Page 74 - ShowSight - May 2020
P. 74

                PAULA PASCOE, LEHIGH SCOTTISH DEERHOUNDS
  I breed using the fault-offset approach— that is, I look for a mate that excels in areas where I feel my bitch could be improved, and whose shortcomings are in areas where my bitch is strong. I consider three areas of great importance in breeding: conforma- tion, temperament and health. Ideally, I want all shortcomings, or concerns, in all areas to be offset in the mate. However, it is virtually impossible to find a dog who answers in every area, and compromises are inevitable. We can all list particu- lar qualities in which we are not willing
to compromise. There are faults in each area that I cannot live with, and virtues that are very important to me. That doesn’t mean I won’t use a dog who is deficient in one (or more) of those areas, however. If the dog (and ideally, his close family) is strong where I want to improve my bitch, and vice versa, I will do that kind of combination—using a dog who has a fault that I couldn’t person- ally live with. It is a compromise for me to combine dogs with the same shortcoming, but again, in my breed, it is very rare to find a dog who appears to complement a given
top: CH Lehigh Urquhart
bottom: CH Lehigh Noreen, BIS under judge Dr. Richard Greathouse, 1991
bitch in all areas of conformation, never mind going on to offset traits of tempera- ment and concerns of health. It’s very com- plicated, and occupies a huge portion of my mind and thoughts. And the more I know, the more complicated it becomes—I always feel I am stepping through a minefield. (This is all fodder for a book, not an article!)
I am fortunate to have Pam Smithson as my friend and co-breeder. It is helpful to bounce ideas off her and discuss these things with her, as I also do with a few other valued Deerhound friends.
How many dogs do you currently house? Tell us about your facilities and how the dogs are maintained.
I currently have only six dogs—I have lost five veterans in the past year. I live in the country, on a dirt road with a crop field across the street. The dogs are all house pets, to a greater or lesser degree. I have no kennels. One room of the house is “the dog room,” and it is separated into two sections, each of which has dog-door access to a sepa- rate fenced outdoor area. I keep males and youngsters in that room much of the time. The dogs in this room are, of course, given house privileges as well, unless there is a bitch in season in the house. Adult bitches live in the house full time. They are turned out with the boys, in different combina- tions, for exercise in the largest fenced area. I have a separate “puppy yard” where litters grow up from a month or so of age, until they start going off to new homes, or gradu- ate to youngster status in my own pack.
Who were/are some of your most signifi- cant Deerhounds, both in the whelping box and in the show ring?
My dogs of significance would have to be headed by the seven different hounds who have won the SDCA National Special- ty, as well as my four all-breed BIS winners. Ch. Lehigh Keitha was my first National winner, in 1986, followed the next year by Jaraluv’s Freya of Lehigh, who won from the classes. She was my stud fee puppy from an exceptional litter bred by Ray and Jana Brinlee. In 1988 the National went to my veteran, Ch. Lehigh Halona. Ch. Lehigh Noreen (a daughter of Freya) won in 1991, and followed it up with my first-ever all- breed BIS a few weeks later. In 1997 Ch. Lehigh Urquhart (a son of Noreen) won the National with the largest-ever entry of over 200 Deerhounds. After a hiatus from the top spot, GCh. Lehigh-Darkwynd Enella
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