Breeding Dogs Is Simple Part 4

In the first of this series of columns, I stated “Breeding is a complex, multifaceted series of decisions, always changing and up for review. Breeding is
about extensive research. Breeding is about trying to know what breeders you think are open and honest about their dogs and their lines. Breeding is about temperament and health issues we have no clearances for. Breeding is about entire families of dogs, not just mom and dad.”

In my last column, I said that in this column I would discuss some of the reasons Golden fanciers may be reluctant to share “the whole truth and nothing but the truth”. Perhaps some of you have even unknowingly contributed to why they no longer feel comfortable doing so and my hope is that we can all work towards the time when failures and breeding issues are not viewed as the fault of the owners, nor a fault at all, but information used to try to do better breedings in the future.

At the time, I had no idea that some of these very issues would present themselves to me personally in several aspects, but indeed, that very thing happened. This column concerns temperament issues (fear, aggression, etc.) and how those who both experience and observe them handle those incidences. Please note that the following is my opinion about how people should treat these observances. I hope you will agree, but we each must decide how we personally feel is best to deal with these issues.

As you know, there is no definitive test for temperaments. With hips, eyes, hearts, and elbows, we have paper clearances, but temperaments are judged only from seeing how dogs act. Sure we have obedience, CGC, and other tests, but they aren’t foolproof. Training can go very far in controlling an unsound temperament just as a lack of training can make a dog display issues that more socialization would have prevented. Even improper training can bring out issues that may not have happened!

Many people have seen varying displays of temperament issues in dogs, and perhaps have even seen a bad actor one time that was completely fine at other times. What conclusions do we draw from these actions? What do we do with the information? And what may be the repercussions of sharing displays you have seen first hand? Do you tell what you saw? Or do you remain silent about an inappropriate action from a dog your friend asks you about when trying to make wise breeding choices? It all gets very murky sometimes and is often the root of ugly displays of temperaments from the owners of those dogs as well, if shared.

The bottom line is that sometimes dogs do things we don’t like them to do. I’ve seen dogs that growled at the judge and had to be excused but went on to do fine when older and more comfortable in the ring. I know of dogs that crawled around the ring in fear, tail and ears down, dogs that urinated when the judge went to examine them, dogs that would not allow the judge to examine them after a couple attempts and were excused, and dogs that slipped their leads and bolted for the gait. These were clearly dogs that hated being in the ring and/or examined at the time, but many of which did fine later. I’ve known about dogs biting other dogs, or attempting to, many times. Some were in the ring, some ringside, some at hotels, and some in other areas, but in most of the cases, I had no clue what set the dog off. Yes, dogs can certainly disappoint and surprise their owners sometimes.

But in all honesty, if the dog did it… well, the dog DID IT! Certainly it is not something we should pretend didn’t happen. Certainly it is something we should assess and then decide what needs to be done as a result. Is the dog young and untrained? Is the dog unstable? Did something frightening happen to the dog that it is associating this with? Is this dog more reactionary than most Goldens? Is the action a training issue or are there deeper temperament issues at stake?

While we have to honestly look at the actions in addition to anything else we know the dog to have done, this is still something that happened. To pretend our dogs didn’t do something they did, or be angry that others saw it and told someone else, is not fair.

At the last show I went to, the bitch I had just started showing did something in the ring that troubled me. She got spooked when the judge was examining her, specifically when feeling the muscles and length of her loin. For whatever reason, she did not like this and flipped around, hitting the judge’s glasses with her head. Of course, I was mortified. Yes, this weekend was only her third time in the ring, but she had not seemed to be too concerned with the exam before. And unfortunately, the judge did have a bruise where the glasses hit her eyebrow. The judge had me restack her, she re-examined her, and all was fine. She went on around the ring and free stacked, tail wagging, and never showed another issue at all. Had she not allowed the judge to examine her, she would have been excused. Yes, the incident DID happen and I blame myself for not working with her more on the exam.

