Ramblings
By Russ Tesarz
Sitting before the computer, trying to decide what to write about in this column, it occurs to me that there are others probably doing the same. I fear the next time I need to do this I will start out the same way. That way is usually with a jumble of ideas and unsure where to go with them and how to bring them together. So, perhaps this month I will just ramble.
Being one of the newer breeds on the block it seems we have quite a few novices. In no way am I suggesting that is a bad thing. However, being new we are kind of spread thin, geographically speaking. As a result, we have a lot of people testing the waters in this world of dogs without too many close at hand advisors. I personally have suggested to several people getting involved with an all breed club. One can usually find a wealth of wisdom and the willingness to share some of it. While chances are pretty slim that there will be another person with the interest in the PON that you have, you can gain a lot of general dog knowledge. Believe it or not there is a lot of common knowledge that can be acquired and needs to be acquired to really understand and advance in a breed.
Now on to some of my pet peeves, but things people need to learn. When we talk about a standard and how a dog is compared to it at a show or amongst friends or breeders we are talking about conformation, not confirmation. How the dogs conform to the standard or the form the dog takes in relation to the standard.
The next item that I hear mangled on a regular basis is where the progeny of our new hopefuls come from. A pup is BY the sire/male/dog and OUT of the dam/female/bitch. I don't have a clever way to help remember this other than to remember that the puppy comes out of the dam, literally, as well as figuratively.
And the last of my "helpful" teachings is genetic. Genotype is the accumulation of all the genes coming from the sire and dam. Phenotype is the expression of those genes. And here's the help, phenotype is the face of the genes, how they are expressed, what is seen. So, that's my rambling for this column. If you have comments, ideas or suggestions for a column please let me know. Until next time...
Russ Tesarz
205 Colonial Ave.
Concord, NC 28025
retesarz@aol.com