American Whippet Club 1979 - 1980 Whippet Annual |
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Pages 23-44 PRESENTING Sheridan Seabiscuit L.C.M., U .D.
10th Whippet to earn a Utility Dog title
SELECTING A WHIPPET PUPPY By Louis Pegram You will get many opinions from Whippet owners/breeders on how to breed superior Whippets and virtually as many opinions on how to select the best puppies from a litter at a very early age. Starting at six weeks, many knowledgeable Whippet owner/breeders can begin to weed out pups from a litter that for obvious physical reasons will not make the grade at maturity. It is reasonably easy to select the best puppies of a young litter on a given day from six weeks on. An owner/breeder is very foolish to say a Whippet pup will be of true top-winning show quality until he has matured to 8 months of age. It is my feeling that the relationship between the owner/breeder and the buyer of a Whippet is a two-way street. The owner/breeder has every right to expect a profit from his puppies, but the buyer should also be satisfied with his purchase. Many breeders will not price all puppies from a litter the same. To avoid possible disappointment after purchase, a prospective Whippet buyer should first ask the price. If the price varies between puppies of a given litter, this should. be established when the buyer first contacts the breeder. To me there is nothing worse than bickering over price between owner/breeder and prospective buyer. Just because a kennel has an established record. of winning does not always mean that all puppies bred by this kennel are top quality. A good honest breeder who sells most of his puppies often offers good average quality type in puppies at a lower price than some show and race kennels who sell very average quality specimens based on pedigrees of parent stock and reputation of the kennel's ability to win. It must be remembered that many Whippet owner/breeders want to produce top quality stock for their own use, then will sell the less promising pups to help cover their cost of operation, Most private show and race breeders think objectively, but some have cash register eyes in disposing of their surplus puppies. If the buyer is not interested enough to learn about the qualities of a Whippet in advance of his purchase, he can pay a very high price for a very average show or race specimen. Let us use the example of an owner/breeder having a litter of six puppies for sale. The puppies are now between the ages of six and sixteen weeks. The owner has made up his mind to keep only two puppies, and hopefully these will be the best show and/or race prospects. If the bitch has never had a litter before, the owner naturally does not know what to look for, except breeding and. appearance of the sire and dam. If either the sire or darn is small and from a small-boned family of Whippets (English type under 19") and the other parent is from the American type Whippet (up to 22"), the mating can produce great variation in size. If the owner is wise, he will not select either the very small-boned pups or the very heavy-boned larger pups. Extremely small or extremely large boned puppies from such a breeding are seldom the best for showing at maturity. Color is a very major factor with outstanding winners in the show ring. Select the ones who have bright, well-pigmented color on a background of white. Solid colors, dilute washed-out colors with light eyes seldom do well in the show ring, but color does not affect the racing qualities. Do not put color too high on the list, but if soundness and type are reasonably good, go with the flashy markings. Check care fully on disposition, a happy friendly puppy will often be more successful in the show ring than a shy or sulky Whippet of better conformation. Temperament, both good and bad in puppies, begins to show by six weeks, so make it a must to select a puppy with out-going happy personality, if the puppy is to be retained for breeding, showing or racing. Balance and type of an individual pup from a given litter is most important in selection. Give great attention to whether the pup stands firmly balanced on all four legs. His front feet should not turn in or out, and his rear hocks should not tend to turn inwards causing rear feet to go outward from the body, cow hocked, when the puppy strides. Feet should be well knuckled, especially in the front. A soft spreading foot with a severe bend of the pastern going into the foot seldom improves with age. There should be ample chest space between. the two front legs, so that the front elbows do not tend to turn inward or touch. Shallow fronts with straight shoulder angulation tend to shorten reach and seldom improve. The shoulder blades should be reasonably close together at the wither with good layback, giving long low outward reach of front legs from the shoulder. A pup with broad head, short neck, barrel chest, generally has heavy shoulder bone structure. The shoulder blades are usually wide apart at the wither, causing loaded shoulder muscles and restricted