So should I be angry if people at the show share this incident? No. It happened. They saw it. No need to lie about it. What needs done (after apologizing again to the judge, who assured me it was no one’s fault and she felt my bitch would do fine) is to proof her more on the exam, and if she does anything else like this again, I will need to seriously assess her stability and overall temperament to include in any breeding plans or entry in dog events. Should I toss her out for showing fear this one time? At this point, because it was such a brief moment and she has been shown so little, I am not ready to make that call. But it is certainly something I will be watchful of. And I will not pretend it didn’t happen.

I know breeders and exhibitors share actions of dogs they observe. I know they also share things they’ve heard about. As I said, there is NO clearance for temperaments, so seeing what dogs do is how we learn which dogs have done things of which we may not approve. So sharing is very appropriate in my opinion, and quite simply… the truth is the truth. However, it is not appropriate if those sharing what happened lie about or greatly exaggerate the incident. For instance, if someone decided to say my dog nipped the judge, that would be very wrong. Obviously, if a dog bites a judge, the judge would certainly know they’d been bitten, and the dog would be disqualified. The AKC rules are very clear on that. But to say my dog flipped around on the exam and hit the judge’s glasses is truthful and it doesn’t matter whether I want it to be shared or not!

Unfortunately, many owners do get angry when others share temperament displays from their dogs. Here is where the gray areas lie. What if you take your dog to a show and another dog attacks your dog for no apparent reason, then a friend asks you about using this stud dog and asks about temperaments? Do you share what happened with this dog concerning your own dog? Or do you keep quiet? What if you asked a friend about a stud dog and the dog had attacked their dog and they didn’t tell you? If you used that dog and had temperament problems in the get, would you not be angry that your friend withheld this important information from you? Do you stay quiet so as not to anger the owner of the dog that attacked your dog, or you saw attack or try to attack another dog? Or do you share with you friend and trust they will take your account in confidence and not go telling everyone that you told them CH. Fido attacked your dog?

As I see it, if we are to help better the breed, we should be able to share these incidences IF THEY ARE TRUE. But PLEASE! If a friend confides in you about something like this, don’t go running to other people and say what was shared in confidence, and by whom. Should you hide things? No. But this is the type thing I was referring to above when I said you may unknowingly be contributing to people being unwilling to share. Discretion becomes important sometimes and especially concerning temperament displays.

I had someone tell me in confidence there were temperament issues with a dog I was looking at a few months ago but gave me no details. It was not a first hand account and this person did not tell me who told her, only that this was a reliable source. She did not share her source and I didn’t ask, just as I wouldn’t share her name as who told me. Should we carte blanc believe what we hear like this? No, not necessarily. First hand witnessing of an incident is your best source, followed by first hand accounts, taking into consideration just how credible the person is, of course. Is this type report something to use in making decisions? Yes! If I want to seriously consider this dog, I will need to do a bit more research in this area. I should be watching that dog and his get and seeing if the dog is producing or displaying problems. Many times when I’ve heard of a dog acting badly, I’ve heard further accounts of that same dog later on.

Unfortunately, very sweet dogs can produce poor temperaments and dogs that have displayed “issues” may produce very stable temperaments. A dog may have a one-time incident that is not so horrible and never do anything again. It just isn’t as easy as we’d like. What is unclear is just how much an incident will carry over in breeding decisions. Nevertheless, it is important information (being careful you are pretty certain it is accurate). This is how we work towards improving out breed.

So what does one do to help the breed? Is it proper to hide first hand experiences with people who ask you? Will this be the best thing for our breed? If someone shares with you, should you run around telling other people? It seems at times we are between a rock and a hard place on things. And perhaps those who don’t want to be honest about the things their dogs do and criticize those who are honest really need to rethink their own motives and contributions to our breed as well. We often wish we could take back things our dogs have done… but we can’t. We must face the actions truthfully and make informed decisions based on those issues. This is the only way we can help to breed better dogs. In my opinion, if you have been angry with someone for sharing truthfully what their dog did to another dog, prhaps it is time you rethink just why you are breeding dogs and if you care more about the breed overall or your own selfish interests. Don’t deny the truth nor attack those who know it. Dogs are not perfect little angels sometimes. In all we do, the truth is always the best way to go. The future of our breed depends on it.