BREEDER INTERVIEW: DAN NECHEMIAS & LOIS CLAUS
“Valensia”
have never tightly linebred and have taken advantage of the genetic diversity available to us. We strongly believe that this is one reason why TMs do not face as many genetic maladies as many other breeds do, yet. Lastly, you can spend all the time and money in the world on breeding philosophies, but that plan- ning is wasted if you cannot evaluate the litter cor- rectly. Early on, we made every effort to see as many litters as we could, get our hands on the pups, and listen to their breeders’ thoughts. How many dogs do you currently house? Tell us about your facilities and how the dogs are maintained. We currently have 10 TMs and they split their time between our home and our kennel building. When we designed our kennel building, we tried to keep flexibility in mind, so it is a 32' x 48' steel pole building that is a three-horse stall design. We adapted it to have five indoor/outdoor runs, a bath- ing station, and two exercise yards. Our outdoor runs are covered, which is necessary as there are really only two seasons here in Oregon, wet and hot/ dry. This has met our needs well and though it does not have space for more dogs, we think that’s a nice, self-limiting benefit. The dedicated grooming area is especially important as coat care is not an occasional pastime. About a year ago, we hired our first ken- nel assistant. In the past, we had eschewed this in favor of attending to every last detail ourselves, but it has been a tremendous help. They only work one day a week as well as taking care of the dogs when we travel. Who were/are some of your most significant TMs, both in the whelping box and in the show ring? Without question, our most impactful TM was Seng Khri Bartok of Dawa, “Bart.” Eleven years after his passing, he remains the record holder for Best in Show wins and for several years he also held the record for number of champions sired. Though he was only bred twice, his second breeding produced very influential sires and dams for us, including Sier- ras Folly Loves Fame at Dawa, ”Gaga,” and Sierras Taco Flavored Kisses at Dawa, “Lopez.” While both Gaga and Lopez have produced many AKC and international champions, their contributions of type and temperament are what is most outwardly evident when someone sees a “Dawa” TM.
“Bartok”
“Gomez”
With respect to the purebred dog world, and learning to navigate campaign- ing a dog, people, maintaining balance and perspective, Allan Reznik and Tom Bradley come to mind, as well as Dorothy Collier with regard to what it’s like to have a rare breed. Learning to keep perspective and joy is so critical to longev- ity, and Allan, Tom, and Dorothy certainly helped us with that. Lastly, Ed and Karen Thomason of Alpine Falls American Staffordshire Terriers were our first handlers. There were so many things they shared with us at the same time that they were growing themselves; handling skills, campaigning strategy, breeding philosophy, litter evaluation, etc. The Dawa Tibetan Mastiffs are widely known, highly successful and well respect- ed. What breeding philosophies do you adhere to? Balance in everything. We tend to approach each breeding as a compensa- tory opportunity to advance our next generation towards our ideal. That said, we really do not strategize more than a generation at a time. As preservation hobby breeders who produce only a single rare-breed litter a year, our priorities have always been type, health, and temperament. The opening up of China in the last 20 years presented some unfortunate overbreeding, but it also created an opportunity few breeds ever have, a fresh gene pool. Given this scenario, we
50 | SHOWSIGHT MAGAZINE, OCTOBER 2021
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