The Black Russian Terrier:
Problems of modern breeding...

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So it was possible, that in year 2000 15 years are executed from the moment I was engaged in breeding of Blackies. Term is insignificant in historical scales, but for the young breed -enormous. On my eyes was born, has grown and gone several generations of black terriers. And, probably, the problems which I met excite not only me. Unfortunately, modern breeding more and more resembles to me a Brownian motion of molecules by the randomness and inconsistency. Maybe in epoch of triumph of our breed on the international exhibitions, such announcement will seem too courageous to someone, but I nevertheless attempt to justify this judgement.

What is mass breeding of the black terriers today?

I will dare to say, that this is breeding concerning the quantitative signs. Size, format, length of a head, strap of a breast and wrist, intensity of a pigmentation - this is the brief and incomplete but most frequently used set of the desired qualities. At once let's decide that in this sectional article we speak only about the exterrier, and the problems of selection on working qualities constitute a separate theme for talk and 1 conscientiously do not mention them. The separate quality signs. like the facture of the hair, constitute only small amount from total number of the signs being selected and if there is any desire they could be described in quantitative values. All abovementioned also allows me to assert, that the today's breeding is a work with the quantitative signs. I know that the majority of the owners never look at the dogs as on a gang of the signs or material for selection. I do not treat to the pragmatists seeing in a dog only centimeters and kilograms either. But the comprehension of the fact that each animal is the personality, does not release us of necessity to respect the laws of such science, as genetics and such art as breeding animal.

It is possible to approach the problems of breeding in various ways. It is possible to work with separate animal, aiming to receive the greatest possible quality of descendants in each litter. At such approach the choice of the couple is subordinated to elimination of defects of the particular animal. Such approach is typical for the owners of small-sized kennels and a large part of common breeders.

Other approach implies activity with a population. The priorities here are displaced a bit and the average quality level of the population in whole (not the level of separate species) becomes the main criteria, having in mind the capability of its increase, i.e. tribal potential. These directions of cultivation do not exclude but supplement one another, but methodically they are based on a little bit different principles.

I will try to explain this statement with an example. With the same live-stock of 10 bitches you can to the following:

1. Having determined the faults of each dog, select most suitable males (in the personal order), with the purpose to receive maximum quality of the descendants in the first generation. The long-term perspectives in this case are seldom undertaken in calculation. Through some generations of such breednig the population will consist of numerous animals of high quality, which most likely will be quite different. The genealogy of such a population has all chances to become extremely diverse and confused.
2. Having determined the most significant defects, appropriute to the majority of dogs of current breed, constitute the plan of breeding in order to replace bloods bearing these defects with bloods of dogs of a desirable type in the terms of several generations. At such approach chances to receive a plenty of the champions are much lower, but the average level of the population will grow stably, the dogs will be more of the same type. The tribal potential of such animals is more predicted, and the breading yields to analysis and planning easier.

In breeding both approaches should be used, but it is necessary to mark, that the second approach presents more stringent requests to the breeder. And it will be not possible to bypass this limitation, as such approach is the only one that allows to create the fundamental basis for long-lived perfecting of the breed. Unfortunately, in Russia there are no conditions for such work today and it seems that the situation will persist. What conditions we are speaking about? They are:

1. Availability of a unified methodology for estimation of the tribal manufacturers.
2. Availability of the database on the tribal manufacturers, accessible for breeders.
3. Determination of a number of selectional and genetic parameters according to the breeding criteria and their usage in cultivation.

Now we shall consider these conditions in detail. As it is known. the process of breeding can be subdivided into two processes:

1. Selecting the animals for further breeding.
2. Choosing the pairs within the selected animals.

Both processes are based on the forecast of outcome. Really, at sampling the selector chooses between all accessible animals and chooses the ones that will give the best descendants, in his judgement, and, therefore, forecasts outcome.

The selector then tries to choose animals to constitute a pair to receive maximum quality of descendants and, therefore, forecast of outcome again takes place. While working with a separate animal, error of the forecast have local value, but the improper selection of the male manufacturers while working with a population can have fatal consequences. Apparently, that the random forecast here is invalid. Let's try to understand, on what factors such forecast should be based. The classic science about breeding teaches, that the estimation of animals should precede the selection. In any tutorial on breednig it is possible to find, that there are following kinds of an estimation of the manufacturers:

1. On the animal's efficiency. In our case it is possible to understand this as exhibition outcomes and working qualities of evaluated dogs, and expressiveness of any of the features considered as object of selection activity. For example, the length of a head or altitude in withers of the dog, when you decide whether to include it in the breed core or not. The estimation on the animal's efficiency is based on phenotypical features of a proband *.
2. On efficiency of the side cognates. Same, as own efficiency, but defined for the side cognates - sibs (brothers and sister), half-sibs (brothers and sister on one of the parents) and more long-distance. The estimation is based also on the analysis of the phenotype. The precision of such estimation depends on quantity of the animals involved in process, degrees of their cognation and the factor of hereditability of the feature on which the selection is conducted.
3. On derivation. In this method the estimation is based on the analysis of a family tree of a proband. The attention is paid to grandparents - whether they posess a feature being selected and the degree of it. The attention is also paid to a degree of recurrence of the feature during a number of generations, on saturation of a family tree by outstanding grandparents.
4. On quality of descendants. A unique method of the estimations permitting to evaluate the manufacturer on a heredity, which already has been shown. This method allows to evaluate the manufacturer most precisely, but it is not dispossessed of a number of defects. I think you will agree, that it is late to get convinced that the manufacturer was awful at the time when about 20-30 puppies have been received from him and brought up. As well as late to tear your hair, when it is become clear, that the manufacturer was remarkable...
5. Complex (integrated) estimation. It is a combination all or several of methods mentioned above, and it is the most precise method of an estimation of the manufacturers.

