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| A Young Nico |
I was talking to a friend yesterday and she is horrified to have bred a litter where over half of the pups at 8 months don't have erect ears. This is her own bitch line and she has never known it happen before. She talked to someone else who used the dog and 5 of his 6 have soft ears too. Her honestly was refreshing, after all she was one of the first to use the young import, so she could not have envisaged the problem. (And to be fair neither could the dogs owner) If the problem continues in further litters then maybe the boy should be withdrawn from stud? Of course that's just my opinion and down to his owners conscience to decide!
We had a small problem her years ago and I did have to help Danni's ears up. I don't feel it's a issue to put them up as long as the animal is withdrawn from breeding programs. We also had concern with breeding from Ziva as she was Danni's sister, but Sammi has the strongest ears and she was the only daughter bred from Ziva. Nico has produced one that I know of, but I don't blame the dog it must simply be a one off, these things can happen. We also had one in the "E" litter of 2003, an adored pet. Soft ears here and there happen, but when half the litter have an issue ... well it need some detective work I think.
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| Danni 4.5 months old (2011) |
We all know that there isn't the perfect dog out there. Knowing what you have in your breeding line is essential. Seeing the faults and trying to improve on them is paramount. Nico is a very correct size dog, but there is no getting away from the fact that he produces larger than himself. Sammi is too tall, Loki is too tall ... and looking at a lot of Nico's progeny, well they are too tall. Kaiah is Sammi's daughter and she is a far better size, just an inch or so smaller and the picture is more complete .. but of course she's not perfect either. Sammi has a correct parallel ear set. Kaiah has strong ears, but they are slightly wide set .. so a dog with correct ear set is essential for her. You must be able to see it if you want to improve on it, kennel blindness is not healthy. Of course we must also see their fortunes, and at the end of the day we should love them for who they are .. Pets first, show dogs second!
