The specific approach to the breeding of British rock is determined primarily by the fact that the formation of the modern breed type significantly influenced by input crosses, that is, irregular single mating with other breeds.

 

Remember the story of the formation of rocks. For decades, breeders in principle not distinguish between British and European shorthair cats. At exhibitions, cat British Isles and the European continent were called "short-haired breed" - without further definition. Around the thirties of XX century British breeders began a massive target selection, aimed at consolidation and heavier backbone shorthair cat, the formation of their convex forehead, rounded head with short muzzle, and massive jaws. There is evidence that this selection is accompanied by frequent blood cast-on, or simply say, crossing the "French Blue" (Cartesian, Chartres) cats. These past and today are the rock closest to the British. Mating the usual "short-" and the blue cat Cartesian periodically taken by British breeders, until the final separation of these species in 1966. In continental Europe, as British and Cartesian cats mated and later, and these matings do not even regarded as experimental. Especially welcome are interbreeding German clubs.

 

The most striking difference between modern Britain from Cartesian - a form of the head. Original rock texture differed wool: soft, non-contiguous, with undercoat, equal to the length of the spine (double), a blue wool Cartesian cat differed from the more rigid, semiadherent, with a dense undercoat, but not double, woolen British (which, incidentally, had the right to be not just blue, but a different color). At present, blue and lilac British Shorthair is often observed texture and structure of hair, very similar to that of the Cartesian breed. Still, the Cartesians certainly influenced the texture of "British" of wool, making it denser, and providing abundant undercoat.

 

Another feature of the British breed, borrowed from the Cartesians - full cheeks. In "short-haired breed" cats as the British Isles developed cheek was not. "Cheeky" British males were to appear in the mass-70s, and they usually have bleached color - blue or cream. The third sign, who went to some members of British rock from the Cartesian Cats - "small" snout. Cartesians themselves have a fairly narrow muzzle and, by modern standards, but rather the average length than the shortest. In the British breed, this narrow snout noticeably shortened and slightly arched. As a result, the British head of a "small" muzzle is as a "standard" round shape, as well as individuals with a broad and full muzzle of medium length. Thus, the opening cross-breeding with cats Cartesian laid the foundation for the existence of several types of modern British inbreeding.

 

British rock during the last ten years developing very rapidly: the animals become heavier, their backbone - heavier head and eyes - rounder. This breed's development should take place primarily through the intensification of the selection, proper selection and combination of Manufacturers tribal lines. However, some breeders have always sought (and still seek) a "short" ways of improving the breed type. The result of their searches often become breeding with exotic British or Persian.

 
Then, to kontsu70's, in the United States was formed and "short-haired Persians" - exotic, but because they have not been distributed in Europe, in crosses with the British they were used rarely. The only serious problem generated by the Persian-crossings British 70-80s of last century, was a periodic long-haired animals in the excision of British rock.

 

The rapid progress of Persian and exotic breeds soon led to a radical change in rock type - there were so-called "extremals". By the early '90s, this type has become a leading and was assigned to the standards.

Britons crossing with Persians and Exotics, set in the 90s and taken to this day, were not nearly as safe as earlier. Among the breeders have formed the term "zaekzochennost", although an accurate understanding of what he stands for, while it is not. Too often talk about "deep stop" or "flat face" of these animals, but the image of the "zaekzochennyh" individuals often define the very different characteristics. "Persian" or "exotic" features of the British species are often expressed in the reconstruction of the frontal and cranial structures, angular contours of frontal bone, a sharp change in direction back of the nose, in a strong shortening of the "elevated" snout.

 

Instead of the forehead convex, smoothly passing the flat area between the ears, the most "British" descendants of the Persians or Exotics demonstrate the opposite structure of the skull: the steep brow move into a flat forehead, the parietal portion remains the same dome. This structure affects the brow shape of an animal by the fact that gives the impression of deep-set "evil" eye.

 

The effect of "excessive foot" is often not so much on the availability of a deep depression in the transition from forehead to nose, but because of the change in the direction of the nasal bridge to the horizontal. Thus he is often much narrower nose to nose speculum and does not have the width required of a good representative of the British breeds. Steep eyebrows, and often accentuated cheekbones with poorly defined cheeks and "elevated" the nose attached to the angularity of the head shape. A profile stand out in brow and change of direction of the nasal bridge creates a picture of a sharp kink at the transition from forehead to nose.

 

Changing the direction of the nasal bridge is usually "lifts" and the entire British muzzle. Interestingly, as the presence of "small" faces, this "excitement" does not always affect the evaluation of the animal. The fact that none of the British breed standard (in any case, European) does not specify in detail the structure of faces, limited to the general requirements of the roundness of the head. But the impression of a round the head can still be created 1) by a broad and short snout with rounded podusnikami, 2) due to the small, round and short, and 3) at the expense of an equally small, narrow and "elevated" - with the latter may have the average length.

