Bias in Evaluating Breedworthiness - A serious problem
When evaluating breeding stock, it is important to be critical of what you have and critical of what you are looking at incorporating into the next generation. What I am often finding, at least publically, is that many breeders are willing to forgive what they have (or essentially never admit any faults at all) while being hyper critical of other’s dogs. Often, there are cliques of individuals with related dogs who will forgive their dogs misgivings as lack of training or experience while condemning others as poor genetics. The mindset is competitive and tribalist rather than cooperative and grounded in reality. That isnt to say that there arent cases where genetics are at fault on either side but there is so much more at play on a training and enviromental level that it can only be bias or lack of education to say as much of a dog you do not know. Declaring an unfamiliar dog or line as faulty from one exposure is harmful to the breed. There are no perfect dogs and there are no dogs without virtue.
This is a serious problem it seems across multiple working breeds. Many breeders are incapable of looking at the dog in front of them. Instead, they prefer to refer to one picture/event/interaction/video etc. to make their final decisions on a dog’s ability or type. One instance cannot define a dog but so many refer to these things like it does. Case in point: a 5yr old border collie with a first time herding dog owner. The dog has growled at strangers who appear threatening. Not good. Same dog, exposed to sheep for the first time and is an absolute wonder. You can immediately tell he has work behind him. The dog is quick witted and extremely biddable. With proper training and an outlet for his energy he is a model citizen. Should this dog be put down??? Absolutely not. Is he genetically defective? I dont believe so, if anything his ease of training and natural way with sheep are an asset. Would you believe that folks still whisper about his “defectiveness” despite this, because in confidence these initial training issues were confided in to a trusted breeder who maintains an unrelated line from this dog. This is the issue!!
Being new, I have the luxury of looking at the dogs without the years of baggage that may be attached. A single dog someone disliked once being in the pedigree 7 generations ago should not cause someone to throw the dog out. It also isn’t logical to attribute all your dog’s favorable features to a dog that appears once in the pedigree 7 generations ago. I try to gain knowledge from the owners of the dogs that are in the pedigree unfettered by the bias of a competitor and weigh that appropriately with what is in front of me and the genetic weight that is expressed in the dog.
It does a disservice to your breeds to not evaluate objectively. History is important but in balance with what is in front of you. Breeders and buyers need to start really truly LOOKING at the dogs again as individuals and putting everything into context. This requires a great deal more work compared to falling into bias. It’s easier to just believe what you are told or to make and keep these snap judgements than to evaluate at a critical level. Nothing worthwhile is easy! We all have the same goal, we need to remember that as a community.
