Our Goals
| Thirty years of living with and loving dogs has altered my life and my philosophies in so many ways. When I started out showing dogs I was young and very naive. I believed what people told me. I tried to live by the ethics lifted high as the ideal way to “do” dogs. What I learned over the years is that as my Native American Ancestors are often quoted as saying “people speak with forked tongues.” Dog people are often at each other’s throats, demand absolute obedience to their ideas (or you are labeled as a “back yard breeder,”) alter the appearance of dogs for shows(I was really flabbergasted to learn they put false hair pieces on poodles) or drug them almost comatose so they behave in the ring, are unhelpful or in extreme cases rude to folks searching for information (I had one lady tell me in the 3 years she had attended a local dog show, I was the only breeder who had given her the time of day,)and finally cover up their own dog’s faults while advertizing the problems of other’s dogs. If it sounds like I have become a cynic the truth is I haven’t. I think the vast majority of breeders are trying to do the best that they can. They want to produce typey, sound puppies who will continue to reside with their new owners for the rest of their lives. The problem resides in the system of misinformation that is being perpetuated to keep the “old boy’s clubs” going. One example is the outrage to what is known as “designer dogs” generated by many breeders. What they fail to accept or simply haven’t done enough research to realize is that most breeds we have today (in spite of what the standards say) were created during the last 200 years. Fortunately, Bull Terrier breeders understand and accept this, but Ibizan hound and Chinese Crested breeders believe that their dogs have been around for hundreds of years. Genetic testing has proven these theories wrong. The designer dogs of today will undoubtedly be the pure breeds of tomorrow. Shih Tzus Vs Chinese Imperial Dogs Another example close to my own heart is the admonition of Shih Tzu breeders that Chinese Imperial dogs do not exist. I will grant them that the Chinese Imperial is in reality a miniature Shih Tzu. For myself, I would have preferred that they be called the Miniature Shih Tzu, but other breeders prefer the designation Chinese Imperial Dog. However to say this dog does not exist is simply silly. Small specimens have cropped up in Shih Tzu litters from the beginning. In fact if you do the research you will find that the last Empress of China held back the smaller specimens for her breeding program and gave the larger specimens to the Europeans whom she despised. Even the acclamation that royal ladies carried these diminutive dogs in their sleeves is an indication that the smaller specimens were preferred. If indeed the ladies did carry dogs around in their sleeves it is highly likely they were carrying 3 to 5 lb specimens rather than 11 to 12 lb specimens. Just try carrying an 11 lb dog around for a while and you will understand to what I am referring. Unfortunately in the past some breeders destroyed the smaller specimens since they did not want to breed that size of dog. The fact that there is a group of individuals who actually like and prefer the smaller variety should not cause such an uproar in the world of pure bred Shih Tzu. Why should these individuals even care? Eventually AKC will recognize these dogs as a separate breed just as they did with Miniature Bull Terriers. What is really satisfying about the Chinese Imperial Standard is that the dog may be clipped to be shown. The elaborate coat care required to keep a Shih Tzu in show form has limited the number of people who even attempt to show their dogs. Thousands of Shih Tzus are bred every year but only a few hundred are shown because the average owner cannot compete in the AKC show ring with their Shih Tzu. When the show career is over, off comes the coat. UKC, on the other hand, has made it much easier since all the sprays, etc. are forbidden. The dog must be shown in its natural state. Good for them! Photo by Yale Joel, 1969 Life Magazine Shih Tzus of the past did not sport the elaborate quaffs we see today. Shih Tzus are delightful companions. From the time they are on their feet, they are playing and jumping and running. For the most part they continue to do this for their entire lives. I know. I have lived with them for over twenty years. But I absolutely refuse to keep them up on wire and isolated to save that coat. Dogs need other dogs. Shih Tzus need companionship. Fortunately the Chinese Imperial Dog Club of America recognizes this and has written a standard that incorporates these ideas. I am very proud of them. A Breeder’s Dilemma or What is happening to the English Bull Terrier? The very first time I saw an English Bull Terrier I was hooked. I knew someday I would have to live with one of those dogs. And they are everything that I imagined they would be, funny, loving, bull headed, incredibly strong, and loyal. What I didn’t know is that they will eat anything and can easily become impacted, that