AKC Gazette January 2006

Short Term Memory

I have often wondered why so many Boxer enthusiasts seem to exhibit short-term memory loss when it comes to acknowledging the contributions of great dogs not so very long dead. Even casual students of the breed know who Ch Bang Away of Sirrah Crest was, and are likely to be aware that he changed the look of the breed as we know it, but there are relatively few dogs between Bang Away and the present day whose particular contributions are accorded their due respect. Once well-known producers seem to drop off the pedigree map by the fourth generation. And the breeders of not so many years’ experience are inclined to think of even the last generation of stud dogs as yesterday’s news.

Bang Away was whelped in 1949 and sired 81 champions in his lifetime, a record still unchallenged even decades later. He produced 7 Producers of Merit, and they in turn have gone on to produce scores more. Many great show dogs and bitches of the fifties and sixties are thought to owe their style and showmanship to Bang Away—just as he undoubtedly owed much to his ancestors and the earlier breeders who linebred on the 4 great German imports of the 30s--Dorian, Lustig, Sigurd, and Utz. Bang Away was a flashy dog with great showmanship and style. His unparallelled popularity really energized the USA fancier’s love affair with ‘flash,’ and despite all our work to recognize the so called “classics,” breeders today still lament if they do not see flashy puppies in their litters.

The dramatic and stylish Salgray dogs of the 60s and 70s, through the Bang Away son Barrage, begat lines of Legion of Merit producers that have lasting influence today. Many of the best of their era could compete very successfully in the contemporary ring . They are not ‘ancient’ history, but rather the embodiment of the breed as we now know it. Some of the famous names of the 70s and 80s come right down through direct descendency from these bloodlines—among them are the Legion of Merit Sires Ambush, Flying High, Fashion Hint, Shadrack, Meshack, Minstrel Boy, Traper, Aracrest Talisman, Moon Shadow, and Benjoman of 5Ts. These dogs in turn appear many times in the pedigrees of SOMs and DOMs of later generations. And while males may prove more influential simply by sheer numbers of offspring produced, we must not forget the several LOM bitches of the same era, notably Ch Holly Lane’s Windstorm, Moon Valley’s Merry Weather, and Merrilane’s Mad Passion. Their names also appear in the pedigrees of many many boxers today because of the SOMs and DOMs that they produced.

In a culture that expects instant gratification, it isn’t so surprising that many new fanciers think of the 1980s as the Jurassic Period of Boxer breeding. Recently a breeder of an outstanding living Sire of Merit stated that the dogs that appear as great grandsire and great great grand-dam of her fine dog are “way back there.” Not only are they prominent in her 4 generation pedigree, but the look of her own dog is stamped in boxer clay from those excellent ancestors—the consistently square proportions, strong heads with proper chins, and beautiful smooth lines. We need to acknowledge those kinds of fundamental contributions when making breeding decisions. It will hardly come as a surprise to exhibitors that the “flavor of the month” in the show ring may not always be the best representative of the Standard. But it may require a surprising degree of objectivity and independence to breed back into a line in which the Standard has always served as a model when that “look” may not be doing the big winning.

If we could easily reproduce the perfect complementary combinations of the parents, then breeding would be a much more exact science than it really is, or for that matter ever was. And that doesn’t even take into account the complicated health issues that we all confront. No, finding Shangri-La was as much a delusion as breeding the perfect Boxer. We reap the good with the bad, and before we take credit for success in the show ring or level blame in the sad times, we owe it to our Boxers and ourselves to work on our short-term memory, and become better students of the breed through its history--the books, articles, photos, and pedigrees. Fanciers who are interested can often find back issues of the “Boxer Review,” Alice Rosenthal’s “Dog News” (not to be confused with the contemporary publication), “Boxer International,” Boxer issues of “Popular Dogs,” and old ABC publications of the 40s and 50s on eBay, at second hand bookstores, and most readily, in the homes of breeders of long standing. John Wagner’s seminal book “The Boxer,” first published a few years before Bang Away’s birth, was reprinted several times and is readily available through all the same sources. If we develop a broader and deeper understanding of our beloved breed’s not-so-ancient past, contemporary breeders will be better able to produce even more exciting future generations.

Stephanie Abraham
P. O. Box 346
Scotland, CT 06264