[Mardelin]

One of the first problems comes from how they moved up to the middle-range in the first place. As novices, they may have fixed any initial mistakes in their buying. We all start out with a pet we will have for the next ten years. Then they will have gone to a good kennel and bought a decent bitch or puppy or two.It must be remembered that neither the good breeder nor the top breeder will sell their very best bitch or puppy.
So the novice will start with a decent dog/bitch with some "if" that caused the breeder to sell it. So now the middle-ranger has a kennel of original, loved mistakes, a decent bitch or two, or maybe two or three youngsters from earlier buys.
Now we come to the first disadvantage - any pup he breeds will be judged against his own collection of dogs. Those that are worse will be sold. Anything better will stand out, but those 'much of a muchnesses' will often be kept as well. Thus he will clone his own mediocracy. The average standard of the kennel will improve slowly, if at all. The plateau ( the kennel norm) will be fair to average, and, when these puppies get into the show ring they will still be fair to average, because all the other middle-rangers will have stock of exactly the same standard.
The good breeders plateau will be at a much higher level. The stock in their kennels will be judged against a higher standard and anything not up to scratch will be sold. If the middle-ranger can somehow recognize this and raise the plateau, he is on his way to being a better breeder.

The second obstacle to the middle-breeder is the ringside - his fellow middle-range competitors. The ringsiders who have some knowledge but not a lot of experience will go for the obvious choice from the ringside:- the nicely balanced, well presented, good showman, and will nearly always judge on outward appearance, because they can not do much else from where they are standing. They can not "go into" the dogs, which is what the judge must do, and he isn't much of a judge unless he does go thoroughly into his dogs.

What the ringside can't know is that the judge may find that the popular choice doesn't stand "looking into". But the judge finds that the top breeders dog in the same class does not fall to pieces under his hands, so up goes the top breeder's dog, and down goes the ringside choice. The ringside agree amongst themselves that 'once again wrong has triumphed and a name has won and that there is no honesty or justice in the game. This is a very big obstacle because the middle-ranger can find an excuse for his own loss. Instead of looking at his dog and judging it against the top dogs, he agrees with the ringside that 'names' win because of influence.

Many middle-rangers fail on the next obstacle of 'ignorance'. They have not learned from their homework, studied the breed and what it was bred for, looked at the old photos and tread what the old-timers said. They have not bothered to learn anatomy, not even the little bit one requires to judge a dog. They have, as learners, learned from and listened to learners and they do not know their stuff. They do not know the standard and will perpetuate myths about what a dog should have or what it should be, often erroneously. Often they blindly follow the word of the cult leader they admire. If the winner is not of that breeding, it is worthless. They look, but they do not appreciate a good dog wherever it is found.

This is where many middle-rangers get stuck. If they do not 'get on', it is because they get a small judging assignment at a match. Then the eyes of the blind MAY get opened. They may come to realize the vast difference between a an average dog and a good dog. If they can atake advantage of this experience, they are on the right track. However, there seems to be a lot of middle-rangers who can learn nothing from handling a good dog. They can always find faults but never bother to learn outright virtues. They will stay owning decent, average dogs, just above the mediocre level, having few faults but no great virtues.

The last big obstacle for the breeder trying to rise from the middle-range is that he gets cluttered up with stock. He can't get rid of his original mistakes. He loves them. He can't part with his first 'home-bred' for sentimental reasons. He keeps two each from his first litters, breeds annually and wants another litter from his foundation bitch. Then he thinks it is time to keep a stud dog. Before he knows it he is cluttered up with 15 dogs. His neighbours, spouse and friends are complaining and the work becomes overpowering. It is important to know what and how to sell to keep yourself going with room to improve.

Through the years the number of middle-rangers seems to stay the same. They always make up the largest group of breeders. Few seem to graduate into the good breeder category. Some advance because they raise the plateau of their own kennel. Most fail to get ahead for a number of reasons. They have a useful bitch and want to improve on her, so they consider the top champions as the ladder to which to take her. Somehow the 'newish' breeder will have a vague idea that to mate to the top dog somehow puts their bitch into a top category. They will seldom consider using anything else, even if this dog does not suit the bitch. The champion sired pups are easier to sell. However, the suitability of this mating is rarely questioned.

The middle-ranger does not yet have a string of his own. That is, a very advanced string and is really only found amongst the best and oldest breeders

Using a champion dog that ties in with your bitchs pedigree is an excellent way of grading up, providing you know the inherent dangers in the line you are collecting.

Many breeders are not even this logical. They breed to the big winner of the day or to the dog that is promoted the most. As soon as he becomes the dog of the day, every middle-range breeder send their bitch to him. His type doesn't matter. He is the top dog and he gets the bitches. Using the dog of the day will probably grade your norm up slowly and every little bit helps, until the day you want to breed from the progeny. Then you find that almost every dog and bitch in the country are either by him or one of his grandchildren. It then becomes the problem to find a dog they can use.

For the middle-range breeder to get higher, he must study his own stock and must look at the various dogs in the ring. He must have a perfect clear picture in his mind of exactly what he wants.

To grade up into the good breeder ranks, you have to think for yourself, rather than let judges or other handlers /breeders do it for you. Once you do this, and start getting the dogs you want, you can grade up a lot quicker because you are breeding stock from stock YOU have improved. Thus the dog you select to help you improve will be almost sure to produce at least one puppy you will like, not just accept. And at last you are on the way up