Cobweb wrote:
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In my experience, it would be very difficult to find
reputably bred show cockers with no repeats in preceding 5 generations (don't know if it the same with working cockers) - of course, backyard and commercially bred litters will be more likely to have a random genetic ancestry
A high co-efficient of inbreeding cannot be considered an indicator of health risk on it's own - a reputable breeder will have researched the direct and indirect ancestry of the sire and dame involved....
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What does "reputably" and "reputable" mean in this context? With our present knowledge of the effects of close breeding on fertility, temperament, and the increased possibility of the occurrence of lethal mutations, it is more "reputable" in my opinion, to be looking to outcross away from repeats in the first five generations. A high co-efficient of inbreeding can indeed "be an indicator of health risk on it's (sic) own." And by continuing down the path of genetic "purity" - solid to solid, parti to parti, worker to worker - we lose more and more genetic material, ultimately to the disadvantage of cockers.
My experience shows that close breeding can bring a successful quick fix, but may then hit a brick wall. The big show kennels have realised this in the past. Both the Lochranza and Broomleaf kennels for example, crossed solid and parti lines on occasion to great effect.
Sh. Ch. Broomleaf Black and Tan and
Sh. Ch. Lochranza Man of Fashion spring to mind. The only dog to win the Cocker Championship three times, F.T.Ch. Speckle of Ardoon, was out of an Elan (working bred) bitch, by a Sixshot (show) dog.
Most cocker puppies are not shown or worked but are much loved and loving family pets. As such, health and longevity have got to be the paramount considerations in cocker breeding, even if this in the short term means a loss of show "quality" to the breeder/exhibitor or work "quality" to the breeder/field-trialler. "Quality" means nothing if a dog is dead or seriously ill by middle age.
If I were to begin breeding cockers again, I hope that I would be a "reputable" breeder. Yet I would not breed "on paper" again, but would choose breeding stock, yes, based on "my" type, that looked like the cockers I am used to, and that had working ability. But more importantly they would be chosen for their characters and vitality, rather than their pedigrees.
(Pedigrees can be falsified anyway. I have read recently that the French Kennel Club checked some pedigrees against DNA and found 20% that did not match! I have seen obviously fake pedigrees - a sire down as
Lucklena Lochranza for example. Lucklena and Lochranza were two of the greatest ever cocker kennel affixes!)
John