The Breeder's Forum, The Orient Express, November 2000       revised 11/03/2002

Taralon reg ROM
Summary of Taralon:

Taralon began in 1991 with the first litter born early the following year, under the prefix Red Lion. My foundation bitches, Ch Red Lion's Ma Michelle and Ch Red Lion's Mama Cass, were shown for a period of time and then each was sent to be bred to Am/Can Ch Knolland Red Rover in Canada. The two litters born produced seven puppies, all of which were champion quality though one puppy entered the world of another champion, World Series winning Atlanta Braves Manager Bobby Cox. Babe, a Rover daughter, completed her championship in 1994. Since then 24 more home bred champions have completed their titles, including one who earned both a CD as well as her conformation title, thus, a title at both ends.. Sixteen have also received Specialty club awards.

1. What bloodlines do you work with? My second generation litters were sired by Am/Can Ch Knolland Red Rover and produced 6 champions. Three of the bitches from these two litters have been combined with tremendous success with Ch Briarcourt's Damien Gable, Ch Akarana Excalibur, Ch St Aubrey Boutoniere of Elsdon, Am/Can Ch Leahcim's Aladdin at Napa Tree and Ch Eirlyn Barny Prince. The common thread is Am/Can Ch St Aubrey Laparata Dragon, Eng Ch Jay Trump of Sunsalve and Eng Ch Belknap Eldorado. These three dogs produced numerous champions of a definite type which combine to a look that I find most pleasing.

 English Champion Jay Trump of Sunsalve       

2. What attracts you most to these lines? Each contributes features that I like. My foundation was set by Rover who shortened leg and back while adding fabulous chest and bone. Damien contributed one of the most beautiful bites I've seen as well as sturdy bone, level back and high tailset and masculine head. Barny contributes correct coat, inky inky black muzzle and a beautiful head piece complementing Damien's masculine head. Laddy has the most beautiful eyes along with a black muzzle. Structurally, he has nothing to hide and he produces what he is. Button (a Bees Wing son) added a splash of New Zealand lineage and is truly a dog that I would love to achieve in my program overall. Arthur. Well, Arthur, he pulls it all together. He puts a beautiful front and rear with true Pekingese angulation on a dog. He adds beauty and sturdiness when combined with my other bloodlines. It works every time. I adore Arthur

English Champion Belknap Eldorado.

3. Do you inbreed, linebreed or outcross? Why? My start was an outcross to Rover. My Rover kids were then bred as both outcrosses (Barny and Button) and linebreedings to Rover sons. I am now linebreeding on Bees Wing and Rover. I have linebred half-brother/half-sister, son/granddaughter and grandson/granddaughter. I stick with what works and linebreeding works for me. I'm a little unnerved by inbreeding, but that is not to say that it doesn't work quite well. It does. It takes courage to go that route, I think. The results can be quite extraordinary as we all know. Outcrossing also serves a valuable purpose to bring in new viable bloodlines and contribute to the overall structure and sturdiness of the dog. I will outcross as I see the need to improve on my line. My success, however, has been in my linebreeding program.

4. How are your dogs kept? (Together - Separate - Runs etc.) All of the above. I currently have several who roam the house each day and sleep with me at night. I rotate who roams and who goes into puppy pens based on their personal desires of the day. Those that may be under the weather always sleep with me as do bitches in whelp and their puppies. Those that are being readied for the show ring are kept separate when inside in order to protect their fringing, etc.; however, all the girls run together and all the boys run together in separate, partially-covered runs (24x40 and 15x20) outside. I do have one that may need to be separated altogether since she plays way too hard with the others and has NO ear fringing whatsoever at the moment. Coco and Babe, litter sisters, sometimes ask to sleep together and that's fine with me. Barny prefers a corner pen over others in the room. He always wants to go back to his corner, and so he gets what he wants since he's the Barn Boy.

During the summer the English Ivy grew down into their runs. I cut it back this week and discovered numerous balls buried in the Ivy. As I discovered the balls, I threw them out for the kids to play with them. Butterfly kept bringing them back and burying the balls in the Ivy that I had not gotten to yet. Now that the Ivy is cut, she has been bringing one ball a day into her play pen inside. She probably has accumulated more balls in her play pen than I have in their toy chest at this point. Rascal that she is!! Tsar is the toy killer. He loves his squeakies and so I have to buy a supply of squeakies so that he can totally demolish them. He's happy no matter where he is as long as he has a squeekie.

5. What do you feed your dogs? I currently use Natural Balance in combination with a little canned food, keeping the food on the dry side.  However, I start puppies out on Eukanuba puppy.

6. How do you prepare your food? I mix the dry food with vegetables and canned chicken. I keep it on the dry side. They prefer it that way. If I'm trying to put on weight, I'll add extra chunks of chicken and carrot...they love that.

7. Do you feed supplements? They enjoy their Pet Tabs and Garlic tablets. They consider them treats. For bitches in whelp, I'll add calcium to the routine as well.

8. Where do you whelp your bitches? I have a whelping / grooming room equipped with tv/vcr, comfortable chair and a bed. My bed is so comfortable and I enjoy being with the dogs so much that I stay with them even when I am not whelping puppies.

