeding stock does lower your chances of big mistakes with breedings.

We always have to give credit to the early breeders. They did a great job with these early Dobermans — and they did something right because the Doberman continues to evolve into a better overall specimen, more closely adhering to the Standard than ever before. We owe it to the Dobermans that we are responsible for to take breeding seriously and realize that what we do as breeders will forever impact the future of the breed.

EVERY breeder should invest in the software program called DOBEBASE if you have a computer. This is a marvellous tool for the serious breeder to study pedigrees and keep current on breeding successes with crosses with our current gene pool.

REMEMBER — OBSERVATION and physically studying Dobermans in the ring — the bigger the shows the better — will improve your skill at recognizing good dogs. The National Specialties should be THE one thing you should save for and plan to attend each year. In one week, you can see and study, because of the huge classes and the time it takes to judge this amount of dogs — hundreds of Dobermans. You are able to become tremendously skilled at recognizing good **Breed Type** and you can also see what is not good Type. PEDIGREES — the genotype, and PHYSICAL ATTRIBUTES — the phenotype are your tools to properly study dogs.

Theresa Mullen
Terrylane Dobermans

Popular Sires And Popular Genetics

Breeder/Exhibitor Ed, Breeding/Genetics

The Canine Diversity Project

by C.A. Sharp, editor of the “Double Helix Network News”. This article appeared in Vol. IV, No. 3 (Summer 1998). It may be reprinted providing it is not altered and appropriate credit is given.

Consider the hypothetical case of Old Blue, Malthound extraordinaire. Blue was perfect: Sound, healthy and smart. On week days he retrieved malt balls from dawn to dusk. On weekends he sparkled in malt field and obedience trials as well as conformation shows, where he baited to–you guessed it — malt balls.

Everybody had a good reason to breed to Blue, so everybody did. His descendants trotted in his paw-prints on down through their generations. Blue died full of years and full of honor. But what people didn’t know was that Old Blue, good as he was, carried a few bad genes. They didn’t affect him, nor the vast majority of his immediate descendants. To complicate the matter further, some of those bad genes were linked to genes for important Malthound traits. A few Malthounds with problems started showing up. They seemed isolated, so everyone assumed it was “just one of those things.” A few declared them “no big deal.” Those inpiduals usually had affected dogs. All in all, folks carried on as usual.

Time passed. More problem dogs turned up. People made a point not to mention the problems to others because everyone knows the stud owner always blames the bitch for the bad things and takes credit for the good. Stud owners knew it best to keep quiet so as not to borrow trouble. Overall, nobody did anything to get to the bottom of the problems, because if they were really significant, everybody would be talking about it, right?

Years passed. Old Blue had long since mouldered in his grave. By now, everyone was having problems, from big ones like cataracts, epilepsy or thyroid disease to less specific things like poor-keepers, lack of mothering ability and short life-span. “Where can I go to get away from this?” breeders wondered. The answer was nowhere. People became angry. “The responsible parties should be punished!” Breeders who felt their programs might be implicated stonewalled. Some quietly decided to shoot, shovel and shut-up. A few brave souls stood up and admitted their dogs had a problem and were hounded out of the breed. The war raged on, with owners, breeders and rescue workers flinging accusations at each other. Meanwhile everybody carried on as always. After another decade or two the entire Malthound breed collapsed under the weight of its accumulated genetic debris and went extinct.

This drastic little fable is an exaggeration–but not much of one. Here’s similar, though less drastic, example from real life: There once was a Quarter Horse stallion named Impressive. The name fit. He sired many foals who also exhibited his desired traits. But when they and their descendants were bred to each other, those offspring sometimes died. Impressive had been the carrier of a lethal single-gene recessive trait. No one knew it was there until they started in-breeding on him. The situation of a single sire having this kind of drastic genetic effect on a breed became known as the Impressive Syndrome.”

Many species and breeds of domestic animals, including dogs, have suffered Impressive Syndromes” of their own. But cases like that of Impressive are only the tip of the iceberg. A single-gene recessive becomes obvious in just a few generations. But what about more complex traits? This is not to say that those popular sires we so admire are bad breeding prospects. Their many excellent traits should be utilized, but even the best of them has genes for negative traits.

