Whether you call it art, science, skill or luck, a great dog is the culmination of
countless spot-on decisions, beginning with foundation stock.  Unless these dogs
possess superior type, balance, and proportion, instilling these essentials may
require generation of work.  Peter Belmont, breeder of the Elmo Afghan Hounds,
concedes the importance of his earliest decisions.  “I was selective about who I
chose for my mentors.  Joan McDonald Brearley of Sahadi, Sunny Shay of Grandeur,
Anne Seranne and Barbara Wolferman of Mayfair Yorkies, Kay Finch of Crown Crest
and Babbie Tongren of ben ghazi all had a great influence on me.  I give them full credit
for the success I have the luxury of enjoying today”.

Belmont looks at type first when selecting the next generation of his breeding
program.  “To gain any depth and consistency in breeding, one must linebreed
but refresh when needed.  I have only selected results of the refreshment breedings
that look like my dogs.  Those are the ones who were phenotypically the look I
wanted to preserve.”
Phenotype puts you on the right track and pedigree research answers many murky
question that physical evaluation won’t reveal. Of course, any pedigree is worthless
unless you know how to interpret and use the information – and this is what sets the
good breeders apart from the great ones.  “My first pedigrees went straight off the
paper directly back to Afghanistan imports by Marion Florsheim”, says Belmont.
He explains the “Outcrosses added a muddy side to some of my pedigrees that were
too linebred, too tight.  I call these breedings ‘stepping stone’ breedings, not solid
Elmo breedings.  Those dogs looked similar to my dogs but had to be bred to my tight
pedigrees to produce what they looked like; otherwise they produced strangers in the
crowd, deviations from the predictability I seek.”

No matter how carefully you plan, moving your breeding program forward remains
an ongoing challenge.  Dedication is sometimes a breeder’s most precious tool.
Belmont never kept frozen semen because “If I could not breed a better dog, a better
producer, in succeeding generations I may consider myself a failure.”  His breeding
program has been far from a failure.  “I just won the Hound Group at the World Show,
so many have said I am still on top. Do I feel like I am?  No.  I still have very much to learn!”
 
 

*Amy Fernandez is Dog World’s book reviewer and also writes for
Dogs in Review and Top Notch Toys.  She is the author of four books,
including Dog Breeding as a Fine Art.
 

DOG WORLD,   “Walking The Tight Rope”,  Amy Fernandez. April 2008 pg. 30