stride at maturity. Muzzle and head should be long, with skull gradually widening from the eyes to the base of the skull. Beware of a round apple head skull, or a very narrow skull leaving little room for brains. The pup must have tight scissors bite with the teeth of the top jaw fitting closely over the teeth of the bottom jaw at the front of the mouth. Don't fool with overshot or undershot mouths or teeth that meet exactly in the front. The back (top- line) should not have an extreme arch over the loin (wheelback), and beware of a perfectly flat topline. Look for good length between short rib and hip bone with a slight strong arch over the loin. The rear legs should. support the rear portion of the body, giving the appearance of balance and drive. Beware of very straight pasterns, bowlegs and exaggerated rear angulation. that looks like proper angulated balance, but does not properly support the rear end portion of the puppy. You will probably not find even one pup that fills your eye as being completely perfect. Working at picking those puppies that have the fewest obvious faults, plus outstanding temperament and an appearance of elegance. A look of elegance will often cover up many minor faults in your eye as well as that of the judge. Below are a few rules or guidelines that will help in selecting the puppy or puppies from a litter that best fit your needs. 1. Select the longest puppy with the fewest noticeable faults and a look of elegance. 2. Head and muzzle should. be strong, long and lean with tight scissors bite. 3. Neck long, graceful and slightly arched upward, fitting into a well-balanced shoulder with ample chest room, and brisket reaching almost to the elbows. 4. Rather long front legs with good growthy wrist joints, going into strong pasterns on well-knuckled front feet. 5. Slightly arched topline causing pup to stand covering much ground. 6. A strong well-angulated rear end formation that helps carry the weight of the body, giving the appearance of drive and balance. We have attempted to give only basic information so that the breeder and the buyer both understand what constitutes the better puppies in a litter from the standpoint of conformation. Where puppies from the same litter are not of the same quality based on conformation and temperament, it is seldom that a serious breeder can sell all of his puppies at the same price. Prospective new owners should know just as much about conformation as the owner/breeder if they are purchasing a new puppy for showing or racing. In most cases, the breeder and new owner will be in competition with each other in a few months in the show ring or on the track. It is a battle of knowledge and lucks to who will have the best puppy at maturity. Fortunately for the buyer, most breeders do not have the space, money or time to keep all of the better appearing puppies from each litter. If the owner and breeder both understand what is desired, then a Whippet puppy generally goes into a new home under ideal conditions. We've Just Dealt Our First Hand
AND NOW
At Dress Circle, we are big on brindle -
And Later
Pat & Bill Dresser, Dress Circle Kennel Ch. Paleo's Town
Marshal's career as a class dog was short. Put in open at 13 months, he finished in nine shows at 15 months. He was awarded points six times and reserve twice in those nine shows. He won majors under breeder judge Dr. John Shelton, Afghan breeder Ed Kauffman and M.T. Downing (pictured), who went on to award Marshal BREED over three specials. Breeder judge Elaine Usherson gave Marshal BREED his first and only time out as a Special thus far this year. We are looking forward to SPECIALING Marshal in 1980. Proudly breeder-owner-handled. Minor points were won under Mrs. Heald (puppy class), Mr. Carvill, Dr. Turton and Joan Urban. Thanks also to the spectators who have been so complimentary and supportive of our SPECIAL showy boy. Marshal would also like to wish his littermates a Happy and Successful 1980. Rimshot has 8 points, Sly has 3 points, Class Act has 1 point and Sugar Bear is going to be giving it the "old Try".
Our foundation bitch... CH. HARMONY'S FLAMENCO DANCER
(CH. MORSHOR'S AIRBORNE x CH. HARMONY'S FIREDANCE)
Our first homebred champion (American & Bermuda Champion) CH. MAGPI'S MR. PEABODY OF HARMONY
(CH. DRESS CIRCLE ACES HIGH x CH. HARMONY'S FLAMENCO DANCER)
Our second homebred champion and litter brother of Ch. Magpi's Mr. Peabody CH. MAGPI'S BLACK BOTTOM OF HARMONY
(CH. DRESS CIRCLE ACES HIGH x CH. HARMONY'S FLAMENCO DANCER)
CH. HARMONY'S WALDO PEPPER OF MAGPI
(HARMONY'S POGIDOG OF MAGPI x HARMONY'S ODETTE)
And last but not least, our almost champion MAGPI'S AMELIA EARHARDT
(CH. HARMONY'S WALDO PEPPER OF MAGPI x CH. HARMONY'S FLAMENCO DANCER)
The 14 Champions living at Northwood join their owners CHAMPION BRED PUPPIES AVAILABLE FOR CONFORMATION, OBEDIENCE, RACING AND LOVING HOME
KETTLE MORAINE KENNEL CLUB 7-28-79 Vagabonded Four Leaf Clover HANDLED BY: STEPHEN HURT JUDGE: CHARLES F. KELLOGG
OWNERS: Barre Hill - Bill J. Graheck - Albert Jorda THAT LADY WITH THAT DOG DID IT !
