Line Breeding

[peterbeater]

Yes it is very fair and I agree with what you say regarding not knowing what will be produced health-wise.

Sorry you had a bad experience with a dog bought from the UK and agree some return on your money would have been nice, not all UK breeders are that bad! it's a pity money is the be all and end all for some people.

I agree with the principles of line breeding, it is the only way to 'fix' a type, the thing that bugs me is the continuing very close breeding some people indulge in. It can't be good for a breed when someone breeds closely, has success with that dog then all and sundry use him, the breed immediately hits a bottleneck which, in a numerically small breed, can be disastrous.

What dog/s sired your cockers?

[flush1]

The Bridevalley , Sprucehill lines probably were the last strong linebred spaniels. I hava a pedigree here of a dog who has about 7 times Lismore belle in his pedigree. This dog was the litter brother to Bridevalley Nell, the mother of Hothead. I just have pups here very closely bred to an extremely potent dog who was bred very close in the Bridevalley lines. They are about a weel old, so wait and see. Both sire and granddam on the mothers side are out of the same sire. Maybe the 2 best spaniels we have.

The Monalue lines, indeed ,are linebred in a certain way. I have a few of them here. I have the sister to the dog that went to France and had/have a few half sisters from her.
I try to keep that line going.

What I mean is that it's a pitty that there is no other breeder in the UK that strongly linebreeds.

are u sure the pedigree you have is of a brother of bridevalley nell? because lismore belle was only 3 times in that pedigree.
a good friend of mine has a bitch with nearly 20 lines of lismore belle in her breeding,obviously not all on the 5 generation sheet as belle is dead over 20 years now.but we disected the pedigree & traced nearly 20 lines of belle in her lineage!

[Hales Smut]

Mistake. I do not own the dog. I just checked the pedigree. Born 1992. Bidevalley Hector = Bridevalley Nut of Sallyhene x Lisnair Beta. 6 times Lismore Belle in 5 generations.
Hector was the dog that made me look around in Ireland. He was an impressive spaniel.

Most working lines are not realy checked. So it's always a gamble if you start working with those lines. The dog I bought had RD, we did not make any agreement about him, but if it had been the opposite way, I had done something to make up for the problem. Since 1 jan 2012 it's possible to drive back the dog if you're not pleased, 10 year ago it wasn't.

Once I heard a bad story about a "trainer" of gundogs. If he had a bad dog he never learnt him how to swim. This to avoid him swimming back if he sold him to the continent.

[EssGrouse]

Made for very good reading this. Thanks

[Spaniel Jim]

I Have recently had an accidental mating in the kennels by 2 half siblings (they share a sire). not ideal

[EssGrouse]

But you know what your getting in a sense Jim...... I cant wait to see them

[Spaniel Jim]

But you know what your getting in a sense Jim...... I cant wait to see them

You think they might come out with 2 heads! Im not 100% on having them yet nothing against the 2 dogs its purely i mated a bitch already that week and have got2 other nitches in front of her that i wanted pups from before her. Cracking lines on them if we do have them

[EssGrouse]

In the wild inbreeding is very common. In a pack of Lions the leading male sires his daughters and probably even grand daughters. When a young mal gets more powerfull and takes over the pack he kills all the cubs and the same story begins. If he is a son of the older male, which isn't inpossible, he probably also sires his sisters, ....... The weak ones get killed, because nature has no sentiments.

The Bridevalley , Sprucehill lines probably were the last strong linebred spaniels. I hava a pedigree here of a dog who has about 7 times Lismore belle in his pedigree. This dog was the litter brother to Bridevalley Nell, the mother of Hothead. I just have pups here very closely bred to an extremely potent dog who was bred very close in the Bridevalley lines. They are about a weel old, so wait and see. Both sire and granddam on the mothers side are out of the same sire. Maybe the 2 best spaniels we have.

The Monalue lines, indeed ,are linebred in a certain way. I have a few of them here. I have the sister to the dog that went to France and had/have a few half sisters from her.
I try to keep that line going.

What I mean is that it's a pitty that there is no other breeder in the UK that strongly linebreeds.

How did these pups turn out?

[Stihl 090]

Some interesting reading for a bank holiday!
Thanks

[trekmoor]

I was told by a very experienced old man when I first enquired about the pros and cons of linebreeding that ...."It is line breeding if it works , it is inbreeding if it does not !" That seems about right to me.

Wullie