Breeding Today's Parti Standard Poodle

Volume 3, Issue 4

International Parti Poodle Gazette

October 2007

Seger is a young Standard Poodle with numerous heath issues.

BREEDING TODAY’S PARTI STANDARD POODLE

Author: Sandi K. Savedra-Dixon
www.sunsetpartipoodles.com

THE REEMERGENCE OF THE PARTI STANDARD POODLE

Since 1991, I have bred Standard Poodles that carry the parti gene. In 2001, I reintroduced the parti-color to the Poodle world. At that time, my goal was to enter partis in American Kennel Club non-conformation classes and to work towards the Poodle Club of America accepting them so they could be shown in the AKC conformation ring. Little did I understand the complexities that lay ahead in all aspects of breeding these beautifully colored Poodles.

The first issue that came up was the lack of known parti gene carriers in the United States. At the time I came out of the closet (so to speak), I knew of only three other lines of parti-colored Poodles. The major one was Mydramagic lines. There was also a woman in California who had a pair of Standard Poodles producing brown and white partis, and a Shalimar combination that had produced a couple of black and whites. My own combination went back to the Calbrecht lines on one side and to the Pinafore lines on the other, but my lines are quite diversified.

In the beginning, I was having my partis’ hips X-rayed by my local veterinarian but was not sending them to OFA (Orthopedic Foundation for Animals) because I did not want to let anyone know I was getting parti colors in my lines nor did I want to embarrass any Poodle breeder whose lines were in dogs of mine who threw partis. I still have many of those X-rays (having hauled them around for a long time) to prove that a certain Poodle did have clearance for breeding. My old vet records reflect the statements given to me by my veterinarian who had been trained in radiology.

Once it became known that we were breeding partis, we started openly testing and today display our results on OFA.

Seger's health problems are many.

Over the past six years, we have attempted to diversify from our original lines but use parti-colored breeding stock whenever possible. In the beginning, we were getting too many bad hip scores, so I eliminated the sire I had purchased and went back to one of my solid-colored Poodles to breed from. The second sire we purchased died at a year old with AIHA (Autoimmune Hemolytic Anemia) as did the second from the same background: one’s grandfather was the previous one’s father. During their growing up year, we had used these dogs’ common sire and lost a third Poodle to AIHA. The last two of the litter died of bloat. We then eliminated most everything from that particular line from our breeding program. Back to square one.

I decided to bring in a female that was line-bred to my current line and had passed all of her testing. We now had a healthy litter of puppies, but the litter was very small: four large healthy puppies. Out of that litter, we kept two bitches; one later got pyometria at three years of age without having ever been bred. That left us with one bitch from that breeding. We eventually bred her, and she produced two very healthy, fat butterball female puppies in each of the two litters she had.

Littermates Star and Tux are very well known in the parti Poodle world, and both have had an impact on the partis of today. Both are still alive and doing well although they are now retired from breeding. At almost eight years old, they are still very athletic dogs and are in great health. Tux is in a pet home and Star remains with me (as she always will). Star produced some very lovely Poodles. Her daughter Shirly was exported to England and has impacted the United Kingdom show circuit – making history as the first parti Poodle to be shown in a UK sanctioned conformation show in a century. Shirly’s sister Dixie was exported to New Zealand and has made history as the first registered parti Poodle in that country. Many of Star’s progeny are currently in the United Kennel Club show ring, and several have attained their Champion or Grand Champion titles.

What you cannot see in this picture is what is happening to Seger on the inside.

PROBLEMS ARE SURFACING IN PARTIS

I have a very strong concern that problems in partis are currently being hidden. Recently, I was sent a pedigree and pictures of a parti Standard Poodle who had numerous very obvious health issues – some that cannot be tested for at this point. Many Poodles with problems continue to be bred, passing these defects on to future generations. If you look at ads in the newspaper and on the Internet, you can find partis everywhere. Some are structurally correct, some very clearly are not. There are obvious puppy millers, but there are also certainly parti breeders who are working towards the betterment of the breed.

Since it appears partis are now plentiful, should breeders who have health problems “throw out the baby with the bath water” or should they attempt to breed away from the issues? I have done a lot of reading and a lot of listening, but, most of all, I have done a lot of breeding. What I have found is that it depends on what you are dealing with. In the case of AIHA, we (and I say “we” because I co-breed with five others who have the same breeding principals that I do) chose to eliminate lines causing problems from our breeding program. Of course, each time this happens, it sets us back a great deal and takes much longer to accomplish our long-term goals. Eliminating certain lines from a breeding program means searching for other lines, getting a new puppy, and then waiting for two years to grow the Poodle up to do the testing before breeding. Obviously, this way is a very slow forward motion. If a person wants to recoup money invested in maintaining Poodles for two years, starting over like this would cause them to go broke fast. Guess that’s why my coffee tables are made of plastic and have wire front doors that look remarkably like Vari Kennels.

Recently, I was sent these pictures of a Poodle intended for use as a stud dog. I was horrified! Didn’t the breeder realize this Poodle had a problem at a very young age? Fortunately the breeder that sent me the pictures is conscientious and would not consider breeding the poodle.

