The Breeder…
A breed will Stand or fall according to its breeders not its loyal fanciers, not its judges and handlers, not its exhibitors and trainers. For the breeder is the only link between the past and the future; only through him can the breed stay alive.
Like the sculptor, the painter, the poet, he is driven by creative compulsion. But he more than any of the others is caught up in the race against time. The sculptor works in stone; his mistakes can be changed by the chisel. The breeder works with flesh; his mistakes may take generations to correct. The sculptor can put his work away and eventually come back to it; the breeder is a captive of his breed and can never really leave it.
Why then does a breeder stay a breeder? The answer is, that of all the activities in the dog sport, he alone has the joy of creation and the pride of enduring handiwork!
When proud owners bring back a fine animal for him to see years after it was sold by him as a puppy, he notes with a thrill how it has developed in just the way he thought it would. While they are happily telling him what a marvelous creature this is, he is scarcely listening as he stares at the dog; for he is not only seeing what they are, but so much more.
With mounting excitement, he watches that imperious stance, so familiar, that proudly arched neck and the keen steady gaze right out of the past; he does not see just ONE handsome dog standing there before him, but all the wonderful ones which went into the making of this one - dogs which he loved and knew so well . . . and now sees living again. This is the fascination of the breeder. This is the treasure of eternal youth!
Peggy Adamson,
Damasyn Dobermans