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| Category: Animals |
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| About the Book | |
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What Every New and Experienced Breeder Should Know! A reader-friendly toolbox chock full of practical genetic principles by award-winning breeder, Claudia Orlandi. The ABCs of Dog Breeding takes an easy-to-understand, step-by-step approach to breeding and is designed to help anyone find success and joy in their quest to produce beautiful, healthy dogs for showing or performance. Hundreds of eye-catching graphics, along with brightly-colored interior pages, extra-large print, and original artwork enhance learning and make this science-based manual a visually unique reference to which serious dog breeders will return again and again. ✓ The ABCs of Dog Breeding is the foundation for the author’s more than 150 popular seminars on dog breeding and canine anatomy. ✓ A toolbox approach discusses (1) Genetics, (2) Breeding Systems, (3) Pedigree, (4) Selection, (5) Genetic Defects, (6) Anatomy and (7) Kennel Blindness, in a step-by-step format with a goal of giving breeders the knowledge and confidence to make sound breeding decisions. ✓ Genetic principles dispel myths related to topics like the following:
Successfully breeding purebred dogs is 50% science and 50% art. The SCIENCE of breeding deals with the breeding systems (inbreeding/linebreeding and outcrossing) used to mate each dog and calls for a knowledge of genetic principles. The ART of breeding has to do with the dogs that you select to mate and requires an understanding of anatomy and an eye for a dog, which is the ability to evaluate a dog as one piece in terms of quality, balance and correctness. Many dog breeders ignore genetic principles! Reasons range from: “genetics is over my head,” to “randomness and chance in breeding make genetics pointless” to the most popular chant: “genetics is boring and I’m OK without it!” The reality is, breeding revolves around randomness and chance and if we understand and use genetic principles, we have a set of breeding rules to follow. Not following these rules increases the chance of producing inferior dogs who are more prone to health problems; we also waste time and resources. Observing the rules of genetics provides a short cut to breeding better, healthier dogs. Longterm breeding success requires an understanding of why something happens in a breeding program. This is the stuff of genetics and is key to keeping the good things and eliminating undesirable traits in the dogs we breed. Just as our ability to read and write requires learning our ABCs, learning to breed purebred dogs begins with a layman’s understanding of how a sire and dam pass traits on to offspring. The ABCs of Dog Breeding is written for serious breeders who wish to learn practical, easy-to-use breeding principles that will help them make better breeding decisions.
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| Reviews | |
“The [ABCs of Dog Breeding] is an absolute stunner and a must have for anyone, whether an old hand or someone just stepping out along the road of dog breeding. With solid academic credentials, the author combines a wealth of practical, hands-on experience, a solid background in the scientific principles of genetics and an infectious enthusiasm for the art and science of successful breeding. This large, well laid-out and user-friendly…volume is in reality a solid home study program based on Orlandi's educational seminars. The piece is rooted in her belief that in the quest to breed better, sounder and healthier dogs every breeder can and must understand the practical rules of animal breeding in general, and canine genetics in particular. “The ABCs of Dog Breeding. What a title! It says it all. The [ABCs] should be studied by all in the fancy: owners, exhibitors, handlers and judges. Claudia shatters many breeding myths and replaces them with facts…This is the only book that I’ve read in my approximately 50 years in the sport that makes genetics easily understandable.…[she] does not speak down to her audience but rather gives the facts in understandable terms and provides extensive references for those who desire to pursue a topic further. Claudia’s background in purebred dogs goes back to being a Junior Handler in the 1960’s with her St Bernard. She has been involved with other breeds but her [35] year passion is breeding Basset Hounds under the Topsfield prefix. Claudia and her husband have produced over [200] champions and the Breed and All Breed records held by Topsfield Bassets could fill a book. In this regard, the ABCs of Dog Breeding is not just based on theoretical study but also on practical breeding experience. The entire purebred fancy owes Claudia for sharing her knowledge with us all.” Breeding is not just mating two dogs. You may be lucky with the first litters’ results but a sincere breeder must also know where the qualities, faults and disqualifications came from for future breeding. This is where the study of genetics comes into play. The ABCs of Dog Breeding Home Study Program helps explain genetics to novice and serious breeders in simple, understandable language with excellent illustrations.
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| About the Author | |
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Claudia’s involvement in the dog fancy began in the 1960's as a Junior Handler of the St Bernard, Ch Bowser Waller. Although she and her late husband, Dom, have owned and shown various breeds since, Claudia has successfully bred Basset Hounds for over 35 years under the Topsfield prefix. She is dedicated to preservation breeding and to producing champion dogs for the show ring and field. The Orlandi’s kennel is located on 200 acres in northern Vermont and has produced over 225 champions. Topsfield Bassets have won more than 150 Bests in Show, over 500 Group Firsts, numerous Bests in Specialty, including 6 BHCA National Specialty Bests of Breed, and at the time of this writing have been Number One Breed and/or All Breed Basset Hound for 19 out of the last 23 years. Topsfield holds a number of Breed and All-Breed records. Claudia’s enthusiasm for breeding is matched only by her passion for teaching and working with other breeders. She is a lay expert and her ABCs of Dog Breeding Home Study Program, which has been sponsored by the American Kennel Club, is based on the enthusiastic response to her educational seminars on breeding. Knowledge, coupled with integrity and honesty about health, are cornerstones of her breeding and teaching philosophy. For many years she chaired the Basset Hound Club of America’s Judges’ and Breeders’ Education Committees for which she developed an educational concept called Basset Hound University, whose course designs are available for parent clubs to use as templates. She has spoken at over 150 dog clubs and AKC/CHF Breeder’s Symposia. Claudia judges Basset Hounds, Dachshunds, PBGV’s, Beagles, Basenjis, Rhodesian Ridgebacks and Junior Showmanship. She is the 2009 American Kennel Club Breeder of the Year, the 2018 American Kennel Club Lifetime Achievement Award Winner in Conformation and a 2024 recipient of the AKC Pat Laurans Making A Difference Award. In addition to being a Life Member of the Basset Hound Club of America, Claudia has been honored by Dog Fancy Magazine (March 2015) as one of the “45 People Who Changed the Dog World” by helping to improve dog breeding and making canine genetics easier to understand. Professional Background - Upon earning an MA and PhD in Spanish in the mid 1970’s, Claudia began course work toward a 2nd PhD, this time in psychology at the University of Vermont. Although commitments to her family’s business curtailed plans for completing another doctoral degree, her studies in experimental psychology and the sciences furthered her interest in genetics. For over 50 years, the Orlandi’s FoodScience Corporation, which oversees Vetri-Science and DaVinci Laboratories of Vermont, has been a pioneer in the field of preventive medicine through researching and formulating nutritional supplements for veterinarians and physicians. Selling the company in 2021, Claudia’s experience in the field of canine preventive health and a love of academics and teaching have all combined to enrich and improve her life as a dog breeder. |