9. What is your favorite formula supplement? Canned Esbilac. I use the powder once the puppies are older, but I don't think that it stays fluid as well as the canned. I've tried several, but always come back to Esbilac.

10. How and what age do you determine a show quality puppy? I look at the puppies the moment they are born, at 12 weeks and again at 5-6 months. A newborn indicates the length of back, whether the rear legs will be parallel, nose placement and overall balance. If they are together at that time, they more than likely are not going to fall apart later. A 12 week old has the personality and the look though sometimes the puppy uglies hit somewhere in this time frame as well. I learn at this point whether to look or not to look. I will know whether I have something extraordinary at 12 weeks or thereabouts. I love bathing a puppy between 12 weeks and 16 weeks. That's when you can see the pear shape evolving and their nice level backs. After that they start going through growth spurts where the rear legs spurt up before the forelegs, etc. Their heads don't grow for a week or two and then suddenly blossom to a beautiful envelope head. The final look is in ink by the time they reach 5 months, no more pencil drawings. The only element that I have been fooled on at this age has been coat color which can change drastically with the 12-month changeover.

11. What qualities do you look for? I breed for what I consider beauty in a Pekingese. That is all encompassing, the full picture. I have a specific look that I prefer. Many of the other qualities, I truly do not have to think about too often. My dogs are healthy dogs. I could not afford to do this if I were bringing dogs into this world that were otherwise. My bitches are free-whelpers. I like the wide, inky black muzzle in a dog typified by Ch Taralon Betty Rubble, a daughter of Ch Eirlyn Barny Prince and Rover granddaughter. When I put her on a plane at 5 months, I was stopped at the Atlanta airport by total strangers asking me if that was a "show dog." In NJ on the receiving end, her handler was also stopped with the same question. She had not only a show dog look about her, but also a show dog attitude: "I'm something special and I know it.". If I were to list her qualities beyond her personality, then I think most would agree that she has sturdiness, a beautiful head, nice bone, level back, pear-shaped body, lovely tailset, full plumage, feathering and skirting. Then, look at her width of chest, shoulders that lay back smoothly, and elbows that are tight to the body. The rear angulation is also very important along with the parallel rear legs that provide for the smooth follow through in movement. When all of that is put together and you have a smoothly moving dog with a slight roll at the shoulder, you have an excellent Pekingese and a National Winner's Bitch.

12. What grooming hints or tips do you feel works best for keeping a great show coat? "You are what you eat" applies the same with dogs as with people. During the summer months, I may monitor fat content in a diet more carefully than I would in the winter months. Feeding a high quality dog food is also very important and I look at the first four ingredients to assure that they are superior. I also look for a dog food that is not dependent on harmful preservatives. The dogs also need to like the food that they are provided. You cannot grow coat on a malnourished dog.

Another very important element of grooming is cleanliness. If a dog is dirty, he is not going to grow coat. I am fortunate to have a friend who thinks bathing the dogs is fun, and she regularly comes over to help me bathe all the dogs. We have a great time in the process. I stick with 4 shampoos that I prefer. Neem shampoo has qualities that are very healing, but the particular brand that I buy from a grooming supply house also smells like bubble gum and is yummy smelling on the dogs. I also like #1 All Systems shampoo for those in show coat and EQyss for the old timers. I use Baby Shampoo for the faces and wrinkles.

Constant observation should be paid to the eyes. Always take the moment necessary to remove debris from the eyes so that they do not become scratched or injured. A moment taken to do this saves many a dollar at the eye specialists' office. Keeping the wrinkle clean also helps to keep loose hair and other debris from getting into the eyes. I use Saline solution to clean this area of the face. Daily care includes cleaning the wrinkle, the males' belly, fringing, skirting, plumage, as well as checking the teeth for tartar and examining the ears. Women's douche in a spray bottle is an excellent solution for keeping the boys' private parts clean.

It is also important to mist the coat daily with a conditioner/water combination and to give a quick brush through. One of my friends recommends rainwater as opposed to tap water when misting. Since we've had no rain in Georgia for quite a spell, I'm out of luck on that one. If I am working on growing coat, I generally use Panacea and water in a spray to mist the dogs. Addressing any tangles immediately will help to preserve the coat. I have found that proper coat is easily cared for and does not matt as much as a softer coat. I think you also need to deal with coat drops on a timely basis. You do not want to wait until the loose coat begins to clump up and tangle. Comb the loose coat out as soon as you notice the drop, bathe the dog in a soothing shampoo and they will be rapidly back on the track to building a nice, healthy coat. If you bathe a dog before removing the loose coat, you will create nightmare city and it will require many hours to correct the matted coat.

George Alston once recommended in one of his seminars that lighting also has to do with preservation of the coat. If the lighting provided to a dog is a consistent number of hours during the day, you are not faced with seasonal coat drops when summer days are much longer than winter days. It is food for thought, but a task not easily accomplished.

One of the best writeups to grooming a Peke for show can be found in Pekingese: An Owner's Companion by Vandella Williams and Adele Summers.