So many breeders in the past, when faced with genetic disease, have fallen on their swords. They have packed up their breeding programs, spayed and neutered, started over or taken up golf. When the 20-20 hindsight of breed history has examined the consequences, the cure has often been worse than the disease. Dogs were lost to the breed for defects that could be tested for just a few years later. Dogs were condemned for disease less serious than their surviving competitors were found later to be spreading. I decided to take a page from history and learn from it. The breeding program would continue with the same goals, the same dogs as before, but with an additional task - to remove the gene, taking as many generations as necessary to do so without compromising type and other health considerations.
To halt the further spread of the gene, I did what I could to get the word out - released the information for publication so that others would know where the risks were. Known carrier dogs were pulled from public stud, possible carriers available only to breeders whom we could trust to manage the risk. We have the luxury of early diagnosis - the defect is easily spotted in a puppy eye exam. No buyer will ever purchase an affected puppy. Test breeding using affected dogs is currently underway to detect carriers and supporting dna research that, if successful, may provide powerful new tools for our breed and others in the fight against eye disorders. While these are the darkest of days, there are several lights at the end of this tunnel.
Meanwhile, life here and at related kennels goes on. We are still breeding the dogs we love, still loving the dogs we breed. Show puppies are being trained and prepared, litters are being planned, champions finishing. Interest in the line has increased, bouyed by the confidence others have in us to be honest and forthright about our problems. Last year we won our first US National. A grandson took the breed at the AKC/Eukanuba Invitational in December. There were best in show wins in Australia and here in Canada. The quality that the line is producing provides perspective and balance to the disappointments that are inevitable when battling a genetic defect. Those wins have become more important than I could have ever imagined in less troubled times.
And so this is how I have learned the importance of beauty.
To those of you out there who feel that it is right and proper to sacrifice beauty to restore health - I am here to tell you that you must not. Health is good, health is important, but it is not enough. It is enough to sustain a dog, but not enough to sustain a breed or a breeder. We need something more - something for ourselves. We need beauty, just as we need air and water and sun. Beauty is the visual representation of good, of value, of virtue. Beauty inspires, it gives us courage.
Get out your old ribbons and dust them off. Spend an afternoon cleaning the tarnish off the trophies. They are meaningful. Those dogs of generations past linger in old show photos to remind us that they once filled the eye as purely as they filled our hearts. They remind us that the dogs we fight for today are here because their ancestors inspired someone to believe in them. They convinced others that their genes were worthy of preservation and continuation, because one day, long ago, they were standing in line when beauty was contested and rewarded.
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