the females are horrible mothers, that in some lines they will not breed naturally, and with the creation of the extreme heads comes temperament issues. What is happening? One example we can look at is the Collie. In the 1920’s breeders began to breed for a certain look to the head. Complaints began to surface because the breeders had created a distinctive head but unpleasant temperaments accompanied this head type. “Emphasis on breeding for fancy head shapes with no regard for temperament fueled disagreements over what improvement meant,” writes Margaret Derry in her book, Bred for Perfection. Thoughts became centered on dog shows and how winning in the ring effected Collie breeding. I will not go into the health issues in Collies that followed this type of breeding. The research is out there if one wants to pursue it. The point is other breeders have gone down this path and we can learn from their mistakes. 1930, 1950, 1980 Early examples of Bull Terrier Heads The lovely egg shaped head makes a Bull Terrier distinct; however, extreme curving to the head, the so called basket ball head, has a number of problems associated with it. Bad bites are becoming rampant. More and more specimens are either overshot or more often undershot. Judges are putting up these dogs in spite of the fact the standard calls for a scissors bite. Teeth do not “down size” at the same rate as jaws. Shortening a jaw without the shrinking of tooth size leads to overcrowding of teeth. Misalignment of teeth results. What other issues will crop up as the heads become more extreme only time will tell, but judging by the example of the Collie, we may be assured that they will occur. The extreme in Collie heads and the problems that occurred led a number of breeders to rethink their breeding programs. Many returned to breeding the original Collie head. I believe that this will also occur in Bull Terriers. Most Bullies go to pet homes. Pet owners want healthy dogs with good dispositions. If temperament issues crop up in the extreme heads as they did in Collies, we will see more and more Bull Terriers in animal shelters. The Goals of Vanator Kennel After much soul searching I have decided to no longer breed any female that will not take care of her off-spring. I refuse to separate mothers from puppies or as some breeders do, puppies from puppies. My extensive research on puppy development has taught me that dogs need the interaction of their mothers and interaction with their litter mates to become stable adult dogs. Removing the puppies from the mothers and only plugging them in for a meal does not give them that interaction. A mother is much more than a feeding machine. Her input is imperative for proper socialization. If I breed a female for the first time and she proves to be an unfit mother, no matter how outstanding an example of breed she happens to be, she will never be bred again. All dogs will be bred naturally (except, of course, for the shipment of chilled semen.) If a male dog proves unable to be bred naturally, he will be neutered. My long term goal is that all Miniature Bull Terrier females will whelp naturally. I will not breed for extreme heads. My goal is a nicely curved heads with scissors bites as that is the “ideal” bite for a dog. It facilitates proper chewing and drinking which misalignment of teeth infringes upon. (Even Shih Tuz with their flat faces can be bred with scissors bites, but they have hundreds of years of breeding behind them allowing for the proper shrinkage of teeth.) Temperament is of extreme importance, much more so than type or structure, because people have to live with these dogs. No matter how beautiful a dog is, if it has temperament issues, the outcome for a happy ending is bleak. Bullies are good with people. My goal is to keep them that way as well as breeding for non-aggression toward other dogs. One thing I have realized is that Bullies have few of the signals that wolves produce to avoid aggression. In other words they have lost the ability to speak dog or to read what another dog’s body language is telling them. I hope by breeding the specimens which are the most adapt at reading other dogs and signaling, to improve this. Finally I refuse to artificially “enhance” my dogs for the show ring, even if this prevents me from winning. I see absolutely no need for “clipping” Bull Terriers or for drugging them so they can be more controlled. They should be judged on what they are, not what we can scissor them into. This is not a condemnation of any breeder or of any practice. This is simply the goals I have set for myself. I do not believe in trying to enforce my ideas on others. Each of us must decide for ourselves how and why we breed dogs. I see areas in Bull Terriers and Miniature Bull Terriers where I believe I can have a positive impact for future generations of dogs. Others will have similar goals and still others will be concerned with other issues within the breed. No one person or breeder has all the answers. This is what ethically I have set for myself and is not a reflection upon any other breeding program. |
