I följande intervju möter vi Lauren Toole och hennes kennel Emerald Creek Kennel från USA. Intervjun publiceras därför på engelska.

Lauren Toole grew up showing Palomino Quarter Horses across the United States. She and her stepfather trained and showed horses for many years, and they excelled both in conformation and performance events. When Lauren then moved off to college, she missed having animals in her life. As soon as possible she began to look for a breed of dog that would suite her best, and eventually she chose the American Staffordshire Terrier.

“I chose Amstaffs, because they seemed so similar to the Quarter Horse that I had always loved.”

And her description of quarter horses is actually quite similar to the definition of an American Staffordshire Terrier –  muscular, smart and gorgeous horses that always want to please their humans.

Lauren’s interest in breeding came naturally, mainly thanks to her parents work with their horses. They had their own breeding and training program, which means that training, showing and breeding has always been a big part of Lauren’s life.

“I enjoy researching pedigrees, the process of selecting the best breeding matches, and the process of selecting the best animal to continue on with in my program. I always joke to my Mom that I just downsized, when I went from Quarter Horses to the Amstaff.”

After acquiring her first well-bred Amstaff in 2003, Lauren tried to find her way in the breed. After a bit of bad luck, both with the dogs and the breeders placing them, she felt quite discouraged, but she still didn’t want to give up. She love working with the breed .

“I dabbled in a couple different bloodlines, dealt with breeders in many parts of the World, and then finally found my way into the Ruffian line.”

She had previously worked with some dogs that had Ruffian in their pedigrees, and that started her further research into this line.

“Sunbolt N Tabbert’s Outlaw Josey was my first Ruffian. Josie was spunky and enjoyed living her life to the fullest. I couldn’t ask for a better girl. From then on, I decided that I wanted to try to focus on some of the older bloodlines and pedigrees.”

We asked Lauren what she is looking at when choosing a potential dog for breeding.

“There are a lot of decisions that go into choosing if a dog is worthy of being bred. Temperament must be the first consideration. Structure and health are both equally important as well. With all my bad past experiences, I try to health test each dog as much as possible, to know what I am working with. I view health testing as a tool, so it’s important to consider the entire package.”

Further she always identifies both strengths and weaknesses of the dog in consideration, in order to see if she can find a dog that is a good compliment.

“I don’t want to breed, if I don’t think I can make improvements over each parent. Sometimes some breedings just don’t meet your goals, for whatever reason, but I want to do as much beforehand to ensure that I create quality puppies. That involves research into pedigrees, researching the health of all recent relatives, and also researching the temperaments within the pedigree as well.”

Lauren’s main goal with her breeding is to create quality puppies with excellent temperaments and health. She wants them to be great all around dogs that can do anything their owners may ask of them. She is also breeding to retain a puppy for ger program, and since she’s only working with certain pedigrees she’s dealing with quite a limited gene pool. Because of that, Lauren is also breeding to help other breeders within the same line.

“Ruffians are pretty limited in numbers, especially in the United States.  It is extremely important for breeders to work together, if they plan to keep the line alive. I also aim to try to create more diversity with the Ruffian lines here in the US.  Many of the dogs are becoming too closely related, so it’s important to consider the coefficient of inbreeding as well.”

Anyone interested in a puppy from Emerald Creek Kennel must fill out a puppy application with information about themselves and what the life they can offer to a puppy. Lauren expects all potential buyers to be extremely honest, and she asks a lot of questions along the way. She wants to know exactly what the buyers are looking for and what their expectations are for the puppy.

“No matter if a puppy goes to a companion home or a show/sports home, I would hope that every person that has received a puppy from me would always keep in close contact throughout the years. I would hope to form a good relationship and friendship that would last for many years.”

When we ask Lauren what she is most proud of with her accomplishment in breeding, she answers that she is proud that she has stayed true to what she believes the ideal Amstaff to be, and that she doesn’t follow “fad breeding” (non-standard breeding). She continues:

“This is sad to say, but I am also proud that I have mainly stayed out of all the drama that’s found in the breed. Some people have tried to drag me into things over the years, but I am not that kind of person. I stay out of everyone else’s business and do what I feel is right to help improve the breed. I am a person that stands behind my word and my dogs. I am proud of the dogs I have produced and am thankful the majority have been intelligent, well-rounded, happy dogs.”

Finally, we asked Lauren to describe, in her opinion, the ideal American Staffordshire Terrier.

“For me, the ideal Amstaff is intelligent, lively, athletic, confident, outgoing, and moderate in size. They should not be overdone or exaggerated in any way. Their structure should be such that they have plenty of stamina. They should love humans, but they should not be faulted if they do not tolerate other animals.”

We would like to give a big thank you to Lauren Toole for making this interview. We wish you the best of luck in your future breeding.