Brackett's Principle #7: Know Faults for Correction through Physical Compensation!

BIF CH Lyloak's Fresca

“…we must center our attention on several faults in type or structure possessed by this bitch, so we can go about breeding her for correction and over-all improvement.”[i]

“Paper breeding”, as Brackett called it, alone can be very dangerous.  Start with the pedigree as you consider linebreeding, but avoid if both the bitch and the prospective stud dog carry a common fault.  Or if a weakness or fault is observed in the bitch.  Then be sure that the stud dog and his ancestors do not carry that same fault.  Carmen Battaglia stresses that “it is safe in study of pedigrees to assume that the recurrence of certain traits for more than four generations is genetically stable and not likely to be easily lost.”[ii]

“We must also try to find one who not only possesses these correct attributes himself but comes from dogs who had them.”[iii]

If possible, the sire should further be prepotent in the attributes in which the bitch is weakest.

“If we DO know that either the sire or dam, or any others amongst her ancestors, did have one or more faults mentioned, then we most certainly do not want that dog or dogs in the pedigree of the mate we select for her—if we can possibly avoid it.  Should such be unavoidable, then that animal should be so far back in the pedigree as to make its influence negligible.”[iv]

It is critical to properly undertake an evaluation, particularly of the breeding pair and their sire and dam and their littermates, if at all possible.  Above all, know the genotype traits of both the bitch's and potential stud's back a minimal of three generations.

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[i] Ibid., page 29.

[ii] Battaglia, Carmelo L.  Breeding Better Dogs., Atlanta, GA:  Susan hunter Publishing Co., 1986, page 43.

[iii] Ibid., page 29.

[iv] Ibid., page 29.

Brackett Principle #6: Know What to Expect through Inheritance!

RFB Lyloak's Isn't She Lovely  (Love)

(Sel. Ex. CH Good to the Last Drop of Edan X Lyloak's Sugar Maple TC,PT)

“…ONLY those breeders knowledgeable in what constitutes a near-perfect specimen of the breed, as well as those having information on what to hope for, and look out for, through inheritance factors, should even THINK of doing closed-up breeding on them.”[i]

Mr.Brackett employed a three-step procedure for this component of visualizing what a proposed breeding might bring forth.  First, the breeder must know what constitutes a good GSD according to the breed standard.  Next, the breeder must be knowledgeable of the pedigrees of the potential mates.  This naturally leads into the third step of knowing the characteristics (attributes and faults) of as many of the dogs in the pedigree as possible.

It is imperative to be certain to select near faultless dogs as foundation stock!  It will be very difficult, if not impossible; to implement planned breeding using mediocre stock.  Brackett was adamant that if a beginner, or any breeder for that matter, discovers (obviously through gained knowledge and experience) that they possess mediocre stock; then there is only one course of action—“Cull relentlessly!”

Even when the proposed mating matches very good dogs, never mate two dogs with similar faults.  This action would only heighten the probability of reproducing that very fault.

This principle rests upon knowing both the “phenotype” and the “genotype” of the dogs being used in your breeding program.   Phenotype can be defined as the “outward, physical manifestation of the organism. These are the physical parts, . . .anything that is part of the observable structure, function or behavior of a living organism.”[ii]

Genotype can be defined as the "internally coded, inheritable information carried by all living organisms. This stored information is used as a ‘blueprint’ or set of instructions for building and maintaining a living creature. These instructions are found within almost all cells (the ‘internal’ part), they are written in a coded language (the genetic code), they are copied at the time of cell division or reproduction and are passed from one generation to the next ("inheritable").”[iii]

Brackett goes so far as to suggest that many beginners are “stuck” and have little hope of moving away from mediocrity.  He wrote that “few indeed are those who have more than one bitch and, more often than not, that one not such a specimen as a knowledgeable fancier of the breed would select as a foundation brood matron.”[iv]  They are “stuck” with the stock they have and therefore are determined to make use of what they have.  The reasons for breeding from such mediocre stock may be the result of affection for the bitch, insufficient financial ability to purchase something better, the lack of knowledge to be aware of what constitutes a good GSD and the inability to set a vision in regards to developing a breeding program or planned breeding.  Brackett advocated beginning with something much better than an ordinary, run-of-the-mill specimen.

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[i] Brackett, Lloyd C.  Planned Breeding.  Westchester, IL:  Dog World Magazine, 1961, page 20.

[ii] Blamire, Professor John.  Accessed from:  http://www.brooklyn.cuny.edu/bc/ahp/BioInfo/GP/Definition.html     on July 16, 2008.

[iii] Ibid.

[iv] Brackett,  page 28.