The Science of Breeding 



The selection of a sire is far from being 

 an easy matter. You must look at his 

 ancestry closely, in conjunction with that 

 of the dam, and do not be misled into 

 sending to the most prominent champion 

 simply because everybody else is running 

 after him. After you have studied the 

 question for some time you have the con- 

 clusion forced upon you that some dogs are 

 far more prepotent than others ; that is to 

 say, they have a greater power of impress- 

 ing their image upon their progeny, and by 

 looking closely at their pedigrees you will 

 probably find that they have been con- 

 siderably inbred, or that their ancestors for 

 some generations back came from the same 

 kennel. The older and purer the pedigree 

 the more likely is any individual to repro- 

 duce the family characteristics. If you see 

 any owner putting down a lot of dogs of 

 varying types and characteristics, you may 

 assume at once that he is bringing imperfect 

 knowledge and intelligence to bear upon 



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