judges measure dog
Judges take measurements during conformation segment of IHDT

The ideal  Cesky Fousek is a dog with strong desire for game, a dog with steady temperament and a dog that is naturally cooperative and that hunts with and for his handler.  Coat, size and structure are important insofar as they promote performance as a versatile hunting griffon.  It has been said that “coat doesn’t hunt,” but a coat that becomes matted with burs or that leaves a dog shivering in the cold degrades the dog’s capacity to perform in the field.  A stiff, flat-lying outer coat with a dense, protective undercoat enhances hunting capacity. So we consider all of these factors, but we do not breed show dogs, we breed hunters. To achieve our goal, the club has a good working relationship and a co-operative agreement with  Klub chovatelu českých fousků in the Czech Republic.  We depend on working together with the Czech group to maintain a viable breeding population, by selectively importing pups, importing semen and by breeding dogs from our own registry.

Our dogs are driven yet cooperative hunters that exhibit a strong handler bond.  Seldom will you see a shock collar on one of our dogs, and you won’t hear a lot of yelling either.  The ideal fousek has plenty of hunting desire, but the dog has a strong drive to please its handler.  The dog should range out in open country but hunt close  when cover thickens. Change direction in the field and watch the dog come running to quarter in front of you.  We test and breed for that style of hunting behavior.

We emphasize transparency in our breeding program.  Every breeding that we complete including the pedigrees of sire and dam, owners of each puppy where pups are placed, performance test scores, conformation data and PennHip results  are published in our  organization newsletter, The Gun Dog Supreme. The successes and problems of our breeding program are open for anyone to examine. Here are the four pillars to our breeding strategy:

Breeding Committee Management

CFNA relies on a small group of versatile hunting dog breeding experts to manage our breeding program.  These individuals are entrusted with making breeding decisions for CFNA.  They choose which dogs to breed from our available stock.  In addition to current dogs, CFNA maintains a frozen semen bank supply from proven stud dogs.  The committee manages the breeding program by working with dog owners, scheduling breedings and consulting on breeding techniques.  CFNA maintains its own breed registry book.  The committee also works with breeders of Cesky Fousek in the Czech Republic through the Klub chovatelu českých fousků  .  This organization design assures that dog-breeding experts who can be detached and professional are making selection decisions.

Breeder Support & Guidance

While Breeding Committee management is the most prominent feature of our breeding program, an often overlooked feature is the support and guidance that CFNA provides to our members who participate in breeding our dogs.  Breeding top quality dogs today is both technically complex and expensive, so is therefore beyond the capacity of many dog owners to undertake on their own.  The upfront costs of raising a litter of CFNA pups has increased dramatically in the last decade.  Some reasons are:

  • The cost of shipping semen, either frozen or chilled, has more than doubled.
  • Frozen semen storage has increased on average 40%.
  • Veterinary costs have increased for artificial insemination.  For example, before the bitch is even inseminated, an owner may have costs exceeding $2500.  The cost for a natural breeding when the male and female live within driving distance is less, but air transportation costs often make natural breedings unfeasible.

Great strides have been made in artificial insemination either by trans-cervical insemination or surgical.  These advances in the science of breeding canines have given us better options that offset the loss of the option of shipping a female to the male.  The availability of vets qualified to use these advanced techniques has also increased.  The downside is that these advances have also increased the costs.  As with much advancement in medical science, the use of advanced equipment and better trained technicians is expensive.

A goal of the CFNA breeding program is to both produce quality hunting dogs for owners and also to reduce risk for breeders.  CFNA covers most breeding costs so that owners who agree to have their dogs bred do not lose money by participating.

In addition to the technical and financial issues of completing a breeding, CFNA also supports the breeder through the process of raising the litter and placing the puppies.  The Breeding Committee screens potential owners and maintains a waiting list for the placement of puppies.  The club also assists with transporting pups to their new homes.  Every litter is a club-wide enterprise.  A consequence of our strong breeder support network is that owners of a quality dog that would otherwise not have the expertise or resources to raise a litter can have a successful breeding experience.  Our puppies are raised by doting families with lots of social contact. These pups not only have quality genetics but the very best early socialization that a breeder can provide.

Performance Testing 

CFNA requires that puppies only be placed with owners who agree to hunt their dog and maintain it as a family dog.  We require that every puppy that we place will be evaluated in our testing program at both the Natural Ability and Intermediate Hunting Dog Test levels.  The data from these tests is used by the breeding committee to guide breeding decisions—whether or not to use sire and dam in further breedings and to select pups for future breedings.  Having performance data on entire litters is crucial to making sound breeding decisions.  An individual dog that conforms to standards and that tests well on its own might be a good breeding prospect, but a great dog that comes from a breeding where every littermate also performed well is a much stronger prospect.  Tracking down and eliminating undesirable recessive traits requires data on multiple generations and on complete litters. Details on our testing program are found here.

 Bottom Line

For the prospective owner who is seeking a great hunting dog and a fine companion for the home, our breeding program offers assurance that the very best practices have been followed to produce a versatile gun dog with the capability to perform on game in the field and be a cooperative companion in the home and community.

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