Canton Pomeranians

Being Kennel Blind is a Canine terminology referred to a breeder who is blindly in love with his stock such that he is ignorant and totally ignores the faults/shortcomings of his animals.  At best, he may admit these but is always very quick to rationalize and justify them.  He will go to the extent of saying that other dogs that are not his are not worth a hoot.  Only his dogs are good.

Considering that there is no such thing as a perfect dog, such an attitude is very sad for the dog sports.  This would mean that there is no room to improve on the virtues and eradicated the faults of the breed.  It is a hindrance to the pursuit of excellence. 

I remember in the late 70s, during my early Pomeranian years, I was very impressed with Hadleigh…their beautiful faces which were beyond compare.  To this day, I still think they are the most beautiful Pomeranians I have seen or owned in my life.  Of course, there were other things to improve on them but I was totally brainwashed by my mentor into thinking that anything not Hadleigh was trash.  And so, after about 10 years of continuous purchasing of expensive Hadleigh dogs, I had to stop breeding them because they were UN-breedable.  I stopped completely and after some time re-started all over again.  Such a lot of blood, sweat and tears…and of course, money.  Such is the fate of kennel blindness.  You can ignore it for a time.  You can procrastinate until it hits you like lightning…and then it is too late.  I talked about this in my first kennel visit with the Pomeranian Reader January 1994 and for those interested to read more, they can refer to the About Us Section - Magazine Articles of this site.

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I want to share the following because it is very supportive of what I said in my earlier Bog 30 when I discussed the essence of Breed Type in Pomeranians.  It will be a wake up call for many, and hopefully, “some were blind but now they can see… “

A few days ago,  I  found an article of Fred C. Bassett in the Pom Review August/September 2009 quite interesting.  He talks about his judging engagement in Sweden and I will quote below the pertinent portion, re Pomeranians:

“ The  thing that I found quite interesting was the areas of bred type that the Scandinavian dogs excelled at, which we are having problems  with currently in the USA.  Most notable to me was correct eye shape and size.  I was really excited to find that the majority of the entry had beautiful correct almond shaped eyes of correct size, which helped give many of the dogs a beautiful expression.  I would estimate that 60% of the entry there was correct in this feature, versus here in the USA where we are lucky to get 5 to 10%.  Along with this there were many dogs there that had beautiful high set ears, probably about 40%.  They varied in size, but the placement was really pleasing.  We were still struggling with this at home as I’m sure most of you are aware.  The other thing that stood out was a high number of dogs with very good coat texture.  Again, about 40% lf the entry had good dense coat with correct harsh outer coat.  It was really a pleasure to see(and feel!).”

Pictured are his winners:  Left:  Best of Breed was Ch Noble Art Do’s and Don’ts; Right:  Best of Opposite Sex was Drakedran Red Gold who finished her title with this win.

Fred Bassett is well known expert in the Pomeranian world.  He is the Chairman of Judges Education Committee of the American Pomeranian Club; ie,  teaching prospective judges of the Pomeranian Breed. He was very complimentary to Bravestar at the Nationals.  I have the pleasure of having him visit my home and kennel where we talked extensively about Pomeranians.  I emailed him my comments to his article to which he responded.  I like to share them below:

Dear Fred,

 I read with a lot of interest your article in the Pom Review August/September 2009  re: the excellent breed type of Pomeranians in Sweden.  I do not have any inteaction with Swedish Pomeranians but I do know and judging from the pictures, they are Hadleigh based.  Since my own breeding stock had the same beginnings but later on mixed with American bloodlines, I can really relate to what you are saying. 

 You talked about:

......excellent ear sets(and, I might add, most likely they were set up high all the time compared to American Pomeranians which are usually down and only up, when their attention is called; and it is not as high)

......correct almond shaped eyes of correct size with gives a good expression(I agree with you on this but I believe that the pronounced stop and the wedged shaped muzzle which Americans calls a pushed in face  is equally contributory to that expression)

......very good dense coat with correct harsh outer coat(While you appreciate this harsh coat texture, and if you are saying that you prefer this to what you have in the United States, then you must accept the development stage of this kind of coat, ie,  not  so glamorous coats as puppies, total shed and bald by six months, and late blooming, say 18 months with peak at 3 years of age)

 Perhaps, since Sweden is an FCI country and judging from the pictures, they would appear to be FCI sizes, meaning 18-22 cm from the withers.  In weight equivalent, that should be about 4 lbs compared to the increasing sizes of the pomeranians in the US showring.

 I suppose, your article suggests breeding in these excellent traits to the American Pomeranians.  I would like to tell you that this is what I have been doing the past 20 years and I am very happy with the results. 

 I  planning to go to the 2010 Nationals and hope to see you there.

 Basilio C. Yap

 Hi Basilio,

 Thank you for your note.  I appreciate your comments. 

 I greatly admired your dogs when I visited you.  You are doing wonderful things with your breeding program.  I will look forward to seeing you at the Nationals.

 Regards,

 Fred Bassett

September 17, 2009

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