Issue: 19/07/2024
I was saddened to receive the news that Deb Herring has lost her old boy Penrose Question Mark – Chewbacca by Ch Penrose Wise Guy WD x Penrose Zebra Finch WDX, at just a few months over 13 years, passing away quietly at home.
We occasionally read or are reminded of those that have achieved amazing results in breeding animals, whether it is dogs, horses or any other animals domestic or agricultural. To have a stockman’s eye and to know what to breed to what is something I believe you are born with. It’s like being an artist, you are naturally a great artist or you can spend your whole life learning to be an artist. I believe myself very fortunate to have come into Chesapeakes when some of these stockmen were still active. It is not a matter of how many dogs you have owned or bred and definitely not on what you win in the show ring or the shooting field. Let’s not blot the page with party politics! For years I get asked questions about breeding, as I am sure many people who have been prominent in other breeds are asked.
Before I was born and after WW11 my late father formed the Merthyr Tydfil branch of the Welsh Pony & Cob Society. A Welsh working class miner he was conscripted from Ogilvie colliery (the only miner to be conscripted – coal miners were exempt) to fight in WW11. I would often hear his comrades say if the army had taken all the men the war would have been over sooner. Recovering from the horrors of war he became passionate in breeding Welsh mountain ponies, running up to 40 mares on the mountains and family farm around the Rhymney valley. The breeding and selection of these ponies became rooted in me – what to look for and why and how to improve.
After the war and to establish a stronger foundation unregistered ponies would be rounded up and selected for the attributes the WP&CS were looking for. Those selected would class as FS2 – foundation stock level 2. Breeding these mares to a premium stallion to produce FS1 and again to full register. This way of selection and breeding lay down the foundation stones in my understanding of breeding when it came to my dogs. Some people think of related generations who also carry on the same type (and faults) without any improvement, while others breed with eyes wide open. Almost anyone can breed dogs, you just need two fertile animals. To breed to be able to eliminate faults and improve on those features which are laid down in the breed standard and produce it is an art. Of course there is always the lucky ones who may produce a cracker in their first litter, but who then spend the rest of their lives trying to produce another. I was told, back in the day, you need to produce a least 4 litters a year to be able to learn to know and to eventually predict what your dogs can produce. In the UK this almost never happens. To be able to find out what a stud dog can produce, and I am not talking size of litters! But does he produce himself? Does he produce what the bitch is? Does he produce better bitches to dogs or visa versa? He may be a very healthy dog but will he produce good health and so on. These same questions go for the bitches too. Knowing what you stud dog can produce is probably the most valuable asset you can have. Always knowing that the dog you see, think, know or are told is the best or top dog is not the right dog for your bitch. When I started in dogs I had mentors, great dog people both men and women in show and field. Kitty Edmondson of the world famous Crookrise Pointers once told me if you like a dog use the father.
I hope these notes answer some of the questions I have been asked.
Janet Morris
01873 880271
penrosechesapeakes@gmail.com