The problem is not the popular sires, but how we use them. For a century or more, in-breeding has been the name of the game. (For the purposes of this article, “in-breeding” refers to the breeding of dogs related to each other and therefore includes line-breeding.) By breeding related inpiduals, a breeder increased his odds of producing dogs homozygous for the traits he wanted. Homozygous inpiduals are much more likely to produce those traits in the next generation. When a male exhibits a number of positive traits and then proves his ability to produce those traits he may become a popular sire, one that is used by almost everyone breeding during his lifetime, and maybe beyond, thanks to frozen semen. Since the offspring and grand-offspring and so on are good, breeders start breeding them to each other. If the results continue to be good, additional back-crosses may be made for generations. Sometimes a sire will be so heavily used that, decades hence, breeders may not even be aware of how closely bred their animals are because the dog no longer appears on their pedigrees.

This is the case in Australian Shepherds. Most show-line Aussies trace back, repeatedly, to one or both of two full brothers: Wildhagen’s Dutchman of Flintridge and Fieldmaster of Flintridge. These, products of a program of inbreeding, were quality inpiduals and top-producing sires. They are largely responsible for the over-all quality and uniformity we see in the breed ring today–a uniformity that did not exist before their birth nearly three decades ago. Working lines have also seen prominent sires, but performance traits are far more complex, genetically and because of the significant impact of environment. They are therefore harder to fix. Performance breeders will in-breed, but are more likely to stress behavioral traits and general soundness than pedigree and conformational minutiae. The best working sires rarely become as ubiquitous as the best show-line sires.

Not every popular sire becomes so because of his ability to produce quality offspring. Some have won major events or are owned by inpiduals with a knack for promotion. Such dogs may prove to be wash-outs once their get is old enough to evaluate. But a lot of breeders have been using the animal for the few years it takes to figure that out, the damage may already have been done. Use of even the best popular sires, by its very nature, limits the frequency of some genes in the breed gene pool while simultaneously increasing the frequency of others. Since sons and grandsons of popular sires tend to become popular sires the trend continues, resulting in further decrease and even extinction of some genes while others become homozygous throughout the breed. Some of these traits will be positive, but not all of them.

The owners of Old Blue, the Malthound in the opening fable, and those who owned his most immediate descendants had no idea what was happening under their noses. They were delighted to have superior studs and even more delighted to breed them to as many good bitches as possible. Dog breeding and promoting is an expensive proposition. One usually winds up in the hole. But owning a popular sire can change that. The situation looks like a winner for everyone–the stud owner finds his financial burden reduced while breeders far and wide get to partake of his dog’s golden genes. No one breeding dogs wants to produce sick dogs. A small minority are callous and short-sighted enough to shrug genetic problems off as the price you pay to get winners, but even they do their best to avoid letting it come to general attention.

We need a total re-thinking of how we utilize stud animals. No single dog, no matter how superior, should dominate the gene pool of its breed. Owners of such sires should give serious consideration to limiting how often that dog is used, annually, through its lifetime and on into the future, if frozen semen is stored. The stud owner should also look not only at the quality of the bitches being presented, but their pedigrees. How much will the level of inbreeding be increased by a particular mating? The bitch owner also needs to think twice about popular sires. If you breed to the stud of the moment and everyone else is doing the same, where will you go when it comes time to make an outcross?

Finally, the attitude toward genetic disease itself has to change. It must cease being every
one’s dirty little secret. It must cease being a brick with which we bludgeon those with the honesty to admit it happened to them. It must become a topic of open, reasoned discussion so owner of stud and bitch alike can make informed breeding decisions. Unless breeders and owners re-think their long-term goals and how they react to hereditary problems, the situation will only get worse.

Birthing Process

Breeder/Exhibitor Ed, Breeding/Genetics

Understanding the normal mechanisms of whelping, or parturition, can help you weigh your options and determine whether veterinary intervention is necessary and at what stage you should intervene. Each bitch is different and you will need to know and understand your bitch to be able to detect early warning signs that all is not as it should be.

Initiation of Birth:

Initiation of birth is stimulated by the puppies and not a response by the dam. As the fetuses grow, they receive less nutrition from the placenta. This causes stress-related hormones (adreno-corticosteroid or cortisol) to be released from each puppy’s brain. These hormones in turn cause the placenta to release prostaglandin, a chemical that initiates the destruction of the corpus luteum or “yellow body” on the ovary that forms after eggs are ovulated. The corpus luteum plays an important role throughout a dog’s pregnancy by secreting progesterone, the hormone that maintains the pregnancy. Destruction of the corpus luteum results in a sharp drop of progesterone levels one to two days before whelping, slowing the metabolic rate in the bitch and triggering the decline in temperature we see prior to whelping.

