Hogan & Connie III 6th Week Evaluation

 

        

It is the 6th week mark for the current litter of puppies at Chambray, offering us the 2nd best time to look at a litter searching for those that will fit the credo, Betterment of the Breed.

 

The actual best opportunity will occur in just 2 weeks at the most critical time for show evaluations to occur, where we get to see movement and add that to the list of criteria that has to be met or exceeded to qualify a puppy as being Show Quality or not.

 

However, this is the first real glimpse, the first indication of whether we have succeeded with the mission of the betterment of the breed with the pairing of two of our best dogs.

 

Here we are at very familiar crossroads with yet another Hogan-Connie litter, in fact this will be the third and last time ever for this occasion to happen as this is Connie’s last litter. There have been 2 previous litters and each of those has been well-documented in articles and write-ups that have been published to the Reference Library of the website. All 9 of those puppies are currently showing and each has had their day in the spotlight at the puppy matches and at dog shows.

 

The 4 puppies in this litter, 1 girl and 3 boys are awesome to look at as a group. They each have outstanding, confident personalities just as the first 9 puppies produced by this stellar pair have had. So, what will the individual examinations reveal? Will any of them equal or surpass those zenith-like ratings from the first litter where Chambrays Charmed N Counter, Chambrays Bailey On The Rocks and Chambrays Hogan’s Hero Rocky came from; all of which are champion-pointed at 13-months of age!

 

The 6th week evaluation is more of a free-style look see, rather than the in-depth, hands on, physical setups used at the 8-week mark. At this preliminary evaluation physical attributes are looked at while the puppy goes about its business, at times each is coaxed into standing or teased into moving so that certain features become highlighted. Notes are made as to how well each part fits with the other parts and any fault is considered and weighed heavily against each puppy. In fact, if there is a glaring fault visible, the evaluation for that puppy terminates and that puppy will not be considered for show placement unless that fault was a temporary anomaly and doesn’t show up at the next evaluation.

 

  1. Usually fronts are looked at first, both while standing and when moving. We would like to see a nice wide front where the legs are as wide apart at the elbows as they are high to the same mark. The legs should be parallel with each other and the feet should point somewhat forward. The feet should also be as rounded and compact as possible and the puppy should stand up on the toes as much as possible.

 

  1. The side view gives us a look at the general type of the puppy. We like to see what is considered “typey”, meaning a square, heavier look as opposed to a long-bodied, thin and leggy look. From the side, the topline should be straight and level and not severely inclined nor sway back nor roach backed. We should be able to see a good triangle whose lines are formed by
  • Legs under the withers, so that if you drop a line from the point of withers, that line would fall straight down just passing the back of the elbows.
  • Equal distance from the point of withers to the tip of the point of shoulder should equal from the tip of point of shoulder to the back of the elbow.
  • I like to see the point of shoulder jut out in front of the puppy forming a nice “keel” to act as the front of the boat that cuts through the water.

 

 

  1. Rear assembly as seen from the side comes next. I like to see nice moderate to heavy thighs with some developing stifle at 6 week’s of age. I love moderate-plus angulation that will complement the nice triangle front of item #1. The hock should fall slightly behind the rump of the puppy, placing the toe nails of the rear pad right underneath the butt.
  2. The rear from behind is the most critical aspect at this stage that makes or breaks many a puppy for show purposes. Wide rears with perfectly placed hocks are a must as too often we see moderate to severe cow hocking in Labradors in the show ring.
  3. Heads are the last part that we look at in 6 week old puppies, as this feature is more of a personal value than it is a correct/incorrect value.
  4. Overall movement is also looked at for obvious faults rather than for perfection. Extreme looseness, bowed out fronts, flying elbows, cow hocked rear action and other negative looking deviations in gaiting will raise some caution flags about that puppy’s potential as a show prospect.

 

So taking all those considerations in hand, how well did this last litter of Connie X Hogan rate according to the awesome class of 2007 and the recent litters of 2008?

 

They are absolutely awesome, all 4 of them!!!!! They totally rock the house and are on par with the first litter and the 2nd litter and may very well exceed both as the best litter ever!!!!!!!!!

 

We will be holding our collective breath for the 8-week evaluation as there are 2 puppies in this current litter that may exceed the highest rating ever posted by an 8-week old puppy (Charm) and the other 2 puppies may very well displace some that are now in the top 7!!!!!!!!!!

 

How’s that for raising the bar?

 

Stay tuned for the Final 8 week evaluation of this 3rd and last litter of Chambrays Chance N Counter.

 

A great big thank you to Chancey for passing these great grandkids onto us for another great generation. Mamma, your legacy continues!!!!

 

 

 

 

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