Thread: Crossing show lines

?? What better view would you have than being able to see the potential dogs work and be handled --pretty good place to begin and end i would think -your going to see more working dogs at comps than anywhere else.And to boot most come from great working lines

So watching a whole heap of other breeds of dogs is going to teach me what about my breed...?


A competition may show case your dog's qualities, but it will never be the competition which put those qualities into the bloodlines.

If its one run at trials yes if not best of luck

The dogs make a trial, the trial doesnt make the dogs.

point was at trials if your breed is well represented you get to make good opinions on the dogs -how well they work and handle all in one place --hard to do that anywhere else .Most tend to have a solid line behind them also. what breed do you have

i see its a Brittany! ive never seen one work

Epagneul Breton...aka French Brittany

Originally Posted by EeeBees

The dogs make a trial, the trial doesnt make the dogs.

But trial results can and should shape a breed and is the best place to get an overview of the breed.

I used to have a similar view as Victoria regarding competitive types of Trials…..that was until I entered one. While I am a firm believer of ‘Test’ type evaluations as opposed to ‘Trial’, there is a tremendous amount of benefit to be had from running in competative Trials. However, they should never be the sole determining factor in breeding selection.

Often, running a good dog against a mediocre one will mean the good dog doesn’t put on much of a show. Rather, it just does what it needs to in order to get by. But if you run two good dogs against each other, and you will see the better one lift it’s game and really shine. A lot of the Specialists seem to do this naturally, but my GWP took a while to realise what it needed to do in order to become competitive. Ryen’s Quinn is probably the best example I’ve seen of a Versatile that really chomps at the bit to get out there and do the business.

my Setter has been no different after a 7 year lay off of trialing -it wasnt quite sure how big to run especially in ground with very low cover but is now growing to understand .Most dogs that trial are reasonable -not all ! Often youll compare the dog for its benefits in its work and certainly not against a flop beside it that is pissing around .

From my past trialing days over 10 years ago the standard was good for most but still only one can win and that is the dog that shows the best work "on the day" . My own dog has started out in a good fashion in the trials but yesterday cleared a creek in our park of anything with feathers and certainly didnt stop to point or listen to my whistle -the little shit

ElB you write

Most dogs that trial are reasonable

I do not want to breed gundogs that are just reasonable ...it is no good them being reasonable for 15 to 20 odd minutes...

reasonable means they're not crap and quite acceptable .You may well want to breed super dogs but do you have the lines to breed to that are great and how many are you going to breed to get those dogs ?? Where will you prove them ?Im sure when you arrive at your finish dogs well see them but until then im sure they'll be "reasonable"

In the case of the versatiles, trials performance isn't the only thing that should shape the breed as their job entails more than just bird work but I definitely think it's important as an evaluation tool.

Originally Posted by gqhoon

Ryen’s Quinn is probably the best example I’ve seen of a Versatile that really chomps at the bit to get out there and do the business.

Thanks. I'm waiting to see if his pups have the same kind of drive.

Originally Posted by EeeBees

ElB you write

Most dogs that trial are reasonable

I do not want to breed gundogs that are just reasonable ...it is no good them being reasonable for 15 to 20 odd minutes...

If you don;t run them against known quantities how do you know they are anything more than reasonable?

Originally Posted by RCGSP

In the case of the versatiles, trials performance isn't the only thing that should shape the breed as their job entails more than just bird work but I definitely think it's important as an evaluation tool.



Thanks. I'm waiting to see if his pups have the same kind of drive.

Always an exciting time.