Before starting this segment, lets correct a few of the mistakes I have made, that I am aware. My apologies to Catalin and Bousy Rouge for my inattention to correct spelling. Seems no matter how many times I proof read I still miss spelling and sentence structure. Of course when I read it in the Bulletin, these mistakes literally jump off the page.
Champion Lorvaso de la Colina is one of those pivotal dogs that really made a major difference in the breed. He is a dog with considerable romance surrounding his story as well. He was an all white dog whelped February 26, 1953. He was bred by Dr. and Mrs. Seward at La Colina in New York. At the time Lorvaso came to Quibbletown, Quibbletown had experienced tremendous success i.e. Champion Quibbletown Easter Token, Champion Quibbletown Bon Chance, and Champion Quibbletown Dutchess. Most of us would have been satisfied with what we had and not sought out such a dog. Edith Smith apparently was looking for something. It looks like Lorvaso came to Quibbletown sometime in 1955 as there were two litters on the ground at Quibbletown in October, 1955 and earlier in 1955 Lorvaso was the Sire of a litter in March, 1955 that did not have Quibbletown prefix dogs associated with it.
Seaver tells the following story about how Lorvaso arrived. Seaver says in those days he was "on the road" traveling all week in his work. He says he earned about $75.00 per week. This one particularly tough week he arrived home very tired. He noticed this new dog in residence. When he inquired about new dog, Edith told him it was their new stud dog. When Seaver asked how much she paid for the dog, he was told $300.00. Seaver was not real happy about a months pay being spent at that time. As usual Edith knew what she was doing and Seaver realized real soon that this was one of their best investments and the same can be said on behalf of the breed itself.
Seaver says that Lorvaso gave them three significant qualities that "set" in subsequent Quibbletown generations.
1. Oval bone.
2. Soundness which included fronts, rears and tight feet.
3. Overall balance which included the features of 2 above but also incorporated type, coat, and general body proportions. In
other words the pups did not have body parts/features that looked out of place the way we see in some dogs.
The ancestors who are primary gene contributors to Lorvaso are:
Champion Lawrence of Combermere 30.25%
Champion Basquaerie Houx de Noel 21.87%
Champion Basquaerie Lohilu 21.87%
Champion Ibos du Val d'Aure 20.31%
Sultan de Soum 14.60%
Champion Arizes de Soum of Basquaerie 14.06%
We pointed out in Part 7 that Lorvaso is a great great grandson of a pivotal bitch at Basquaerie, Basquaerie Anemone. Please refer to this to establish the relationship. The notion that the dogs of Quibbletown are exclusive of the dogs from Basquaerie is simply not true. Lorvaso is an example as are the descendants, through his son Basquaerie Houx de Noel, from Ibos du Val d'Aure. You see, Basquaerie imported so many dogs. We know the Crane's had over a hundred dogs at times and they imported at least a 100 dogs from Europe. Tremendous accomplishment for the preservation of the breed bloodlines, but not very conducive to linebred breeding programs. I found it interesting at the recent World Conference that one of the questions from the audience contained an assertion that Basquaerie inbred their stock. I thought Whit Combs was going to fall off his chair, because just the opposite is the truth. Their reference was to an accidental breeding between Basquaerie Fleurette and her litter brother Basquaerie Arlos that produced the first get at Cote de Neige, Champion Orage of Cote de Neige. No one including Marjorie Butcher knew of this breeding until pups arrived just a few weeks after Fluerette arrived at Cote de Neige. Linebreeding was the forte of Quibbletown. Seaver and Edith feel that Marjorie Butcher did not linebreed. Marjorie Butcher only bred Great Pyrenees for about ten years. It would be next to impossible to establish a definable linebred line in such a short time, but the seeds were there. Retrospectively, I see some evidence of what might be classified as linebreeding, but this is not the subject of this presentation. The question is not if there were Basquaerie descendants in the Quibbletown breeding program (there are), but how Quibbletown used these genes in their program. Basically through many generations of linebreeding they stabilized the gene pool and intensified those qualities Edith and Seaver admired. I totally agree with Linda Weisser of Euzkotar in Washington that the breeding done by people becomes their result after just a few generations. You must start with something good. No chicken soup from chicken s--t seen in the dog world. After the start it is the breeders ball game. Remember what Edith Smith told Faye Ballew of Beau-Kay about getting the best she could if she wanted to breed (see part 5). The same dogs in different hands can result in totally different get. Seaver will tell you that other east coast kennels inherited significant breeding stock as the result of the Cote de Neige breakup. Quibbletown's results are dramatically superior to the results at the other kennels with similar blood from Marjorie Butcher. For one thing they did not go and get Lorvaso and this brings us back to our story of today.
