brookcove
Posted : 7/27/2008 3:57:24 PM
One way doing it for yourself can be an improvement - if you are getting a higher figure, if you are doing it yourself you'll have a good idea immediately of which lines are getting concentrated, through which dogs, and whether that is a good thing! In other words, the computer can only tell you numbers, while you can tell yourself, "okay, that's another instance of this dog, but there's an outcross right there too that's known for its good qualities."
For instance, "Cappishness" is hard to get away from in BCs. But if you go through lines that also include certain other dogs, the Cap effect is well balanced. This is how Border Collie working lines keep their trademark working style, but also keep a healthy variety available to different types of handlers, from people who use Border Collies to wrangle swine, to people who work the flightiest, gentlest sheep.