Are Conformation shows the only good way to evaluate breeding stock?

Question

If I use the good judgement of several long time breeders of top dogs in my breed. For info on if I should breed the dog and what dog to breed it to. Is that enugh? Do I still need to show? I would like to get in to agility and obedeance, but my family is closed to the idea of conformation showing.

I should have said the over all evaluation of breeding stalk.

Answer 1

This is a tricky question.

No, I do not believe that conformation shows are the only good way to evaluate breeding stock...I think that evaluating the dogs as they are doing what they were originally bred to do is equally important.

That said, I do not believe that success in agility and obedience are valid reasons to breed a dog. I greatly respect those venues, however no breed was ever developed to excel in either of them -- therefore, success in that arena does not constitute a valid reason to breed. Agility and obedience are all about training -- not genetics and instinct.

In your case -- I'd much rather see breeding decisions made based on Herding titles, if not conformation.

Now, all of this said...if you are, as you say, working with longtime breeder/exhibitors to evaluate your dogs, and learning how to judge pedigrees based on their input -- if you are making breeding decisions with the assistance of someone who knows the Standard for the Corgi and will be brutally honest with you about your dogs' conformation...I don't see a need for you to show your dogs in conformation. Do agility, do obedience, and have fun with them. But remember that the Standard was written based on the ideal specimen of the dog for a particular *function*...so if you're not going to prove the dog capable of its function this way, you should seriously consider proving it capable in another (i.e., Herding Trials).

Good question!

ADDED: If your family doesn't want to get involved in conformation themselves, are they open to the idea of letting the dog's breeder show and title it? That's another option, without having to really be involved yourself.

Answer 2

No I don't think so. I have seen some of the best Golden's in the field and on a hunt trial. The ones in conformation I feel wound't cut the mustard in the field.
Two totally different mind sets going on between the 2 different types of worlds.
If your looking for a good agility dog and obedience dogs than that's where you should be looking. They will have the qualities your looking for.
I totally agree with Loki another really good question! 2 for 2 today :)

NOTE: I see no reason a dog of any breed can not make it's mark, in the field or any other venue the owner wishes. Confirmation is just one way, not the only way! Further I did not say that health testing was not to be done to confirm the dogs viability in any venue whether show or field or both nor did I state that AKC standards should be ignored. Quite on the contrary, I felt that that had already been said quite well by by another answer.

Answer 3

No, the conformation ring isn't the be all to end all.. And it seems that when they breed solely for conformation the dog suffers severely in temperament and working abilities..
Do what you want with your dogs, you have help in evaluating the dogs, don't worry about the conformation ring. Maybe in the future you might want to play around with it a little, but I don't believe it's the most important thing out there..

Answer 4

In repsonse to miss ginger is fancy, I agree that we should breed to the breed standard etc. But EVERYONE interprets the breed standards differently, not just Countries but Judges also. Even breeders have their "type" they are breeding for, otherwise the same dogs would win at every show.
As for colour I take offence, here in Australia our standard says cream to dark gold. The Goldens you are calling "white" are not white if put near or against another White breed of dog. Normally by the time the dogs are 2-3years of age they are pale gold. I don't go around calling American Goldens retrievers "red" which here in Australia would be classed as a fault. I am not colour prejudice I have a dog that never did any good in the show ring because of her colour, she is to dark for Australia. She is the colour if not lighter of a lot of American Goldens. I still bred from her as her conformation/health tests were excellent and she has produced lovely offspring that are doing well in the show ring. I don't believe I need a judges opinion to put a Champion status on my dog for her to be suitable for breeding. No dog is perfect and as a breeder that is what we are meant to be striving for. Out of all the faults the breeds carry I would prefer a wrong coloured coat in one persons eyes, to a dog that is cowhocked, down on pasterns just to name a few faults.

Answer 5

No, you can evaluate breeding stock based on performance results. If you are wanting to be active in agility and obediance trials then use those results as your criteria. Personally, I feel that breeding for show has only served to destroy working dogs. As an example, quite often Siberians bred for show are totally useless for their intended purpose. There are several other examples as well. In general, the show world takes into account ONLY the physical part of the dog, ignoring the most important parts, brains and heart.

Answer 6

Not all dogs in breeders' lines have been shown. A good breeder can look at a dog, interact with it for a while, and examine it's medical records and pedigree and decide if it is a good edition to their lines. If your local show dog breeders for your breed don't approve of your dog, consider not breeding it but if they do think it would be good for shows or for working dog trial lines you'll have your answer.

Answer 7

Well I would not buy a Golden or any other breed without a Championship, AS WELL AS all of the health certs for that breed, some field trial titles, obedience, agility, hunting, herding, whatever the breed was bred to do. That is how I determine a good specimen of the breed...not just Ch. title, but also titles in other venues, plus ALL of the health certs.

For a Golden, I would want to see something like this:

Ch. Blah Blah Name UD JH or TD, maybe an agility title.

For an Australian Shepherd, there had better be an agility and herding title in there, and at least a CGC.


If a Golden is not to standard, then it cannot earn points towards it's championship. I want to see a True Golden to the standard, no matter what other people think of the AKC standards. Too many Golden breeders are breeding these ridiculous "white" goldens and calling them "rare" or "english creams", but since they cannot show them here in the US, they do other events with them, such as field or tracking, obedience, etc.
Well, "white" goldens are OUT of standard in my professional opinion, and therefore should not be producing puppies. If they like it in the UK, fine. But I live in the US.

In my opinion, if you cannot or simply do not want to show in the breed ring, then you ought not be breeding at all.

Answer 8

There are also Field Trials, Hunt Tests, Herding Tests, Lour Coursing, O/B Trials and on and on.
The trainability of the dog is every bit as important as it's looks.

You didn't say what breed, so need to keep the options pretty general.