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STUD DOGS
Drifter received an Award of Merit at the 1997 CCA National
in Reno.
What qualities distinguish your stud dog, including
conformation attributes, temperament, show career, etc.?
Drifter excels in his lean head and flat skull, with full,
smooth, round muzzle, well-finished underjaw, with no
depth of head, correctly placed eyes and a sweet expression.
He is a very elegant dog with a very balanced body type,
lower to the ground and very sound. His temperament is
so typical of his family -- sweet and happy -- he adapts
to any situation. Drifter is a very dignified dog and
is a totally focused showman.
Drifter completed his championship with four majors under
specialty judges. On the way to his championship he also
had group placements. At the CCA in Reno, Nevada, in 1997,
under Judge John Honig he was the only male special to
receive an Award of Merit.
One of our proudest moments for Drifter was when he won
the Stud Dog class from an entry of 21 stud dogs and their
get at the National Specialty in Columbus, Ohio, in 1996,
under Judge Patti Merrill, in one of the largest stud
dog class entries in the history of the CCA.
What should bitch owners know about your stud? i.e.
eye check, pure for sable, etc.
Drifter is a tri-factored mahogany sable. He is normal
eyed for CEA but he is not a non-carrier for CEA. He is
tested thyroid normal . His semen is checked on a routine
basis. He is also OFA certified.
Please summarize your breeding philosophy and how
your stud dog fits into that philosophy.
Our goal is to produce a family of collies that are noted
for certain remarkable virtues. It is my goal that all
of my dogs have a similar look -- a look that distinguishes
them. We want our Collies to be elegant and to have a
balanced outline. They must have a beautiful, clean, light,
detailed head with an intelligent, sweet expression.
Combined with their elegance, they should be athletic
and look as if they can do the job they were originally
bred to do. They should have sweet, outgoing temperaments,
and be healthy and sound. All of this is a very hard balance
to achieve. I think this is a tough breed to get "right",
so many things have to be in balance to make it perfect.
It is the challenge of trying to achieve that perfection
that keeps us looking forward to the next generation.
We do not breed many litters nor do we maintain a large
number of dogs. We believe that only the best individuals,
who possess excellent virtues, should be used in the breeding
program. We believe in tightly linebred individuals because
we feel they have the best chance of reproducing their
virtues. We will do an occasional outcross to bring in
a trait we feel is needed at the time.
From the time that I started to become a serious student
of this breed, I would go to the Nationals and watch the
classes. Over and over it was the same dogs that caught
my eye. As I would look at the breeding on the dogs, they
were always from the same family line or a related family
line. The thing that struck me about these dogs was that
as my eye became more practiced, I could pick these dogs
out right away. They all looked alike. They all had a
look that was remarkable and that distinguished them.
We see too many generic show dogs these days. A good dog
should have a remarkable trait -- something that sets
him apart. That is what distinguishes a dominant family
of dogs. They should look alike and they should excel
in certain virtues. I consider it a big compliment when
someone says to me that they saw a Drifter offspring and
they knew right away it was his. That means he is doing
his job -- he is stamping his look on his get.
I can take no credit for breeding Drifter -- that all
belongs to his breeder, Mary Benjamin. She created a family
of dogs by building upon certain virtues, generation after
generation, and making her selection of individuals who
best exemplified those virtues. We were very fortunate
to be able to acquire Drifter and utilize him in our breeding
program.
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