MENTORS

Since their reemergence, partis have been considered unacceptable by most breeders of solid color Poodles so there have been few really good mentors to help parti breeders with their breeding programs. When I started in solid-colored Poodles, I had two mentors – wonderful old-time breeders who were there for me whenever I needed them. For the most part, old-time breeders are not willing to mentor parti breeders who are then left to breed with lack of valuable knowledge. When I first started in partis, there were very few breeders, but now there are many. I have often heard of solid breeders telling potential puppy buyers not to purchase a parti, that partis are bred by backyard breeders or puppy millers, that parti breeders do not know what they are doing. Unfortunately, in many cases, this statement is correct. However, parti breeders approaching solid breeders for advice have often been hung up on or had the door shut in their face.

The parti color is here to stay and luckily there are some solid breeders of excellent quality Poodles who have become mentors and are helping to educate parti breeders. (One of the top breeders of Poodles in the country comes to mind.) However, if we don’t get more mentors, parti Poodles are headed for far more serious health issues than I am currently seeing. Many solid breeders are now appreciating the beauty of the parti-color and are purchasing them. Little do they understand what issues they may be dealing with.

Almost every day, I get a phone call from someone saying, “Sandi, I’m sending you pictures. Is there something wrong with this parti Poodle’s ears?” Or, “Why does my parti Poodle move in such a weird way on his front legs?” Or, “Why does my parti Poodle have this white strange eye?” And the list of problems goes on.

Seger will not likely be able to play like this all his life because someone did not care enough to test.

TESTING

What prompted me to write this article was a trip to my vet where I had three of my upcoming studs tested. First we x-rayed Casey Jones hips: they looked great so we did the elbows which were also great. Then we looked over his x-rays for Legge Calve-Perthes and saw nothing out of place. Finally, we did thyroid and SA (Sebaceous Adenitis) testing which were sent to the lab for results.

We moved on to Oscar. The first hip X-ray was not very good. He MAY pass, but we are not sure. I will not keep or breed a Poodle that does not clear hip X-rays (unless there was an injury that caused the negative reading). This has set me back again as his intended mate may very well be too old for breeding by the time I find another suitable brown Poodle. This is the fourth brown Poodle I have eliminated from my breeding program for one health reason or another. Some of you may think that just because he did not clear does not mean his offspring will not.

My issue with hips is that I want to clear up any hip issues in my lines, and I will never do that if I use a dog whose hip results are marginal. Oscar’s hips are not bad and may possibly have passed OFA but after all these years looking at X-rays, I have in my own mind what is acceptable and what is not. I noticed a slight turn of bone below the knee on Oscar’s right rear leg. I asked Dr. Troy Jones about it, and he said it could be an offset to hips not being as good as they could be. Even though I would not have considered breeding Oscar after looking at his X-rays, that statement eliminated any reason to consider doing another X-ray with better positioning of his body.

Bancroft is a full littermate to Oscar, but his hip X-ray will pass with a good or fair rating, depending on OFA. We next X-rayed his elbows. The bone structure was wonderful in both hips and elbows so we continued on to do SA and thyroid. Bancroft and Oscar are both very pretty males; each, in my opinion, had something to offer future parti Poodles since both carry the parti genes. Bancroft is a blue and cream brindle: Oscar is a solid brown. I had matched each of these boys with two different bitches for breeding to see if I could actually start a sound line of brown and white partis and one of brindles. Now, my dream of using a brown sire is on hold.

ADVICE TO NEW BREEDERS OF PARTIS

The best advice I can offer those new to parti Poodles and new to breeding is to find a mentor you are comfortable with. If you are serious about this breed, serious about having your grandchildren enjoy the breed, and serious about breeding for the betterment of the parti Poodle but are unsure what to do, eliminate from your breeding program all Poodles that have not passed health testing, that do not have sound structure, and those not fitting the breed standard. Find a better Poodle. As most newcomers have not studied pedigrees, when they see “Champion Joe Blow” on a pedigree, they do not know what he looks like or what health issues he may have. Unless you are familiar with the Poodles on a pedigree then it is in your best interest and in the breed’s best interest to eliminate that Poodle from consideration. You will always find someone who finds a justifiable reason not to eliminate a Poodle, but please consider the following:

Seger trying to stand straight.

• The quality of life you are giving the Poodle.
• What health issues you are passing on to its offspring.
• How many families owned by your Poodle’s offspring are going to end up in tears when they discover their Poodle has health issues that are now twice as bad as the ones his parents have. Nothing is more devastating to me than seeing a child hugging a Poodle and having to say good-bye prematurely.
• How many of the offspring will suffer? One, two, ten? Maybe three of them will be bred and increase that amount to 30 . . . and on and on it goes.
• Medical fees are horrendous these days and it is not unheard of to go to the vet and come home several hundred dollars less.

If these reasons don’t concern you, then please just do not breed issues in Poodles that you know should not be there. There is a wealth of information on the Internet. If you are unsure of a health problem, send an email to the Gazette and we will have our veterinarian columnist Dr. Joe answer it immediately. He has been kind enough to do that in the past. Obviously, he could not do that all day long but if the problem is urgent, he will answer an email immediately.

From what I’ve seen, the parti Poodle is in trouble unless breeders start taking action to correct the health issues that are popping up. This is your breed . . . the breed you profess to love. Are you taking steps to eliminate health issues in a responsible way? There are too many parti Poodles in existence now to allow the breed to suffer needlessly by breeding in more with health problems. Please go back and look over the pictures one more time and remind yourself that this could be what all parti Poodles will go through if breeders do not wake up and vow that no Poodle should ever be bred this way, or look this way, or have to walk this way. If parti Poodles who have health issues similar to this continue to be bred, their breeders are not breeding for the betterment of the breed but rather breeding for the detriment of the breed.