tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2734462636905794264.post3213074182124435518..comments2024-03-28T20:22:49.529+09:00Comments on The Nihon Ken Blog: Why Don't We Outcross?Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2734462636905794264.post-72755678383552231492017-06-11T15:49:16.014+09:002017-06-11T15:49:16.014+09:00I get outcrossing the modern "created" b...I get outcrossing the modern "created" breeds that are riddled with health problems, such as the Dobermann or Boxer, which were created from a mish-mash of deliberate crosses not very long ago, as what we would nowadays call "designer breeds". An outcross every so often does not hugely impact their value. But very ancient breeds, landraces and types that carry a huge cultural legacy, I have a harder time accepting that outcrossing these is anything other than wanton destruction of carefully-preserved aeons-old cultural art.<br /><br />It's like someone saying "Hey, the Mona Lisa needs eyebrows. We know better now than the stuffy old guy who created her, because we have modern technology on our side. So let's draw some on. Doesn't she look so much better now? While we're at it, she is very dull and brown. How about we ratchet up the saturation on her colours by using modern acrylic paints? Lovely!" Maybe she is more pleasing with her eyebrows "fixed" and her colours brightened. But she is devalued immensely and it is a disrespect to the master who created her to "improve" his work with foreign material. She is no longer the Mona Lisa but a version thereof. Her cultural legacy is destroyed irrevocably.<br /><br />I know that one could argue that the Japanese breeds, particularly the Shiba and Akita, are a long way away from their ancestral forms due to the trends of the show-ring. I accept this. But this is a matter of style and aesthetic taste in selections made in the last ~30-40 years. This is not an alteration of the fundamental *type*. If I take my Shiba bitches to, say, a Buhund stud every 3-4 generations the breed type is lost. It is no longer recognisable as a Shiba. The Shiba nuance and sparkle is lost and the dogs become generic spitz types. I am not interested in dogs like this. The point of it all is lost if I do this.Éadaoinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05121175517065856420noreply@blogger.com