Time hunts us all, and it hunts the working terrier too, as well as its gene pool.
Eddie Chapman was a great believer in the value of small working terriers, and he was also an advocate of "breeding uphill," or having a smaller male dog cover a slightly larger bitch to avoid whelping problems.
Because small male working terriers are rare, and because they are of great value to the working terrier world, more needs to be done to preserve the very best seed from these dogs for generations to come. Fifty years past, it was not possible, but with modern crowd-sourcing for funds, I think this could be done. The farm world has certainly proven the technology.
What do you think? Is there a way to make the best healthy small working dogs immortal, or at least to bring them back so they re-fortify and stamp news generations going forward?
5 comments:
Not only can we learn from the farm world on the uses of AI we can also learn about the risks of over use of popular sires
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1569519/
PipeDreamFarm, that is true. unfortumately most humans are not good judges of who should be bred and who shouldn't...
As a vet in the UK I despair at the genetics that are lost every year with so many dogs being neutered. I think if any breed club cares about their breed then they should require every dog and bitch bred each year to have their sperm and eggs harvested prior to neutering. That way, the pet owners get to neuter their dogs, and the breed club has a diverse bank of genetics to utilise should a popular sire damage the breed.
Love your blog, check in as much as I can.
Looking down the fox hole doesn't count as working I fear... but he stands only 31.5cm, intact male going to be 5 in August. And he has a funny ability to put his front legs out sideways which I'd consider very effective in the hole. (This is a special feature I have yet to see in another dog)
If all a breed club wanted were pets then banking from every dog would be okay; if the goal of a breed club was working characteristics then banking from an unproven (never assessed for working ability) dog is of little value.
Post a Comment