BREEDING IMPROVEMENT PROGRAMME
The Breeding Commendation scheme
The scheme is part of a co-ordinated effort by the Society
to promote the breeding of Clumber
spaniels with the essential qualities needed
by a working spaniel as well as physical and
temperamental soundness, modest
size and freedom from the exaggerations encouraged by some
show breeding.
The Breeding Commendation
Certificate
Clumber spaniels entered by their owners for the scheme
are provided with a certificate. It
provides for a four-part assessment of a dog’s conformity to the type we are
committed to
redeveloping through selective breeding.
The four headings are Working Ability, Hip Dysplasia,
Entropion and Weight. The
certificate
does not give a “Pass” or “Fail”. It is intended to give information about a dog or bitch being
considered
for breeding, or from which puppies may have been bred – information that can
be
readily understood by prospective owners and other breeders in particular.
It also provides a
reliable and standardized database to be used for
improving the breed as working gundogs.
The certificate has been considered by the British
Veterinary Association and it has promised to
encourage vets to participate.
Vets are involved in three of the four elements, and their
signatures are
needed for two. The certificate
carries registration details of the dog and, under
each of the headings, its age
when examined because age has a bearing on them.
Working Ability Assessments
Working Ability is the first part of the certificate, and
is considered to be of such fundamental
importance that certificate forms are
only issued once dogs have been assessed for the standard
of their work.
The assessment is made under actual field conditions, on organized
shoots or on days held
specifically for the purpose. We run as many such days each season as there is demand for, in
different
regions, either on ground made available to us through members or their contacts
or, if
need be, rented by the Society. These
days follow the pattern of an organized rough shoot,
walking up game with two or
three guns, one of whom may be positioned forward. It is the guns
who are the judges, to experience what the dogs they are
assessing are like to shoot over. This
creates a different mind-set from the judge at a field trial, viewing a dog’s
work with rulebook in
mind and notebook in hand. There are two judges, at least one a breed specialist, the other an
experienced shot and gundog handler and, while they may also judge trials, this
is not a
requirement.
Entries in these Working Ability Assessments are limited
to one per dog per season, at a
reasonable fee equivalent to entry in a field
trial.
Dogs are regarded as if the judges are looking for a good
working Clumber – one they would be
glad to own or to recommend to a friend to
buy as a shooting companion. The
judges therefore
want to see competence in all aspects of a spaniel’s work, a
positive contribution to the day’s
sport, and a pleasing nature. They look for game finding ability based on the Clumber’s own
characteristics: they are not
looking for a “white springer”, nor for the impeccable performance
demanded
at a field trial. If a dog goes
wrong, the handler deals with it appropriately, as if on a
day’s shooting, and
carries on. Natural ability and
trainability carry the day rather than advanced
training itself. Specifically, dogs are required:
1
Above all, to hunt – intelligently, with drive and style
2
To find and flush game
3
To be steady to flush, shot and fall
4
To retrieve tenderly to hand, fur or feather, from any
cover or from water if available
5
To be under reasonable control at all times, responsive,
obedient
6
To be substantially free of whine.
Dogs are under judges’ orders for the whole duration of
the day (or perhaps a long morning),
and not for short periods as at a field
trial or working test. We generally
therefore limit entries to
four dogs, perhaps six, in order to give them
adequate attention. There is no
element of
competition. Dogs are
eliminated only if they are judged to be interfering with the day’s sport.
An “A” grade is granted if, in the opinion of the
judges, a dog fulfils all the above requirements.
Judges may issue a “B” grade if a dog’s working ability is assessed
as generally good, though with
one or maybe two important failings – shown as
endorsements on the certificate. For
example, a
dog might be awarded “Grade B, refuses to retrieve” or “Grade
B, consistently unsteady”. A
water test is not essential for the granting of an “A” grade. Only grades “A” and “B” will be
awarded.
The other headings of the Breeding Commendation Certificate are:
Hip Dysplasia
In this section, the owner enters the scores given to the
dog’s hips from X-rays examined under
the BVA/KC scheme, and offers to produce
a copy of the evidence if asked.
The Society will provide details on request to anyone in
any doubt about the need for, and the
operation of, the BVA hip improvement
scheme. HD affects Clumbers, as it
does many other
breeds, and hereditary factors, although not fully understood,
are implicated in its incidence. The
only way to be sure of the actual condition of a dog’s hips is by X-ray.
Where in the past the
interpretation of X-rays had been somewhat
subjective or even misleading, the scoring system
quantifies the degree of HD
present. Up to six points are
awarded to nine features of each hip,
giving a maximum (worst) score of 106.
The geneticist who evaluates the scores, Dr Malcolm
Willis, senior lecturer at Newcastle
University, has expressed the view that the
actual scores are more informative than a comparison
with any judgement of what
constitutes a good or bad score for the breed based on a limited
number of
scored plates. The actual scores
are therefore shown. For most of
the 25 years the
system has operated, Clumbers have been not only the
worst-affected gundog breed, with a
breed average score of between 40 and 44,
but have evidenced the worst hip status of any breed
of dog for which figures
have been available. Recently, otter hounds
have gone one point below
the breed average for Clumbers, now
standing at 42.