A three generation Pedigree for Lorvaso follows:
Champion Lawrence of Combermere
Champion Loramo de La Colina
Basquaerie Amitie II
Vano de La Colina
Vanosa de La Colina
Osa de La Colina
Lorvaso maybe more than any other dog is the example to me of the abilities of Edith Smith as a breeder. When you look at his pedigree you have to go back at least four generations to see its greatness and predominant connection to the de Soum French line that Edith admired so much as Estat d'Argeles. It takes my computers search capabilities to demonstrate the lineage and even then it does not jump out at you. I have a huge advantage that history has told me this is a VERY important dog in the breeding history of the breed. What we see in the fourth generation is Ibos du Val d'Aure and Arizes de Soum of Basquaerie on both the Maternal and Paternal side that comes to us through Basquaerie Houx de Noel and subsequently Lawrence of Combermere. When we look further backward we see Ibos and Arizes are tightly linebred (inbred maybe) on the old Sultan de Soum. Even though I did not include Estat d'Argeles in the above group, his genes are represented as he is the Grandfather of the inbred Ibos du Val d'Aure, the result of littermate breeding. It is quite surprising to me to see the old French Stud dog, circa 1919, Sultan de Soum have such a high influence. Sultan de Soum is not even seen until the 7th generation and last seen in the 11th generation. If there is any doubt of the major influence that de Soum has on these dogs this should dispel it. Lorvaso de la Colina is a supreme representative of this breed type that many including myself consider the classic Pyrenean. I believe a similar ancestral line, albeit more refined in the head with not nearly the structural soundness, is seen in France today in the Comté de Foix line. The primary difference is the emphasis placed in each country. In France the head type is most important to the detriment many times of movement and what we refer to as soundness. Their head type has evolved to be more refined with emphasis on eye shape, muzzle and skull shape. We on the other hand have prized movement and soundness. While very concerned with head type we are generally satisfied with a little more blocky head that is not course or loose in the eyes or lips. My eye tells me that the good type dogs we see in North America today are closer to the pictures of the old French dogs of yesteryear i.e. Estat d'Ageles, Ibos du Val d'Aure, etc. I see Messieurs Mansencal and Pecoult pick these "old type" dogs and like them greatly when they judge here in North America. Reference Ventisquero Friend of the Devil, Euzkotar's Crime of the Century, Quibbletown TG of Basquaerie, Champion Kaskadian's Idyll Gossip, etc. It would be nice to know what Monsieur Senac-Lagrange would have thought of both groups of dogs today. The top dogs of today in France over the past few years exhibit good head type that we see sometimes here i.e. Nethou de Comté de Foix, Estom de Comté de Foix, Gardayan des Grands Corents, Le Roy du Bois Dore, and this years RACP Best of Breed bitch, a very sound large elegant Hartza II du Pic de Vicous. The point being is that all the dogs I reference above, I believe, are the modern day expression of de Soum type passed to us by such dogs as Lorvaso, Lawrence, Ibos, and Estat.
Lorvaso was used extensively at Stud at Quibbletown. In fact he generally carries a higher percentage of genetic influence in pedigrees than his two premier stud dog sons, i.e. Champion Quibbletown Impresario, and Champion Quibbletown Good Time Charlie. Many of Lorvaso's offspring we have already talked about very extensively. I will reference the information for you that has been covered in prior installments. The get of Lorvaso and Dam in each case is listed below. If there is a number after the Dam's name that indicates there is more information available in another part of this series, the number indicating the part that the information can be located.
Lorvaso Get Dam
Quibbletown Fascination Basquaerie Mirthful Minx
Quibbletown Great White Also Beau-Kay Chloe (5)
Ch. Quibbletown Carlotta "
Quibbletown Co-Coette "
Ch Quibbletown Good Time Charlie "
Quibbletown Rennie "
La Colina Snow Queen II La Colina's Snow Queen
Punkin's Prince Valiant "
Ch. Quibbletown Impresario Quibbletown April Sunshine (7)
Ch. Quibbletown Ravel "
Ch. Quibbletown Theme Song "
Ch. Quibbletown Beau Olard Quibbletown Cheka
Quibbletown Misadventure Ch. Quibbletown Dutchess (3)
Quibbletown Ysabelle Ch. Quibbletown Mollichop (1)&(2)
Ch. Quibbletown Discovery "
Ch. Quibbletown Cinderella, U.D. Quibbletown Titian Beauty (3)
Ch. Quibbletown Windsor "
Quibbletown Zephire "
Quibbletown Serena "
Ch. Quibbletown Andre Quibbletown Bouncing Bett
It would be too complicated to try to design a flow diagram to show how Lorvaso comes to our contemporary dogs as he is virtually everywhere. One hundred of his descendants are presently listed in the top producer list as compiled by the Great Pyrenees Club of America. Fifty two of Lorvaso's descendants have either gone Best of Breed or Best of Opposite Sex at National Specialties of the Great Pyrenees Club of America. Since 1964 when Champion Quibbletown Jim Dandy and Champion Beau-Kay Toora Loora took Best of Breed and Best of the Opposite Sex respectively there is a total possible number of 64 through 1996. Certainly more than a few have repeated as either Best of Breed and/or Best of Opposite Sex.
