6 Week Evaluation For Connie X Hogan Litter
03/19/07
Today Was Judgment Day For The Highest Rated Litter Ever!!
The 4 puppies rolling in the sand, romping about my feet, and nipping my pants' legs were born on February 2nd of this year, making them exactly 45 day's old. Old enough for their first movement evaluation, for at this time they actually can trot at the show gate for a few feet and display for the "trained eye" proper movement if they indeed have it! Likewise flaws will give themselves away as evident as the sun rises in the east and sets in the west.
The anticipation was running extremely high for this day, for you see these 4 puppies came from one of the girls who herself was from the highest rated litter ever at Chambray. Their dam is Am/Int Ch Chambrays Chance N Counter and she is 1 of 3 females born to Am/Int Ch Chambrays Chisholm Chancey, who happened to be the highest rated single puppy ever born for our kennel!
At 5 weeks (35 days) old, the few skillful breeders, those with years of experience and with a mind's eye for the standard for the breed, those with an undeniable track record for success, will be able to do a hand's on conformation evaluation for all those qualities that make a dog a great example of the breed. It was precisely at that time that these four puppies were indeed evaluated and came up with the highest rating for an entire litter for their age! From head to toe, they reached high, their scores seemed way over inflated, however having just evaluated a litter 4 days earlier of 6 puppies from another very good breeding and yet another litter of 7 puppies from a "world-class" breeding 2 days prior to that, I knew that my eyes had not gone "kennel blind".
These 4 puppies rocked!!! The lone girl in the litter managed to score the 2nd highest score ever, just slightly behind her grandmother, Chancey. The boys each eclipsed every other high score and each came in a wee bit behind the female.
Could this be possible? Could 4 new puppies score 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th highest rating ever? Would those high scores hold true at 45 days when they needed to put together the great conformation with flawless movement. How many would drop as many have done before at this critical stage?
All it would take would be one puppy with a low rating to drop their accumulative average below the great litter that produced , their dam Am/Int Ch Chambrays Chance N Counter, 2004 Eukanuba finalist Am/Int Ch Chambrays Twist Of Fate and 2005 Westminster competitor Am/Int Ch Chambrays Mad About Madeline.
The moment was at hand and each puppy was put through the drill of gating for movement. No leashes are used, but rather natural movement is observed from every angle possible They are teased with a ball which is rolled out just a few feet away and rear leg placement, hock action and footfall is notated for each puppy. What you don't want to see is cow-hocks, east west feet placement and severe crossing over of the feet underneath the body.
The front movement is also observed while the puppy heads back to me. Here we look for deviations such as elbows buckling out or elbows pinched in, any crossing over from the median line with the feet and legs, plus excessive wide front movement is also penalized. Slapping, curling or rigid movement of the pasterns is also penalized. There are other movement anomalies that are considered, with anything out of the norm being duly noted.
Side gait is also observed, although at this age reach and drive is not fully developed and this final criteria is reserved for the final evaluation at 8 weeks of age before they are placed with new owners. . However it is still looked at with an eye on the topline and neck/shoulder carriage as this is an indicator of either good movement or restricted movement.
After an hour of observations and note taking, the numbers were in and added together and then averaged out. The process was repeated on a calculator and validated for errors.
This litter indeed now holds the highest litter rating ever for a Chambray litter, in fact the highest rating ever for any litter that has ever been brought to my attention by anyone, and I have seen hundreds!!!
The bitch puppy scored 5 whole points higher than her dam and actually beats her grandmother at the movement scores. A final evaluation will be performed at 8 weeks of age with those results deciding whether little "Charm" is indeed the highest rated puppy ever! The 3 boys each beat their sire's scores by up to 3 points and that is saying a lot as their sires is our newest champion and "specials" dog at the dog shows, Am/Int Ch Chambrays Out Of The Ruff or Hogan for short. One of the male pups has received the highest rating for a 6-week old male, outscoring #1 Gandalf (2005), #2 Caleb (1991) and #3 Franco (1997) at the same age. The other two boys would now be #'s 5 and 6 in the rating system, just behind those great dogs of the past. Will these scores hold up in 2 weeks when the "final verdict" must be rendered before they are placed into their new homes?
What does the future hold for these awesome puppies, only time will tell as each will be going to show homes in the area and all should shine brightly for Chambray Labradors and the Partners Program for the Betterment of the Breed.
Editors Note: I have had many queries about Gandalf, Franco and Caleb, as to how much success each of those dogs had.
#2 Ch Chambrays Caleb won 18 Best Of Breeds and was ranked #9 in 1995, competed and made the cut at Westminster, handled by Ron Hahn.
#3 Ch Chambrays Franco won 9 Best Of Breeds and 6 Group Placements, including a first-ever Group 1 for Chambray. He was retired prematurely when his owner moved away.
#1 WinQuest Chambray Great White Wizard (Gandalf) had received the highest ever rating for an 8-week old male until Bailey came along. Gandalf grew into his potential, but was injured and has not been back to the shows.
Check out how each puppy did from the initial assessment to the official 8-Week evaluation below.
8th Week Final Evaluation Before They Go To Their New Homes
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