Without the inhibiting effect of progesterone, the uterus can contract and the cervix can open for birth. Cervical dilation and uterine contractions themselves are primarily caused by the secretion of oxytocin from the brain stem, or pituitary gland, of the bitch. The injectable form of oxytocin is known to many breeders as the “pit” shot. Early labor contractions allow a puppy to enter the pelvic canal of the bitch, which triggers the release of oxytocin by the dam and more strenuous contractions. This process of stimulation by the pup, which is necessary for its own birth, is called the Ferguson’s reflex.

Stages of Labour:

The natural progression of labor is broken down into three stages:

• Stage 1: is preparation for actual labor. It includes nesting, vomiting, panting, shivering and a temperature drop of 1 to 2 degrees to less than 99 degrees F. Stage 1 usually lasts 6 to 12 hours, but can range between 0 and 48 hours.
• Stage 2: is active labor. The fetal membranes rupture (often called the “water breaking”) and the first fetus enters the pelvic canal, triggering Ferguson’s reflex and strong labor contractions. Normally the birth of a puppy should be seen within one to two hours of these strong contractions. The bitch may then rest several hours between pups.
• Stage 3: is delivery of the placenta or fetal membranes. This usually occurs within 45 minutes after the birth of each pup.

Disturbance of this natural progression results in a difficult birth or dystocia. Dystocias are usually classified as to whether they are due to inadequacies of the bitch or to complications with the puppies. Birthing problems that primarily involve the bitch include:

• Physical abnormalities of the birth canal. This includes problems such as a malformed vagina or an old pelvic fracture.
• Primary uterine inertia or failure to go into Stage 2 labour. In these animals, separation of the placenta from the uterus occurs, but no puppies are delivered. A greenish black vaginal discharge is observed before the birth of any puppies. The puppies inside the uterus will die without surgical intervention.
• Secondary uterine inertia or exhaustion of the uterine muscles. These animals stop labor during Stage 2 and require assistance to continue.

Problems due to the puppies include:

• A pup that is too large.
• Improper positioning of the puppy in the birth canal.
• Dead puppies, which fail to trigger whelping because there is no increase in cortisol.

Combinations of problems due to the dam and the pups also occur. For example, a bitch with only one or two pups may not be able to trigger whelping in a normal manner, resulting in primary uterine inertia. Small litters can also grow too big in the uterus and may cause a fetal oversize dystocia.

1) There is any abnormal vaginal discharge including:

• green / black discharge with no sign of straining before a pup is born
• constant dripping of pure blood
• foul smelling pus

2) The bitch has a prolonged gestation, especially if no fetal movement can be seen.

3) Signs of toxemia are developing in the bitch including:

• fever
• depression
• weakness
• rigid gait or seizures

4) There are signs of an obstruction, including:

• severe pain or crying out during contractions
• visualization of a pup and/or its membranes which cannot be delivered by careful assistance

5) No progress has been made towards the delivery of a pup after:

• initial labor over 3 hours
• hard straining over 30 minutes between pups
• weak intermittent labor of over 2 hours between pups
• no labor over 4 hours between pups

Determining whether or not you have a dystocia, and whether or not it is time to intervene, is rarely a clear-cut decision. Aside from the exceptions listed when veterinary assistance should always be sought, how you decide to proceed will be based in part on the value of the litter and the bitch to you. Some breeders are comfortable monitoring the dystocia themselves, realizing their “wait and see” attitude may result in the loss of a pup or two. However, if this is the first and only litter of an 8-year-old bitch whose pregnancy cost you $350 in progesterone tests and vaginal cytology smears, you probably won’t want to risk losing any puppies, and will rather err on the side of early intervention.

In addition to the emergency situations described a dystocia should be suspected if:

• one to two hours have passed after beginning Stage 2 labor without a puppy
• more than three hours of rest have occurred between puppies
• if the bitch has been in hard labor for 30 minutes with no progression toward birthing a pup.

