From Show To Go

[tinytiger 840]

 

 

I live in a region where large terriers are rarely employed for hunting/conservation and there is an obvious lack of local talent when it comes to proven working stock. Providing proper dogs is one of my long term goals for society because our survival may depend on them again and I have biases... I have noticed that English Bull Terriers, a breed developed for the show ring, have consistently been used as successful catch dogs in various contexts. looking at all the candidates for U.S presidency i am expecting the holocaust....maybe find some hunters near you with the same quarry in mind and use what they do

 

Living in Canada, could local "show" wheatens displaying desirable character/physical traits be used for work? Given that I can find dogs with desirable physical characteristics, how many generations does it take to strengthen key behaviour traits?

** Providing proper dogs is one of my long term goals for society because our survival may depend on them again and I have biases... **

 

Are you expecting the holocaust? Fairly gloomy outlook in life. Living in BC I would have thought would be a good enough reason to make anyone feel content. :-)

 

The K.C. in it various guises (AKC,UKC, IKC, etc) has done a good job of ruining the wheaten terrier. The blond weak show dog of today is a distant relation to the old working wheaten. Trying to import a dog from old working lines would put you from 0 to 150 miles per hour fairly quickly....... a lively dog to handle for a novice.......A grand dog though. Agree about the Ozzies breeding all sorts of pig dogs. They even breed Irish wolfhound into their dogs which I thought was insane until I saw a crossbreed work. But better bred dogs would still do a better job than some of the yokes I saw. Then again it is always down to the men breeding the dogs and what they put into them. If you cannot get a working bred wheaten (from Ireland) I would tend to lean towards an Irish bred KC version than any KC bred dog in the UK or US or Canada. At worst they would be "somewhat" closer to the dogs in the past if all the gizz isn't bred out of them?

[tinytiger 840]

. looking at all the candidates for U.S presidency i am expecting the holocaust....maybe find some hunters near you with the same quarry in mind and use what they do

 

 

Are you expecting the holocaust? Fairly gloomy outlook in life. Living in BC I would have thought would be a good enough reason to make anyone feel content. :-)

 

The K.C. in it various guises (AKC,UKC, IKC, etc) has done a good job of ruining the wheaten terrier. The blond weak show dog of today is a distant relation to the old working wheaten. Trying to import a dog from old working lines would put you from 0 to 150 miles per hour fairly quickly....... a lively dog to handle for a novice.......A grand dog though. Agree about the Ozzies breeding all sorts of pig dogs. They even breed Irish wolfhound into their dogs which I thought was insane until I saw a crossbreed work. But better bred dogs would still do a better job than some of the yokes I saw. Then again it is always down to the men breeding the dogs and what they put into them. If you cannot get a working bred wheaten (from Ireland) I would tend to lean towards an Irish bred KC version than any KC bred dog in the UK or US or Canada. At worst they would be "somewhat" closer to the dogs in the past if all the gizz isn't bred out of them?

Edited November 11, 2015 by tinytiger

[tinytiger 840]

dont know how that quote thing works on phone-sorry corkman

[hjckcff 1,738]

if i could not get a pure working wheaten then i would consider a cross if i was you still better than a KC animal. a heavy built lurcher (litter wast) from a lurcher programe with wheaten on both sides. or a bull/wheaten or terrier wheaten pup . not ideal but a better starting point

[LEATHERABRAHAM 3]

 

It would be nice if someone posts you over a pup as it could be like reading Jock of the Bushveld on here in a couple of years - a sanitised version.

 

It certainly would. Would love to come over and hunt with some terriermen first though. and it looks like I have a new book to read!

[LEATHERABRAHAM 3]

I might have the cat by the tail but I thought you only used the Aussie pigdog as an example of re constituted working dogs from pig dogs from show not that you want to use wheatens as pigdogs. However show dogs of 40 and 50 yrs ago were not as far from there working roots as they are today. Ive never been one to back away from a dog breeding challenge, wish you all best in your best with your efforts living in Canada I would have thought there would be many dogs avalible to you over there Mountian curs being dogs breed over centurys for the game on that continent.

You got it! It is crazy how quickly working dogs can be ruined considering people spent so long refining abilities geared towards performance. I still believe with the right shell of a dog, there is always a chance for the right mind to come through.

 

How is the working wheatens performance today compared to 50 years ago?