Quibbletown Cheka through her son Champion Quibbletown Beau Olard, who was Best of Breed at the 1965 National Specialty of Great Pyrenees Club of America, produced Canadian Champion Quibbletown Thor. Thor is the Sire of both Champion Limberlost Lorelei and Canadian and American Champion Limberlost Rogue. We see descendants in Starlaxy, Snowmass, Schnee Bar, Highview, Pyr-Layne, Wyndsong, Bousy Rouge, Pyr Haven, Sunmont, Summerhill, Pyrfection, Huny Mtn, VilleVieux, Maranatha, Snowbear, Whispering Pines, and others primarily through Champion Limberlost Rogue.
Quibbletown Fascination (bred to a Lorvaso grandson, Quibbletown Gailant Son), the get of Basquaerie Mirthful Minx and Lorvaso, produced dogs that went to Circle K, Montblue, Coldcreek, Ventisquero, Catalan, and Mistry in just about that descending order. It is very common to see Lorvaso being on both sides of pedigrees as Sire, Grandsire, and/or Great Grandsire, etc. Quibbletown Dutchess bred to Lorvaso produced Quibbletown Misadventure the Dam of Quibbletown Gailant Son just referenced above. So the descendants would be identical as both dogs contributed to the descendants.
To complete the record even though it is not Quibbletown, the Breeding to La Colina's Snow Queen that apparently occurred just prior to Lorvaso arriving at Quibbletown produced, through La Colina Snow Queen II, dogs that went to Eszterhazy and The Willows. Through Punkin's Prince Valiant the descendants show up at The Willows, Dar-Jan, Pyr-Haven (the California Kennel), and others. This breeding was very important to The Willows, Dar-Jan and Eszterhazy. It was quite important to Pyr- Haven(the California Kennel).
The thing that has constantly impressed and surprised me about Lorvaso is, in addition to seeing Lorvaso in so many places, when I do gene influence analysis of many dogs his percentage of influence is significant. Even at some distance i.e. 6, 7, or 8 generations removed he generates a high percentage in some of the top dogs of that generation. The only way I can account for this is his get seem to have been extensively used by breeders all over North America. Much of the time, especially after the fourth, fifth, or later generations, breeders would most probably have no idea Lorvaso is even there. I will give some examples:
Dog's Name**First/Last Generation Lorvaso Appears**Percentage influence from Lorvaso VilleVieux LeRoy 6/13 31.2% Tip'N Chips Sonny's L'Air 4/7 29.7% Tip'N Chip Sonny's Side Up 5/8 23% Wyndsong's Whitney 7/13 24.3% Kaskadian's Skookumchuk Kid 6/10 17.2% Kaskadian's Idyll Gossip 7/11 17.3% Pyrson K'Laska of Summerhill 5/9 26.4% Marwell's Bousy Rouge Rogue 9/15 17.6% Rivergroves Run For The Roses 6/10 25.1% Rivergroves Ivory Princess 8/14 23.9% Caspyr's Victoria Secret Echo 6/12 21.3% Euzkari's Kaskadian Everstar 5/8 20.3% Trottenfox Gabriel 5/10 25.3% Pyrless Prime Time 8/14 24% Kenneview's Grand Slam 7/14 25.7% Quibbletown Double Time 7/12 31.6% Rolling Hill's Keep The Faith 6/14 27.8% Quibbletown TG of Basquaerie 4/6 18.8% Karolaska Bristol Bay 5/10 34.3% Euzkazale Sundance Legend 7/15 21% Barqueill Country Gentlemen 5/11 33.6% Pyr Indy's Tuff Break 8/15 25.2% Tip'N Chip's Foolish Pleasure 7/13 21.9%
I tried to demonstrate on as diverse a selection as I could above. The only dog I know of that could match Lorvaso's importance to future generations is his great great grandfather Ibos du Val d'Aure.
Champion Lorvaso de la Colina had a pretty descent show career with very limited showing. The picture I have included above shows Lorvaso with Edith Smith as handler, winning a group first at nine years of age under Louis Murr. Louis Murr was a Basque judge that judged the National Specialty of the Great Pyrenees Club of America five times.
Forty five years of breeding has resulted in the offering to the world from Quibbletown that we presently have. Try to imagine the absence of Quibbletown in almost anyone's genepool. I cannot, because it is literally everywhere. Champion Lorvaso de la Colina was one of the dogs that Edith and Seaver Smith choose as a key ingredient in their program. He was after all what Edith knew was required to give their dogs what they wanted at Quibbletown i.e. get that resembled Estat d'Argeles. History now documents the success of that choice and plan that was faithfully followed through the generations. Most importantly to all of us, Edith and Seaver Smith have left us a legacy represented by the only truly linebred gene pool in the history of the Great Pyrenees breed in North America. May we all use it wisely in preserving the special qualities of the breed.
