Dorothy Caspersz: The F O U R types

NORMALLY IT IS an ambition of every breeder worthy the name to build up a strain of his own. A strain can only be described as such when the same blood has been in one ownership for many generations. It is the possession of a family of animals carrying certain distinguishing family characteristics while yet conforming to breed type. It has been said that in every animal four types may be represented – the individual type (since no two animals are ever identical in every detail), the family type, the strain type and the breed type. In the early days of our breed´s show history, when there were many more real breeders and far fewer exhibitors, it used to be quite easy to recognize for instance an Ornsay, a Merlewood, or an Ems type of dog at a glance, from the fact that each bore the stamp of the strains from which they were produced. They had a strain type. Just because every dog in a given kennel carries the same registered prefix before its name is no reason for presupposing that kennel has a strain of its own. To ascertain whether it has or not requires a thorough probing into the pedigrees for seven or eight generations.

Source: The Popular Scottish Terrier/Dorothy Caspersz