~ Articles ~

Early Development of the Colorado Mountain Dog

The Colorado Mountain Dog is in early development. What this means, is that certain aspects of the breed that will become more important later, are less important now.

It may be bewildering that we bring in dogs that don’t look a thing like the CMD standard. But we’re asking questions aimed at early development as we bring dogs in.

A lot of breeds make the mistake of too high a priority on type (looks). But in the CMDR right now I will bring in a dog with a great combination of temperament and livestock abilities, over a dog who looks right.

When we talk about a dog’s function, it isn’t a cold word. On a basic level, you’d choose an ugly dog who was a stellar asset to your farm, a lover of the children your kids brought home to visit, and a protector of your family, herds, and land, over a gorgeous breathtaking dog who was an intolerable jerk, who never stopped barking, and who bit people.

In Caspian we had that stellar function, along with knockout beauty.... which is why there is a CMD breed forming. He was more prepotent with his function than his type, but he did also throw a good percentage of his type.

While a breed develops, the wrongness in focusing on “the paint”, is that nonfunctional dogs land in shelters. This is why it is crucial to make function a top priority... it is a huge responsibility to breed. Every dog is a life, and we should not be bringing dogs into a crowded world, who will have no place to be.

Currently, in 2020, the size of our G3 genetics are increasing. We will not have a true Colorado Mountain Dog until we get to G5, which is the 6th generation including the foundations. When we get to G5 we will have purebred CMDs but we will still not be a breed. We will not be a breed until we have enough G5 dogs to have a viable gene pool. It takes 64 pedigree spots including the FDs to make one G5 litter. And that litter must have an unrelated G5 to be bred to, and so on.

This is why I am urging that the best dogs be bred to a mate with the same generational standing, at least once in their careers. The G standing consideration is irritating but crucial in the beginning. After we have many G5s, then we are free to concentrate on quality without the G standing consideration, knowing that the G standing period gave us a maximized pedigree database.

If you own a great dog, please find a fantastic stud with the same standing, at least one.

As time goes by, breeders can begin to tighten up on aspects of the standard...being careful to retain the wonderful function of an LGD for small acreage farming, that we have achieved. The need to continuing selection to maintain quality never ends. But it is most rigorous during development.

I hope this is helpful and please feel free to posts questions or other input.