Patricia Trotter, Jan 19 2019 Kokopelli Canine Health and Breeding Symposium

When someone who has come before us speaks they drop jewels.  If we are lucky we notice and stop to pick them up.   Those first two sentence are my jewels, your welcome.   Open your mind, open your eyes, and most of all open your ears.   Don’t miss opportunities to learn from those who came before us.   Soon they will be gone.

My highlight of the day at the Kokopelli Canine Health & Breeding Symposium in Elk Grove yesterday was to hear Patricia Trotter speak.  There were world class vets speaking on many topics but for me seeing this legendary breeder, author and AKC Judge speak is the reason I was there.    I am a hobby breeder.    I wish I were more.    I wish I had a gorgeous kennel set up with 10 employees and 100 dogs.  I wish I was breeding enough to develop a solid line of dogs that people recognized and respected.    This is how it used to be.    People put their heart and soul into their kennels.   These cornerstone breeders, many are gone, some are still with us,  have all left us with dogs and knowledge to move forward with.   Some have written books and some have mentored others.  They have more experience and knowledge in their little finger than many of us will have in a lifetime.   They have forgotten more than I will ever know.  OK I could go on with more one liners because I love them but you are not hear to read my one liners.    So here I will write about some of Ms Trotter’s one liners that I took away.  I know I did not get them all because things moved fast.   

• ·         Judges participate in our breeding programs, whether we like it or not, their choices   influence us.   
• ·         Today AKC frowns on withholding ribbons, in the beginnings they encouraged it.
• ·         AKC will pull a breed from the Judge if they do not award select.
• ·         If you look at bad dogs long enough do you forget what a good one looks like?
• ·         Judges have 2 minutes to choose a dog, a breeder has 24/7.
• ·         New AKC judge processes are NOT helping dogs.
• ·         All Judges need at least one do over at the end of a day of judging, she said at least.
• ·         If a judge makes a bad decision it is short lived, a breeder's bad decision last a lifetime
• ·         Judges need in this order, General canine anatomy, breed specific knowledge, objectivity
• ·         Do not continue with dogs who cannot perform the function. 
• ·         Great Kennels of the past set us up with knowledge, a quality gene pool and breeding stock for the future.
• ·         The show ring does not teach or guide you to make wise matings nor does it tell you how to correct structural issues
• ·         Weakness that impacts performance  is different than a weakness that detracts from attractiveness
• ·         Breed standards are NOT written for novices
• ·         Breed standards are NOT blueprints
• ·         The show ring is NOT the test of athletic ability
• ·         The shoulder is in charge of reach, and the upper arm is in charge of execution of reach
• ·         Type is Form and Soundness is function, together they create the working standard.
• ·         A dog who lacks fault does not mean it has virtue. 

She was very insistent that we need to make sure our dogs can perform the function.    I know it is impossible in our breed but there are certain things our dogs must have.    If we do not keep these structural bits are we no better than designer breeders??   

Education is the key, don’t screw up what was left to us.   Make sure your product can do the job, a job.    Make sure your dogs have endurance, and strength, and drive and most important the structure or soundness.