If you only have breeding dates to go on and you are considering an elective C-section, progesterone testing can help confirm the bitch is truly term before the pups are delivered. Progesterone levels less than 2 ng/ml are seen in the full term bitch. If progesterone has not dropped, the pups may not be ready to thrive outside of the uterus. Ultrasound can be used to make sure the pups are not distressed in the uterus while you wait for the bitch’s progesterone to drop.

IS MY BITCH OVERDUE ?

Normal deliveries should occur:

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Knowing approximate litter size as determined by ultrasound examination or radiographs can also be helpful. If a bitch stops contracting after two pups, but you saw eight on the ultrasound, you will need to seek help for a possible secondary uterine inertia. This is also important in older bitches and those breeds that tend to whelp small litters. These animals will be prone to having both oversized pups and primary uterine inertia. Knowing you have a small litter beforehand allows you to be more watchful rather than being caught off guard by a possible dystocia.

Diet and exercise are critical. Keep your bitch physically fit by moderate exercise during pregnancy. This helps her have good muscle tone to push during the whelping. Also, avoid diets high in calcium before whelping. This is especially important in Toy breeds, and in bitches with large litters, where eclampsia or low calcium is a problem after whelping. Eclampsia can cause seizures and death of the bitch if not dealt with immediately. There is good evidence in cattle, which have been studied extensively for this problem, that feeding high levels of calcium before calving actually makes the female prone to suffering from low calcium while nursing. Save the high-calcium diet and supplements for after whelping when the bitch is actually nursing the pups.

Diets too low in carbohydrates can lead to low birth weights and death of pups during delivery. This is most commonly seen in bitches with several pups, who are unwilling to eat during the last part of pregnancy because of discomfort. Offer these bitches small frequent feedings of soft foods; however, stay away from high fat foods which may cause pancreatitis.

Finally, be sure to have a complete breeding soundness examination performed by a reproductive specialist on any bitch you plan to keep for breeding. This exam will detect anatomical defects such as a persistent hymen in the vaginal vault that may interfere with whelping, and the presence of low-grade infections in the vagina that could lead to complications.

Well, it’s show time! Your bitch is ready and, hopefully, so are you!

On day 58 after the first breeding, you’ll want to start taking your bitch’s temperature three times a day. A bitch’s temperature will drop from around 101.4 to 99 degrees Fahrenheit or below a few hours before she is ready to whelp. A fluctuation in temperature is very normal, what you are looking for is a dramatic drop to below 99F. The temperature drop is the best indicator of imminent whelping. Other signs of imminent whelping are restlessness, discomfort, licking and looking at vulva. The bitch may refuse food prior to whelping as well. She will probably pant heavily.

These are all signs that whelping is imminent. Call your veterinarian and let them know that the whelping is beginning so that they will be ready to answer any questions or give advice if you have any problems. The bitch will start pushing and straining at some point and may start digging at the bedding. She’ll pant heavily between contractions. The contractions should be visible in the muscles along her back. You’ll see them start at the top of her body and move down.

If labor continues an hour or so without producing a puppy, let the bitch go outside and walk around. This can help the labour progress. Also, the urge to push can feel, to the bitch, as if she has to defecate. A well trained bitch will not want to break housetraining and will fight the urge to push, delaying labour. If the bitch is willing to go outdoors, keep a close eye on her. A maiden bitch, in particular, may not know what to do with a new puppy and may abandon it.

If labour continues for more than three hours without producing a puppy, call your vet! You will probably need to take the bitch into the vet.

Assuming labour continues normally, the contractions will come faster and the bitch will start pushing seriously. The water sac will appear, probably break, and then the puppy will be delivered shortly. The placenta may or may not be ready to be delivered at this point. You can gently pull on the cord to see if it will come but you should never pull on the puppy to check. You may pull the cord off the puppy and risk an umbilical hernia.

The bitch may want to eat the placentas. Opinions vary about whether or not this is a good idea. Some people think it’s good nutrition for the bitch when she’s exerting great effort. Others feel that the bitch will get diarrhea from eating them. Some breeders compromise by letting the bitch eat one and then keeping them away from her. Whatever you do, you want to make sure that you have a placenta for each puppy born. If the bitch should retain a placenta, she is at risk of having a serious uterine infection.

