CH. Lyloak's First Knight
"Let the sire of the sire become the grandsire on the dam's side."
Lloyd C. Brackett
As you move among breeders of the German Shepherd Dog, it is inevitable that you will often hear the name “Brackett” dropped in the conversation. "Let the sire of the sire become the grandsire on the dam's side" is the single most recognizable Brackett quotation. However, understanding Brackett goes much deeper than knowing this single foundational principle and striving to apply this axiom to one’s breeding program.
What I will attempt in the articles that follow will be to analyze the writing of Lloyd Bracket by utilizing his booklet entitled Planned Breeding. Brackett’s booklet is a compilation of articles written for Dog World Magazine in 1960. These articles won for him the Dog Writer’s Association Award as the best non-professional work in the dog press that year (1960). Dog World Magazine published these articles in booklet form in 1961 as a result of the hundreds of requests from their readers. I have gleaned ten (10) insights or principles from Planned Breeding based upon my careful reading and analysis.
As a preface to sharing my summary, I enclosed the following editorial notes about Brackett which are included in the booklet:
“One of the fathers of the German Shepherd in this country and the oldest living continuous fancier of the breed in America (since 1912) his theories on breeding have been more than proven in the Long-Worth Kennels where he established his own strain in the breed and produced more than 90 champions in only 12 years—a world’s record for any breed.”
“Known affectionately as ‘Mr. German Shepherd; he has proven beyond doubt the soundness of his breeding program.”[i]
Carmen L. Battaglia wrote an article entitled Brackett’s Formula in which he noted the following:
“By the early 1950's, Lloyd C. Brackett had become a legend in his own time. In part because of the quality of the dogs he produced and in part because of his candor when addressing problems related to the breeding of canines. He had much to say about the selection of sires, how to correct problems and how to make improvements. . . Brackett was well read and a quick learner. Through his writings he shed light on the confusion and misunderstandings associated with line and inbreeding.” [ii]
Battaglia espouses Brackett’s breeding program indicating that his methods and ideas were not new. However, he points out that Brackett “combined the study of pedigrees with the results they produced. After years of watching what combinations produced the better offspring he refined his ideas about how to select breeding partners. Out of these experiences came a formula that later would make him famous.”[iii]
The German Shepherd Dog Club of American (GSDCA) has even designated an award (Lloyd Brackett Award) in memory of Brackett’s contribution to the breed. This award is for a member of the GSDCA whose breeding program exhibits a vision of improvement to the breed, tempered with the wisdom to exhibit strict attention to the standard of the German Shepherd Dog. The recipient(s) should be someone whose dogs display a consistency of breed type and have created a line of German Shepherds easily recognizable within the breed.
Briefly outlined below are the ten foundational principles which I find within Brackett’s planned breeding program:
#1 Learn What a Good GSD specimen is!
#2 Build a Strain!
#3 Build Your Kennel on the Selection of Bitches!
#4 Linebreed/Inbreed Wisely!
#5 Outcross—But Only for Definite Purposes!
#6 Know What to Expect through Inheritance!
#7 Know Faults for Correction through Physical Compensation!
#8 Use Only Outstanding Studs!
#9 Always Select the Best Bitch Puppies!
#10 Breed Back to Your “Toppers”!
In future blogs, I will elaborate upon these foundation principles. I conclude this brief introduction with an implied underpinning as we consider applying these principles in future articles:
“Perhaps the easiest fault for a beginner to recognize, as well as the most important in many breeds, is that of temperament (again not the result of a single genetic factor), . . .”[iv]
Lloyd C. Brackett
[i] Brackett, Lloyd C. Planned Breeding, page 2 (Editorial Notes).
[ii] Carmen L. Battaglia, Brackett’s Formula. Accessed from http://www.breedingbetterdogs.com/bracket.html , January 27, 2008.
[iii] Ibid.
[iv] Brackett, page 27.
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