AM. & CAN. CH. LORRICBROOK RAILSPLITTER (AM. CH. OLDLAND'S FIRST FROST x CAN. CH. LORRICBROOK FANDANGO) "KETCH" FINISHED IN BOTH COUNTRIES OWNER-HANDLED
EYES CHECKED CLEAR TOP WHIPPET BREEDERS Breeders of Record, as reported in the AKC Gazette (3 or more Champions) Compiled by Barbara Parsons, Las Cruces, DORIS S. WEAR (STONEY MEADOWS) - 6 Champions
NUBBY & WALT ERRICKSON (AMIGO) - 3 Champions
TOP PRODUCING SIRES AND DAMS October 1978 through September 1979 Gazette Compiled by Barbara Parsons, Las Cruces, Numbers in ( ) after sire or dam's name are total champions they have produced, Numbers in ( ) after get's name indicates their champions produced and the month and year in ( ) indicates issue of Gazette in which their championship was publi TOP PRODUCING SIRES 13 Champions 5 Champions CH SPORTING FIELDS BOLD IMP (6) (Ch Morshor's Bold 'N Courageous x Ch Sporting Fields x Morshor's Pillow Talk (6) Christobell) Ch Morshor's Kissimmee (Feb '79) 4 Champions 3 Champions
TOP PRODUCING DAMS 4 Champions 2 Champions CH STONEY MEADOWS MOON MOTH (5)(Ch highlight's Eidolon x Stoney Meadows Butterfly By Stoney Meadows Double Chance (4) 2 Champions CH APPRAXIN LA NOCHE DE MIRO (3)(Ch. Appraxin Zachariah x Appraxin Merrie Mint) By Sporting Fields Real McCoy (2) CH BEE JAY'S CASSANDRA (6) (Pennyworth Splash Down II x Bon Mot Fresa) CH CRESSWOOD BOLERO (3) (Ch Greenbrae Barn. Dance x Dress Circle Sea Goddess) By Ch Pawnee of Flying W (10) CH HIGHLIGHT'S MERRIE MILLIE (2) (Ch Miller's Highlife on Tap x Ch Morshor's Misc By Ch Highlight's Gallant Prince (7) ous Imp) Ch Highlight's Bit-Of-Mischief (Aug '79) MEREMITE JILL OF CRAIGWOOD (2) CH MORSHOR'S BOLD IMAGE (2)(Ch Morshor's Bold 'N Brave x Ch Winterfold's Bold Bid Charmoll Clansman (12) CH PATHENS SASHA OF CARROB (5)(Ch Pine tops Chatterbox x Ch Pennyworth Starlet) By Ch Pathens Saja Suka (9) PENNYWORTH CHRISTMAS WHIRL (2) HOBO'S PATRIC'S NICOLE (3) CH SPORTING FIELDS DARK SHADOW (2) (Ch Sporting Fields Bold Imp x Appraxin Ebony O'Brien) SPORTING FIELDS MS O'BRIEN (2) STONEY MEADOWS HIGH SKIES (2) (Ch Stoney Meadows Royal Flight x Stoney Meadows Zephyr CH TERRACE HILLS BEWITCHED (5)(Ch Morshor's Believe It or Not x Seyberne's The Red Witch) USHERS FREE-N-EASY OF PANDORA (2)
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Copyright © 2005, American Whippet Club, All Rights Reserved. |
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