I made the following suggestion to the SBTCA National Specialty Committee that I am currently serving on –
There should be an extra nontraditional class at the national specialty called the “best family” or similar where you have to enter a minimum of three generations, preferably four.
The purpose would be to show the direction the breeder has taken over the generations. It would be a non-regular class so that only perhaps one of the three or four entries would be required to be entered in a regular class in order to participate. At least 2 of a three generation entry or 3 of a 4 generation entry must be bred by the person entering.
Maybe not offer every year but maybe every few years to give people time to be able to meet the conditions of participation. If breeders are working together this isn’t so daunting.
I can see where this would be very helpful to get a bigger picture on how we are doing as a whole in this country as far as making good breeding choices. Are we really improving? Sometimes I think not. Sometimes it seems we are struggling and not working together.
The judging would encompass mostly type but also structure and how the dogs meet the standard. The focus would be on consistency and improvement.
 It also could just be presented as a showcase not a competition – a prelude to a seminar. Can you imagine seeing 4 generations in a ring from 5 breeders? Especially if they were working together?
I have always thought that breeders in this country needed to work together more. If we share similar goals then why AREN’T we working together? How can a breeder such as myself who can’t keep a lot of dogs or who spends so much money on each litter move forward very easily? Without a larger number of resources its not possible. Perhaps that is why in this country we do not see a lot of improvement and also why finding the right stud seems so daunting.
Thoughts?