The original point schedule for the American standard allotted 65 points out of 100 for head, eyes, ears, and tail. Without these qualities, along with soundness and condition, you simply do not have a quality Chin. With social status by birthright es- tablished, watching an entry of Chin is a pleasure, and be assured, they have always participated on their own terms. The two current areas of controversy with breeders are pigment of the face and eyes, and the color of the coat. In the US, we have four allowed col- ors: black/white, red/white (self- colored pigment), sable/white (black pigment), and tri color. The UK/FCI shows do not recognize the tri color Chin, but accept the other three colors. Originally, tri was con- sidered the result of impure breeding with Chin. However, with the advent of DNA, it is the matching gene “Kk” to the sable color. With the ease of DNA swabs, breeders “WITH SOCIAL STATUS BY BIRTHRIGHT ESTABLISHED, WATCHING AN ENTRY OF CHIN IS A PLEASURE, AND BE ASSURED, THEY HAVE ALWAYS PARTICIPATED ON THEIR OWN TERMS.”
T he strength of your bitch is key to its survival and key to picking those bitches that are the ones to watch for the next upcom- ing stud. Balancing produc- tion with type can keep your numbers at the most man- ageable point. Once you have gotten to the point of four or five generations of pick-of-lit- ter bitches, your stock will be of consistent quality. Keep- ing different dogs for various reasons (like a color project) shouldn’t really be a factor for your core program. Faults are easily identified and worked around when breed- ers have confidence in their litters. The “A List” faults are things that you keep andwork around, i.e., missing teeth or size. Keeping track of those details of faults in a litter is invaluable information when choosing future matings. The “B List” faults are things that are non-negotiable issues, requiring placement and the possible retirement of the parents. Neurological issues and digestive disorders are deal-breakers for me. Always look at your puppies with honest eyes and never believe your own advertisements! If you don’t take too much com- fort in what you don’t know, and work with what have, the best will rise to the top! In breeding dogs there is a sliding scale of type, and an- other of strength and produc- tion. There is a beginning and ending point in this adven- ture, and knowing where you are is a significant advantage.
Champion Bitch - Specialty competition, lovely type and balance. Produced a couple of litters of two puppies and had a fantastic champion daughter. C-Section, but good mother. 6.5 lbs.
Grand Champion Specialty and Group- winning Bitch - Ending point of extreme type, exactly what you want to show, 5.5 lbs. Bred three times, produced three babies total, one tiny bitch finished. Her two BIS winning brothers have sired many champions. can avoid sable and tri color alltogeth- er, but if they continue crossing sables with black and white stock they will have tri color puppies. Sable can have an extreme amount of black, almost appearing to be tri-col- ored, although the DNA would proba- bly show them to be sable. As with any undesirable marking or color expres- sion, savvy breeders will avoid breed- ing the less than clear sables. AND SPECIFICALLY ON EYES: The JapaneseChin is the only brachy- cephalic breed where the white pig- mentation of the scleral tissue would not be a fault. Chin can have white scleral tissue, giving them a slight amount of white in the inside corners of their eyes. In no way is the breed to be wall-eyed and the pupils should point absolutely straight ahead. The Chin from more direct Asiatic descent will have signif- icantly less pigment under their noses and very white eye tissue.
T op N otch T oys , D ecember 2021 • 33
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