If you want to do this, you’ll need to clear the water sac away from the puppy’s nose and mouth first. Hold the puppy upside down to help drain fluid and mucus from its nose and throat. Rub the puppy very vigorously, even roughly, with a dry, clean towel until the puppy squeaks. This rubbing will both clean the puppy and stimulate it to start breathing.

Many people allow the bitch to clean the puppy and chew off the umbilical cord. Others worry that the bitch may chew the cord off too close to the puppy resulting in an umbilical hernia and choose to deal with this themselves just to be safe. If you choose to do the task yourself, you’ll want to cut the cord about 1″ away from the body and tie it with plain dental floss. Dip the tip and the floss in Betadine solution (or another disinfectant such as iodine). It will dry up and drop off in a day or so.

Once the pup is breathing and clean, whether you did it or the dam did it, you’ll want to check the puppy out carefully, weigh and measure the pup, check for abnormalities such as cleft palate, and identify the puppy in some way. Rickrack ribbon works very well. Measure and cut a piece large enough to tie loosely around the puppy’s neck. This is only necessary if you’re puppies are very similar. Other ways to mark the puppies include clipping bits of fur on different parts of their bodies or marking them with nail polish.

If the bitch is having a break between puppies, you should let the puppy nurse. The colostrom (first milk) that the puppies get is extremely important. It carries immunities that protect the puppies from infection. The puppy’s nursing will also stimulate the bitch’s contractions allowing her labor to progress. Take a chance to rest and relax while you can. Don’t worry, however, if you can’t get the puppies on the dam right away. They can go several hours without getting milk with no problem. Once labour starts up again, move the puppies into to the incubator box for safety while the dam is distracted.

Very often their will be a longish break between puppies about half way through. You can take the bitch outside, although she may not want to leave the puppies (you should encourage her!). Again, you’ll want to keep a close eye on her to make sure she doesn’t deliver a puppy out there and not know what to do with it.

The puppies can come as quickly as 15 minutes apart or as long as an hour apart. If the bitch goes more than an hour and you are think there are more puppies, call your vet! There may be a puppy stuck and you’ll want to ensure that you get it out as soon as possible.

When your bitch is finished whelping, you’ll notice her calm down. Her br
eathing will slow and the contractions will stop. You should take the bitch and her puppies to the vet within the next four or five hours if at all possible. Don’t go more than 24 hours without having them checked out. If the bitch has a retained puppy or placenta, she is risking serious infection. If any of the puppies have cleft palates or other deformities, you need to know as soon as possible. Such puppies are usually humanely euthanized by your vet as they are generally not likely to live.

There are a variety of problems you may run into. Again, keep your vet and/or emergency vet’s phone number handy in case you run into a situation you aren’t prepared for. If you have any question about what is happening or what you should do next, don’t hesitate to call the vet. You really are dealing with life or death situations and it’s much better to be safe than sorry.

Some breeders suggest keeping some drugs on hand to help the bitch should she have trouble delivering. You can discuss this with your vet but I don’t recommend this practice. This drug is very strong and can cause serious complications if the problem is a large puppy blocking the birth canal. A better option is to keep in contact with your vet and take your bitch in if necessary.

There are some alternative medications that many breeders are using and recommending now that have similar results without the risk of injury. For a bitch whose labour is slowing down, there is a homeopathic treatment called Caulophyllum. This should be administered when the bitch is in a non-productive labour. Do not use it unless the bitch is clearly in labor. For puppies-in-distress, you can try a product called Bach’s Rescue Remedy. It is a good gentle “kick start” for pups in trouble. You would just put a couple of drops on the puppies tongue. The nice thing about these remedies is that they can’t be overused. They are extremely gentle. Detractors from homeopathic or alternative measures will tell you that these treatments won’t do anything, good or bad.

The first problem you might see is a bitch that starts labor but doesn’t proceed to delivering. First you should try walking her around outside to see if that helps her relax enough to start pushing. If that doesn’t work in about 15 minutes, you can try a technique called “feathering.” Put on surgical gloves and apply a small amount of lubricant such as KY Jelly. Gently, gently, gently insert one finger into the bitch’s vulva and gently tickle or feather her along the top of her vagina. This can help stimulate stronger contractions. If this doesn’t produce a quick result or the bitch is getting tired at all, call your vet. You will probably be making a trip in to get some expert care.

