August 2000

SUITABLE FOR BREEDING?

You’ve finished your first Saluki, perhaps with a real flair, such as Breed over Specials. Maybe you have a specialty win or two under your belt, when the questions start. When are you going to breed, and where?

Enticing images fill your mind: Best Bred by Exhibitor; Breeder of the Year; Owner-Breeder-Handler. You envision a future full of promising litters and eager buyers.

Wait.

Before you seriously consider breeding, before you even become involved in mandatory pre-breeding screens such as thyroid and heart, first ask yourself: Is this Saluki suitable for breeding?

So many factors must figure into this equation. Some are obvious, such as adherence to the written standard and, for some people, the requisite titles indicating acceptance by a cross section of knowledgeable dog people. Some are not so easy to discern; it is these I wish to discuss this month.

The late Dr. Dan Belkin said "What we don’t breed for, we lose." This means what we don’t insist on in the sire and dam will not occur in the litter, except in rare instances of pure luck. You must delve into the health history of your Saluki, its parents and littermates, and several generations to each side to obtain as full a history as possible of the animal you will choose to represent you in reproduction roulette.

A Saluki from a questionable background has little to offer future generations. If your Saluki has been in less than spectacular health throughout its life, or if close relatives give signs of an inability to thrive under ordinary circumstances, reconsider breeding.

If your Saluki has ever shown an inclination to bite people, whether enemy or friend, you need to consider all possible scenarios, up to and including legal action if you choose to ignore this inclination, or try to relate it to an insecure need to be dominant. Such rationalization will only set you up for future grief. The same goes for unprovoked attacks among the dog family, or excessively aggressive tendencies toward small scurrying dogs at shows.

Ask your Saluki’s breeder for details concerning the whelping. Was labor quick or protracted? Did the dam have any pre or post whelping difficulties? Did she jealously guard the puppies, or allow her humans to assist in puppy raising chores? Did the litter open eyes and stand up at the usual times, and was weaning a simple task? Have related bitches produced litters, and were those experiences positive?

Do you know how many puppies were in the litter including your Saluki? Are they all still hale, hearty and happy? Do they lack only the owner’s interest to keep them from competing in the show ring or coursing field, or did your Saluki come from a litter with one or two outstanding dogs and a larger number of less than spectacular quality?

Ask the same questions about the sire, and the sire’s family. Your litter would not be directly affected by the whelping tendencies of the sire’s side of the pedigree, but a bitch out of your litter would. According to the late Mimi Carlyle, a breeder’s goal should be to produce for several generations down the road, not just one litter. One should always strive to make each generation better than the one before, and a step along the way to the next generation.

With this information to draw from, re-evaluate your Saluki. Steel yourself against the large eyes and personal memories of good times together, and objectively consider her or him as one rung on a long ladder rather than an individual dog. No Saluki will shine in all fields. Your must consider the exuberant personality which makes for an aggressive approach to coursing against a loving temperament when away from competition.

Consider health questions against the family history. Be brutally honest. Has health improved or deteriorated over several generations? Did bitch owners need to schedule caesareans "just in case"? Did studs need help to get their job done?

If your Saluki is less than perfect in one area, you would of course want to balance this against overall quality. A spectacular bitch with high vitality might be considered high strung in all but the best homes; bred to a calmer dog the puppies could benefit from both sides of the pedigree.

Certain factors should preclude even the most beautiful, and most successful, Saluki from ever reproducing. Breeders differ in what they will accept as a reasonable risk but all of us must strive toward maintaining the appearance of an antique coursing dog while insisting on quality of health made possible through modern testing.

By the time this issue reaches you, the 2000 National Specialty will have come and gone. SCOA presented a Judge Education seminar in Fort Worth in March, and will also present in Southern Maryland the end of June and in Houston in July. In October, the Western Regional seminar will be about original Saluki imports, and promises to be fascinating. For more information, please contact me.

Monica Henderson Stoner