Entropion
This is a condition of the upper or lower eyelid where it
is turned inwards at the end, bringing
hair in contact with the eye causing
irritation and, eventually, perhaps blindness. It is widespread
in Clumbers, a breed with a complex eye structure,
typically showing an exposed lower lid, a
feature exaggerated by show breeders
out of confusion with a desire for the eye to show haw (in
fact, the inner
protective membrane or third eye). Entropion
can be corrected in the individual
animal by surgery, which is a necessity if
the dog is to be spared pain and loss of sight. It can
appear in some puppies in a litter from clear parents, and
reappear in later generations. It
is a
hereditary defect, which can only be eradicated by breeding from clear
specimens.
The certificate requires a vet to certify the dog
free
of entropion and that to the best of his
knowledge, based on examination and the
owner’s information, the dog has had no operation to
either eye previously.
Weight
The continuing trend to increasing size
encouraged by show breeders needs to be reversed to
benefit the working animal
and restore it to a size equivalent to what prevailed when the breed
was at its
best around the year 1900. Despite
vociferous opposition from the Society and
from respected veterinary opinion,
the Kennel Club approved a revised Breed Standard in
1986, the fourth such
change to have sanctioned increased weights. We took comfort only
from the modifications we helped to impose on the
original, even more extreme demands
sponsored by the show-dominated breed club.
We accordingly remain committed to an
earlier description of the breed at
odds with the KC Breed Standard.
The description of the latest model of Clumber recommends
weights of 80 lb for dogs, 65 lb for
bitches. While acknowledging that weights in Victorian and Edwardian times were
lower still, the
Society recommends that the previous Breed Standard figures
should be the goal. These are 55
–
70 lb for dogs, 45 – 60 lb for bitches. The certificate requires a vet to state the dog’s weight
while in good
general condition (i.e., not undernourished).
The Breeding Register
This is the second of the Society’s initiatives to
promote the breeding of Clumbers of a type
consistent with our objects. Judging from the response from the sporting public, it is apparent
that
those objects match the requirements of all those with an interest in working
Clumbers.
The Breeding Register, then, has an immediate function:
to make suitably bred puppies available
to prospective owners. We have a considerable and growing demand for such puppies.
We need
to try to satisfy that demand as effectively as possible, without
in any way lowering our standards.
There are two main roles for the Breeding Register.
One is to be a data bank, based both on
pedigrees and increasingly on the
evidence of the Breeding Commendation certificates. The
information builds into a more and more useful record which is
helping to identify genetic lines
showing improved working ability and reduced
incidence of breed defects. Information
is
channelled, both inwards and out, through the Society’s Secretary.
Puppies
The second main role of the Breeding Register is as a
clearing house, a brokerage to bring
together those looking for working-bred
puppies and those breeding them. Ideally,
we hope
both parent dogs hold Breeding Commendation certificates, thereby giving
a clear and
unarguable statement of their key working and health
characteristics. Alternatively,
members
producing litters, and wishing to gain access to the working homes
waiting and recorded in the
Breeding Register, should be able to demonstrate
that their breeding aims are the same as the
Society’s, that on provable
health and working criteria the parent dogs qualify for the Society’s
endorsement. We also recognize,
however, that so long as choice in bloodlines is limited,
compromises are
inevitable if we are to make further progress. Much improvement has already
been achieved, often using stock with
individual shortcomings. There will
be a role in the breed’s
renaissance for a number of dogs of quality yet which
fall short of all ideals.
Members having bred a promising litter should inform the
Secretary of the whelping. The
Secretary will then pass on to that breeder the stored information about
potential puppy buyers,
giving names and address details, and the requirement
for dog or bitch if known. This is
a free
service to our members and to the puppy buyers, many of whom will
meantime have joined the
Society to demonstrate their interest and intent.
The Society may advertise its Breeding Register in
sporting journals, offering an advisory service
to buyers and access to
working-bred litters. This could
have the desirable effect of channelling
demand for working Clumber pups and
pre-empting the advertising of show-bred puppies as
‘working’ or
‘dual-purpose’ in the same journals.
By offering members a ready market, the Society can
influence the breeding of the kind of
Clumber puppies it is influencing buyers
to demand. We also recommend that
sellers charge
modest prices, certainly lower than the going rate for a
show-bred pup, and we will give buyers
the expectation of the lower price scale.
This should reflect the generally more realistic cost of a
working gundog
puppy, whatever the breed, as against a show specimen. At the same time, by
providing breeders with new homes already waiting,
the Society can save its members the need to
advertise, enabling them to charge
less. However, the Society will not
actually get involved in the
pricing or any other aspect of the transactions.
Over many years, the Breeding Register has proved an
effective route to finding a work-bred
Clumber puppy for many of today’s
owners.