May 30, 2007 by Bob.

I split this article in half because there’s a lot for me to say here and I wanted it to be a bit more readable……..

2. So, what about phenotype?

Again, when you’re looking for a pup, you want the best possible combination of genetics (genotype or pedigree) and phenotype PLUS individual temperament,drive, intelligence,etc.
Here is what phenotype is: physical appearance and/or actual type or physical characteristics of the specific dog in front of you.

You may want a certain type when looking for a Rottweiler, such as a darker mahogany and a certain look for the head piece. Well, the parents may possess some of those types you like, but you should probably look at the pup itself to see if it also has that type. Some offspring do not look exactly like their parents, so getting a picture would probably help. Phenotype is the easiest to examine in a pup, because it’s right there in front of you!

Phenotype basically confirms what the genetics are telling you. It is the reliability of phenotype that gives you correct looking pups when breeding a male and female of similar type and it is what we as breeders should strive for in attempting to copy the breed standard.

3. That leaves us with tested temperament, drive and intelligence. We can call this Ability.

The following fact is the most overlooked in pup selection regardless of pedigree or phenotype : THE UNSEEN ABILITIES OF THAT INDIVIDUAL PUP ARE OF EQUAL IMPORTANCE TO THE QUALITY OF THE PEDIGREE AND PHYSICAL APPEARANCE OF THE DOG.

If you want to train the dog in competitive obedience or protection or flyball or whatever, make sure the dog has the drive or interest in play to do the work. If not, you’ll get the pup home and it’ll look at you like you have three heads when you toss a ball for it to chase. Great pedigree. Looks great. Lousy drive. Oh, well, I guess the apple fell a few miles from the tree. I mean, for sure you would look for a working pedigree if you wanted a working dog, for instance. Still, it is no substitute for actually looking at the pup in front of you.

I’m not saying that if you pay three grand for a pup out of some awesome sire that you won’t get a great pup - all I am saying is that the fact that the sire is fantastic is not a guarantee that the offspring will be.

4. Here’s the moral of the story.

Study the pedigree. Are dogs on the pedigree proven producers in both work and conformation? Or are they all “Harley Von Davidson” (my own personal favorite) with a dog that won a Canine Good Citizen seven generations ago. (I recently saw a web site where they stated they were proud members of Avid and the OFA. I had no idea that when you micro-chipped your dog and sent in an xray that you became a member of such special clubs!)

Have the pup tested by the breeder. Take a look at the pictures of the pup. Are the nerves sound? Does the pup have any major faults or flaws that would be a health or performance issue? Really check it out. And I don’t mean just check to see of the parents were done on their OFA hip screening. Just so you know, that is actually only one body part out of a whole bunch. Have the drive tested, if that matters to you. I can test drive and nerves on a pup at seven weeks with pretty good accuracy.

Of course, if the pup is not thereafter socialized and trained to CONTINUE to be environmentally sound, then the three factors (genotype, phenotype, ability) will be wasted. And that is where you come in as the owner. If you want the pup to have ball drive, don’t expect him to get tons of ball drive if you don’t exercise that drive and bring it out of him when he’s a pup. I can’t tell you how many people come to me with their dog when he’s two years old and cannot understand when the dog doesn’t go crazy for the ball. Dog doesn’t know how to play and should have learned it when he was three months old.

It really boils down to ‘what am I looking for in a pup?’. If you want a certain look or working ability or just a pet that you can train to be a good member of the family, you need to at least discuss that with the breeder to see if he has a match for you. Again, just buying a pup on pedigree or looks alone is going to mostly be a status based decision. You know, like ‘my dog is better than your dog because of his pedigree or how big is head is.’ I didn’t think people thought that way, but I have spoken to some and I am amazed at what I hear. They actually believe that the dog IS his pedigree, which is false.

So, know that what the breeder is selling you is a blank slate. You as the owner need to socialize, train and responsibly care for the pup through its entire life. You are the one who can mold the dog into what you want as a family member and friend. And as I stated earlier, if you do the imprinting at an early enough age then the dog will be far easier to train when he’s a year or two old and you want to do something more with him. At that point, genetics might not be enough.

Bob

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May 30, 2007 by Bob.

Please don’t misunderstand me here. I am a huge believer in pedigree (not the dog food, by the way) and what it represents genetically in the Rottweiler breed. But I am writing this as some buyers and yes, even breeders, base their entire breeding program on pedigree alone, with very little emphasis on environment and phenotype.

Let me clarify a few terms here. First of all, pedigree means the lineage or ancestry of a particular dog within a breed type. So, the pedigree of a dog includes the parents, grandparents, etc as far back as you can go and believe me you can go very far back with pure bred dogs.

Phenotype is the actual physical type, or appearance of the dog or bitch, usually as it relates to the written description of the breed standard for that specific breed of dog. Sometimes it is just referred to as ‘type’.

Environment means the way the dog is raised in it’s home environment. This includes how the dog is fed, exercised, socialized, trained and otherwise maintained throughout it’s life, from puppyhood through adulthood.

I will now attempt clarify the point of this article, mainly that the importance of pedigree is relative to the other two factors in a puppy or adult canine.

1. Should you care about a dog’s pedigree?

Okay, so now here is my argument. Selecting a dog on pedigree alone does not always guarantee that you will get a carbon copy of what’s on that pedigree. For example, if I were to choose to buy a pup who was bred from titled show (conformation, not working) parents and who had an awesome pedigree, but whose nerves were thin and who was skittish around people, would be a less than an intelligent choice. But, the breeder will tell you that the pup just needs a little socializing, and so on, it’s not genetic, and all that. Well, if the pup tests out with thin nerves at eight weeks, chances are the pup has thin nerves and you can help it with socialization but you may not be able to fully neutralize the dog’s nerves fully - so you always have the chance that the dog will react adversely to people. I know someone who has a working dog with that exact situation, who paid top dollar for the dog from a breeder and who was told that exact same thing - ‘Oh, she just needs socialization.” Not so, my friend. Sounds like a kink in the genetic line to me.

Now, you can have a pup with totally great, sound nerves, who goes to a home where they do absolutely no socializing with the pup. No trips to the park, no interaction with other people, kids, bikes, etc. Well, there will a bit of a problem there, but nowhere near as big a problem as the pup who already had nerve issues (genotype) to begin with.

Okay, so how does pedigree, or genotype play into the quality of the pup you buy? It’s like this- the pedigree may have great dogs somewhere on it, even close in. The parents may be International Champions with all kinds of great sounding titles from Europe. But the true test is, what has that pedigree produced, in real life? In other words, has the sire or dam produced a dog that was worthy of the breeding that was done and of the price you are paying? Has the sire or dam produced offspring that are consistently healthy, well tempered, possessing adequate drive or good nerve enough so that they will not shut down when they are corrected? I have heard of great dogs from the past, who were Korung, Schutzhund III dogs who were absolutely fantastic specimens, who produced nothing. They could not pass on the genetic blueprint to the offspring and so you got dogs, offspring that people paid a lot of money for who themselves were not their parents. I mean, look at some humans that you know. Look at the parents and see if the kids are as good as the parents. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. Okay?

Bob

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