The vet will probably x-ray your bitch to determine how many puppies are waiting to be born and whether or not you are dealing with a malpresentation (puppy trying to go out the wrong way). If all looks well, the vet will probably give your bitch injections of calcium and/or pituitary oxytocin. These injections often stimulate strong contractions and get the labour moving along. If they don’t work, or if you are dealing with an overly large puppy or a malpresentation, the vet will probably recommend a caesarean section. C-sections should not be taken lightly but they are often unavoidable. They are very expensive and put the life of the mother and puppies at great risk. You should decide at this time whether or not you want the vet to spay your bitch during the C-section. Sometimes, there won’t be any choice. If the uterus is badly damaged or infected, they will have to spay your bitch at this time. Once you reach the point of a c-section, many of the decisions will be taken out of your hands.

Discussing this possibility with your vet ahead of time is a good idea so you can find out what procedures they use and how amenable they are to your helping to revive the puppies as they are delivered. Many vets will not allow you into their examination area, however, some are grateful for the additional hands in reviving puppies. One of the biggest problems with a C-section is the anesthesia given the bitch. Because the puppies are still attached to her system, they will, inevitably, be anesthetized as well. It is really important that your vet take this into consideration when anesthetising the bitch. Many vets will mask her down and this is the recommended procedure. This means that the vet administers isoflourene gas to start her off, rather than administering a drug like Valium-Ketamine to put her to sleep before starting the gas. If your bitch is high-strung and/or aggressive, the vet will probably insist on doing the Valium-Ketamine option, but if your bitch is placid and biddable, you should ask that they mask her down. The gas is much easier on the puppies systems and they will be much easier to revive. The recovery of your bitch will be difficult after a c-section. It is major abdominal surgery and puts a huge strain on her system. However, if all goes well, she should still be able to care for and nurse her litter. Your vet will give you detailed instructions for her care. They will often prescribe antibiotics to help her avoid infection. You should be careful administering any antibiotics as they will generally cause both the dam and the pups to have diarrhea.

A case when you won’t have time to get to the vet is when you can’t get a puppy breathing. Every puppy should be rubbed vigorously until they squeak and start moving around. Some of them are born with a squeak and don’t need any additional help but more often than we’d like, puppies need extra help. If the vigorous rubbing doesn’t work, you’ll want to act quickly. The fastest way to get fluid out of the puppy’s throat and nose is to hold the puppy firmly and raise it above your head and swing it quickly down between your legs. The centrifugal force can clear the nose and throat. If this doesn’t work, you can try using a bulb syringe to aspirate any possible fluid. While you are working on the pup, keep rubbing it vigorously and make sure it stays warm. Hopefully you’ll be rewarded with that gasp of life and a healthy puppy.

At some point, however, you may have to give up on a puppy. This is an extremely difficult decision but if you’ve worked on the puppy for 15 minutes without response, you are unlikely to revive the puppy. Consult with your veterinarian about what to do with the dead puppy. Sadly, this isn’t an uncommon event in a whelping.

Again, there is no shame in calling your vet for help. If you are unsure what to do or are presented with a situation you or your bitch don’t understand. Get professional help!

Once the whelping is over, you’ll be ready to let the new family settle down and get some well-deserved rest. And you’ll need that rest yourself. Make sure the bitch has relieved herself and gotten some fluids. Give her a sponge bath so she is clean and fresh. Feeding her chicken broth with rice is a good first meal after whelping as it will be gentle on her stomach but give her plenty of fluid and nutrition.

A first-time mother may have some serious doubts about these puppies, particularly if the delivery was painful for her. This is another time where obedience training comes in handy. It is extremely important that you get the puppies nursing both for their sake and hers. Put the bitch on a down-stay, get in the whelping box with her to reassure her, and put the puppies on her. If she growls or complains, just keep her head away from the puppies. She’s going to be tired and won’t fight you too much — besides, she’s used to obeying your commands, right? The obvious benefit here is that the pups will get that necessary colostrum which will provide them with their mother’s immunities. The added benefit, however, is that the nursing triggers the release of hormones into her bloodstream. These hormones help promote the bitch’s mothering instincts. The more the puppies nurse, the more loving the mother will feel towards them. It’s tr
ue of humans as well. Hopefully, the bitch will settle down and feel content as the puppies nurse. You should still supervise her with the puppies until you are sure she has fully accepted them and her new role.