But a problem arises: «Well, and what profits we shall receive, if we shall make all these estimations?» And we shall receive a capability to precisely forecast outcomes of breeding work. There is a formula of determination of expected effect of selection: Эc= H2 x Sd, where H is a factor of an inheriting of the sign, and Sd - selection differential. What is the meaning of the arguments and how can they be defined- we shall consider below. The sense of the formula in whole is that the answer of the population on each clock tick ** of selection will be the more, the more heritable conditionality of the feature is and the more rigidly the selection was conducted. And now answer: what is the heritable conditionality of such feature as a strap of a breast? It is possible to formulate a question in the other way: «Mow much (in percentage) the strap of a breast depends on the genetic factors, and how much - from the living conditions, iceding and other genetic factors?» Do not try too hard. The majority of the sane people will experience difficulties with the unequivocal answer to this question. Moreover, there is no one valid answer to this question, as the factor of an inheriting is a nonconstant value. It is various in miscellaneous populations, but in each particular case it is possible to calculate it. This enables making the forecast, to not guess «lucky-unlucky» but to plan outcome. I will give examples of such planning. If the factor of inheriting a length of a head in given population constitutes 0,15 (or 15 %), it signifies that variability of the sectional feature depends on the heritable information only on 15 % and on 85 % from other factors, so the selection to this feature will be ineffective and there is no sense to turn down animals, which are good on other parameters, but having hardly more short head, since the descendants of these dogs will not differ reliablly from the descendants of other dogs of this population. I want to notice that I'm speaking about an average length of a head. And for those who think that the example is irrelevant and the length of a head can not have such heritable conditionality, I will tell that digit 15% is not random, and is determined for substantial population and it tells about high genetic homogeneity of a sectional population to this feature.

The examples can be given ad infinitum, but I think that the importance of knowledge of the above named arguments is of no doubt any more. A problem is only that for defining the arguments we need the results of above-mentioned estimations. And the results should be expressed in digits, not emotions. I have heard such a result of estimation of one manufacturer on quality of descendants: «Wow, I like its children so much!» And when I asked him why he liked them, I have heard: «Why! They are so beautiful!» I should say very smart estimation of the manufacturer! So, we decided that: «the breeding is based on the forecast» -«the forecast should be based on estimation»- «for a precise estimation it is necessary to use a complex of methods». And what takes place in life? Here picture diverse.

PROBLEM N1. The estimation on the dog's efficiency is actually made with the bare eye, and mainly the ex-terrier and working qualities are estimated. It is so surprising, because, as was spoken above, the selection is conducted to the quantitative features, i.e. to the features, which can be precisely measured. I am far from offering to arm the experts on the exhibition with measuring instruments. It is not their business, and the victory in a ring should not be determined by quantity of centimeters or kilograms. But for breeder it is simply necessary. The experiment put by the writer has shown that usage of objective methods of an estimation of the quantitative signs in the selection activity gives effect of selection, which is almost 30 % higher, than the bare-eye estimation. It signifies, that usage of biometric methods allows to speed up selection process considerably. And isn't it what we want?

Now imagine that you have decided to make measurements of all animal, which you plan to use in breeding. You will not encounter any problem while working with your live-stock, but the day of the exhibition came. You noticed several nonresident males and have desired to try to measure them. What do you think will happen? Sure you're right, in 80% of cases you will be told where you should go to with your centimeter. The most educated owners will advise to read advertising in some periodical or will say something like: «Our boy is 78 in withers, head 35, metacarpus 16, strap of a breast 105, startling children, and he regularly tears figurants on the training ground!». To trust or not to trust,- it's a matter of yours, but I do not advise to. The matter is not that the majority of owners are not professionals and like to exaggerate. Simply there is no unified method of conducting the measurment procedure and the miscellaneous people meter slightly variously, and it will affect the certainty of outcome. The conclusion: The measuring procedure should be conducted by professionals. And conducted under the definite and affirmed method of application during realization of a integrated estimation, irrespective of the fact how the procedure will be referred to, - kerung, bounting or somehow else. The outcomes of such measurements should be stored in the Tribal book of breed, which is to be published annually. Such procedure is a standart for every agricultural animals and it is not quite clear why it is not present in the most mass kind of animal industries - dog breeding. I have seen the electronic form of the Tribal book of the German shepherds in Germany. And, you know, it impressed me as breeder very much: the information on derivation, basic measurements, data about descendants, results of tests, exhibitions, kerungs, photo of the majority of animals for the last 100 years! The dream of a breeder! And this dream on 20 diskettes is accessible to anyone for just 20 DM. In our country, for some reason, this information is considered a top secret. Are we afraid of the swindlers? And why, for example, in horse-breeding, where the cost of some animals is measured in tens and hundreds thousand, and sometimes even millions dollars, swindlers are not afraid of? It is necessary to struggle with swindlers, but why should it bother common breeders?

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