Gregor Mendel, father of modern genetics, was a meticulous record keeper. “It was there that he grew 28,000 pea plants during the period from 1856 to 1863. He kept careful records of his crossbreeding experiments and recorded each individual plant’s height, pod shape, flower location and color, and seed shape and color.”
The Patriotic Puppy Program opened a record keeping site in May of this year. To date it contains 106 total records from 13 different program participants. Many thanks to those who have dutifully entered this very valuable data! Data allows us to leave behind anecdotal generalities and gives us a rich database of recorded behavior. We cannot make arguments for the United States of America’s dog breeders to be given the opportunity to compete in selling dogs for our national security, if all we have is generalities and anecdotal stories. It’s hard work, but we need to be up for the challenge. Please submit your weekly records!