198 KENNEL SECRETS. 



Other breeders believe that success at shows is a guar- 

 anty of all the most desirable qualities, therefore they 

 invariably seek sires among prize-winners, without thought 

 of fitness or questioning whether they won in good com- 

 pany or under competent judges. And with them there 

 are but two accepted laws in breeding, namely, "like 

 produces like " and " breed always from the best " — the 

 ^'best" being those of visible merits without considera- 

 tions as to the qualities of the ancestors or conformity of 

 the individuals selected to the same general types of their 



families. 



Members of both classes are occasionally successful, 

 yet when so they scarcely deserve credit, for they have no 

 ideals nor real systems, and always follow, never lead. 



Of course their expectations have foundations, for it is 

 evidently a law of animal organism that the offspring shall 

 inherit characters of parents, but this does not mean that 

 they shall inherit all the characters, nor even one or more 

 of the most desirable, for there are other laws the influ- 

 ence of which may be predominant and for the time being 

 at least obscure this hereditary tendency. Again, while 

 the offspring may be said very generally to resemble the 

 parents the resemblance is not, as so many assume, con- 

 fined to the outward form and visible characters, but as 

 often, doubtless, manifests itself beneath the surface, and 

 without evidence except such as appears in psychical 

 qualities. 



" Breed to the best " is of course a golden rule, pro- 

 vided it is rendered rightly — that is, the selection is con- 

 sistent and the breeder is influenced not alone by obvious 

 excellence of the individual but by the family history as 

 well. In other words, he has a proper conception of it 

 who looks for a combination of qualities when seeking a 

 sire, and considers not merely the dog himself and his 



