Breeding the Lines, a Successful Long-term Strategy ~ Part Three

In "Breeding the Lines, a Successful Long-term Strategy ~ Part Three," easily accessed by clicking here, the newest article on the "Fetters Setters ~ History and Heritage" page, John delves further into the process of successfully breeding consistently excellent setter shooting dogs.

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Unfortunately, many breeders attempt to place a cover-all sort of blanket on their breedings with the use of Orthopedic Foundation for Animals (OFA) ratings, however hips and elbows are not the only concerns ~ in fact, far from the only concerns ~ when consistently breeding excellent setter shooting dogs.

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Such genetic traits as conformation, tail length and coupling as well as eye and lip pigmentation, tumors, thyroid problems, etc., also affect an English Setter, and unless a breeder possesses the correct knowledge and experience to begin with, most people who purchase a "new and improved" model using his or her "latest male/female breeding recipe" are just being used a a type of "guinea pig" to see if the breeder's breeding was successful.

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By the time problems crop up later in an English Setter's life, it is too late. And unlike such other inanimate objects, breeders do not issue "re-calls" on the products of the breedings such as a car manufacturer may issue on a car.

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Keeping in mind that purchasing a new puppy is a life-long commitment for the life of the dog, this article is a "must read" for anyone contemplating purchasing an English Setter shooting dog in the future.

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Letter from Paul Long ...

With his singular wit showing through in his letters as well as in person, the receipt of yet another letter from the irascible Paul Long was always a great treat for John.

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From Long's habit of giving the day of the week he was writing the letter as well as the present weather condition ~ instead of the date, month and year in more common use ~ down to addressing John as "Johny" with one "n" ~ Long's unique character and sense of humor, as well as his sense of life, shone through in his many letters to John.

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Over the years, John received dozens of these letters from Paul Long, faithfully and timely answering each one, and eagerly awaiting the next in reply.

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The letters were almost like Cracker Jack boxes ~ John never knew what the treasures would be but knew that Paul Long's letters always contained at least one.

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On our "Fetters Setters ~ Tributes and Memories" page, easily accessed by clicking here, we are sharing one of these extraordinary letters with our readers. More of these will be presented in one format or another in the future ... the present one we are sharing, postmarked May 29th, 1990.

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More Testimonials Published ...

Through the years ~ through past decades, in actuality ~ John has received many types of different letters crediting his knowledge and expertise in all things English Setter.

We have just added two more of these letters to our "Fetters Setters ~ Testimonials ~ Living the Dream, the Upland Shooting Life ...", easily accessed by clicking here.
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While we have literally boxes upon boxes of letters such as these ~ and we plan to publish many more of them in one format or another at some point in the future ~ we chose to publish these two at this time as we believe they will be quite the eye-openers for our loyal readers.

One letter, in fact, is a cautionary tale that OFA hip ratings do not necessarily guarantee an overall sound genetic dog, as many other factors play into the mystifying cauldron of canine genetics as well ~ and it is only the breeder with the extensive skill and knowledge, as well as experience, who are aware of the ways these genetic problems can be dealt with and ultimately circumvented for the good of the dog and owners, the latter whom "pays the piper" financially as well as emotionally in the end.

For easy access. we have also included "Fetters Setters ~ Testimonials ~ Index" at the top of the page. East links to the two newest letters entitled: "Client Credits John For His Work With Ryman-Type English Setters, Reveals Genetic Problems with Other Breeders" and "Client Reveals Warren Sheckells of Pine Coble Tells Him John is Out of Business" can be found at the bottom of the current index.

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