Can you hear me now?
For those of you who aren't "in" the dog world, let me clarify that kennel blindness is not the canine equivalent of three mice running after the farmer's wife. It's a term that refers to a breeder who, for many reasons, can no longer "see" their own dogs. Kennel blindness normally refers to someone who keeps breeding the same faults over and over because they really can't see the problems in their dogs. This blindness can become so powerful that a breeder might begin to think that their dogs' faults are actually strengths. It is hard to imagine that anyone could go so far astray, but believe me when I say it can happen to the best of us.
My most recent litter of puppies was a line breeding on my foundation dam, Am-Can Ch. Balmoral's Hot Legs At Abelard, OD ("Summer"). Summer is an outstanding bitch in many regards...but she is not perfect. No dog is perfect. Nevertheless, when it came time to evaluate the puppies (you can see some early evaluation photos at www.abelardshowdogs.com/friends.html), I found myself looking for Summer in the litter. My mind continually went back to when my beautiful little bundle came bounding out of her crate at 8 weeks of age to join my canine family. I remembered her head, her body, her length of neck, her coat...and instead of comparing my puppies to the Golden Retriever Standard, I found myself comparing each puppy to Summer.
Luckily, I have other people who are not affected by this blindness that came by and helped me sort through the eight girls and two boys. It's not that they saw the puppies any differently than I did, but they didn't have the same "Summer Sunglasses" on when it came to evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of each puppy. I'm very grateful for this help, and I really believe that the puppy I am keeping, as well as the puppies who went to other show homes, were the closest to the Golden Retriever Standard that I could get. Let's hope they grow on that way.
Of course, having on Summer Sunglasses isn't the worst thing I could do. In addition to being a stunning girl with an interesting pedigree and excellent show record, Summie is nearly 11 years old and still going strong. Except for a recent bladder infection, Summer hasn't been sick a day in her life and still acts like the bossy bitch puppy she always did. So my goal of breeding sound, healthy, long-lived dogs will hopefully be served by a line breeding on her. (Summer is the father's grandmother and the mother's great-grandmother: Pedigree here / Inbreeding coefficients here.)
All show people have stood ringside and tsk-tsked at a dog who is a bad example of what kennel blindness can do (poor front, or poor rear, or bad topline, or lacking breed type), but what concerns me a lot more are the things you cannot see...namely, puppies that are being linebred on dogs with serious medical conditions or whose parents have dubious health histories. When we know for a fact, for instance, that a dog died of cancer at age 7, it is not a good idea to do tight linebreedings on that dog. I've looked at pedigrees where the dogs have an inbreeding co-efficient of 30%+ and 15% or more coming from a dog who died (and sometimes whose littermates all died) an early death or who had a serious genetic issue. I'm not saying that the dog's offspring should all be spayed or neutered, but I am saying that if you do breed those offspring it is imperative to consider the longevity and cause of death of potential mates as part of the equation.
It is terribly upsetting to see top breeders continue to inbreed on these pedigrees -- over and over and over -- without regard to the future of the breed or the fate of the puppies that are produced. Having experienced a horrible loss of this type I can tell you that it is just devastating, and it has drastically changed the way I look at pedigrees. Believe it or not, I heard someone say, "Well I'd rather have a dog die at 7 with a good temperament than one that lived to 15 that was aggressive." I reject the notion that this is the trade one needs to make. In my list of what's important, longevity and temperament are neck-in-neck. I cannot see choosing one of these over the other, especially when the only reason it is being done is to produce dogs that will win in the show ring. When breeders forget that they are supposedly in this sport because they love dogs, and instead do questionable breedings because they think the litter will get them wins in the show ring, it is time for them to STOP breeding dogs.
There is no kennel blindness so debilitating as that of the breeder who forsakes the health and happiness of their puppies in order to glorify her own ego. Maybe if we stop breeding to the dogs that have these deadly pedigrees or purchasing their puppies we can discourage them from continuing.
Please -- don't validate the animal terrorists' claims of how sick show breeders are. Do what's right for the future of our fantastic dogs. Stop saying "cancer is in all lines" and start saying "what did these dogs die of and at what age?" And stop doubling up on the cancer genes, as well as the other genes that are threatening the welfare of our dogs. Before it's just too late to matter. Please.
Deborah Blair-Muzzin
abelard@wavecable.com
P.S. I am fully aware that I have probably angered some of my fellow breeders by writing this one and for that I apologize. I am not pointing to any one person, breeder, line or dog with any of the above. If you think I wrote it about you, perhaps you should consider what I said instead of getting mad. ~d