 

in combination with each other and with the "purebred" the British like "a-" and "podekzochennye" cats offer a wide range of variations of morphological type, - unfortunately, most of them unwanted. For example, the direction of the back of the nose and cheek corners in the offspring of crosses of these animals with animals of another breed type may change - in contrast to the width and length of snout. The heads of these children - with a narrowed muzzle and angular - will no longer look round, and generally harmonious. Sometimes it splits off a cat, which does not "lay" in the British standard - is actually a bad (or even medium quality) Exotic short snub nose, deep stop, convex skull.

 

Why are round-crossing Persians and Exotics with the British give similar effects? "Improve" the material for the British rock usually provide so-called "classics" - that is, Exotics and Persians with a relatively long nose and a shallow stop. At the same time on the cranial structure and the structure of the faces of such "classics" none of the breeders, "britanistov 'attention, as a rule, does not pay. But any breeder of Persian (or exotic) species is aware of the complexities of the uneven development of cranial structures in this breed. In the vast majority of today's "big noses" Persians are not true "classics" and failed "extremals" - the result of an incorrect combination of lines or an unsuccessful attempt to improve the type. The cranial structure of such individuals are usually different and not as harmonious as a true "classics", but what they carry in their genotype - one can only guess ...

 

A third source of plant problems in the British rock - cross-breeding with Scottish fold. These crossings are not taken to improve the type of the British, but because, according to European practice, the Scottish Fold up to 2004 were bred in a systematic crosses with the British, "pryamouhie" descendants of these crosses ("Straight"), registered breeders as members of the British breed .  However, the Scottish Straight (or rather, a good Scottish Straight) - this is not British, and especially not a good Brit.  Another important difference between straights from the British - it's wool.  
Finally, the  
Thus, from the permanent cast-on blood Folds British rock is nothing particularly good for the formation of rock types is not expected. Since 2004, such matings are prohibited.

 

Of course, the factory owner, eager to engage solely to improve the British, can easily avoid such problems - not enough to take their animals mating with a fold and not buy into his kennel offspring from such matings, no matter how impressive they may be. If a breeder is the desire to make a fold, you should not expect more for the British and the descendants of higher-class exhibition of the same parents ...

 

While the vast and diverse gene pool, which lies at the heart of the British breed, it is easy to expect that hereditary diseases and abnormalities in its representatives will be rare. This is true, and in this sense, inbreeding, even closer and closer to the British are relatively safe. They are not safe because it can lurk in even entirely harmonious genotype individuals - in homozygous form in the offspring may get some recessive alleles derived from the Cartesian, Persian or exotic ancestors. As a result, the effect will be the same as that of imposing different types of inbreeding. Thus, the breeder is like the Brits caught in the middle - still risky for him and the mating of unrelated individuals of different types (which he tries to put to the mutual improvement of symptoms producers), and the use of close inbreeding in species with 'problematic' origins. The output appears in the first place, the establishment of breeding lines based on (vse-taki!) close and moderate inbreeding on the outstanding producers, and the latter must be distinguished not only harmonious appearance. but "conservative" (at least in the foreseeable within the four-pyatikolennoy lineage) origin. These manufacturers (and more manufacturers are coming from such lines) are the best partners and individuals with deviating (from the standard) type.

 

Features silver, gold colors and chinchillas

 

However, this recommendation is virtually impossible for individuals such color as silver and gold tabby, and chinchilla, as hard to keep these colors have inherited primarily through dilution of their "in itself", that is, limiting the selection of breeding pairs within the same color variation. This situation is fraught with the inevitable inbreeding, not only helps to perpetuate the advantages of color, but also disadvantages such. It is also worth considering that most of the chinchillas and silvertebbi - close to the descendants of the Persians and exotics that do not reduce the risk of the most secure these "shortcomings such as" (though the situation is partly discharges the fact that most of the Persians, Chinchillas among the ancestors of the British - is "genuine" , not "enhanced classics"). In this situation, the breeder has to put a mating only on the basis of rules matching given the pros and cons of such prospective vendors, their origin, and - based on it - the risk of excision as "podekzochennyh" and "simplification" of descendants.

 

Crossing the same gold and silver cats with solid British to improve the type inevitably leads to loss of high-quality color and eye color, the recovery of which may require more than one generation of animals. Nevertheless, this line of work necessary for the successful development of the color choices rock, you only need to remember that the first generation descendants of these crosses for the most part - a valuable breeding material, but no representatives of the exhibition class.