More than 30,000 puppies have wriggled through the hands of American dog expert Pat Hastings.

Mrs. Hastings, who is well known for producing the video 'Puppy Puzzle: The Hastings Approach to Evaluating Puppies', was on the Island recently to give a lecture for the Bermuda All Breed Club.

Mrs. Hastings and her late husband Bob, believed that you can pick out a good puppy for the show ring, companionship or agility training, by looking at its skeletal structure and physical characteristics.

"At this point I have evaluated a little over 33,000 puppies," Mrs. Hastings told The Royal Gazette. "That is a lot of puppies. It is just mind boggling how accurate our system is once you know how to do it. It was all guess work before."

The Hastings originally just wanted to know how to select a winner for the show ring.

"We were really successful as dog people and we thought we knew what we were doing until we started learning about a dog's physical structure and we realised we didn't know anything," she said.

Back when the Hastings started developing their theories they enlisted the help of a world-renowned veterinarian, Barclay Slocom.

"He was the one who developed the total hip replacement for dogs, among many other medical breakthroughs," she said. "We were making him nuts, because he couldn't figure out how to answer the questions we were asking.

"He called late one night. He said, 'Paddy, I think I have it figured out. I want you to go and find a structural engineer who has never lived with or owned an animal in his life. It has to be someone who has no preconceived notions of what a dog should look like. Because no matter what a breed standard says you can't go against the law of nature and the law of physics'."

So the Hastings went to a nearby university and found a professor who fit that bill.

"It took us a long time to find a structural engineer," she said. "When we did find one, he thought we were nuts. He didn't know anything about dogs, and he didn't see how he could help us."

But he did help the Hastings.

"Once we learned the basics of how structure applied to a dog, it was magic," said Mrs. Hastings.

Mrs. Hastings said structure wasn't just a matter of looks in the show ring.

"Structure can help the average person who wants to buy a dog as well. Structure affects temperament drastically," she said. "If a dog hurts they are cranky, and not very friendly. That makes a big difference."

And she said it had a heavy impact on whether the dog could do the job it was bred to do.

"For example, the shoulder blades on a dog can be very important," Mrs. Hastings said. "Breeders know that the shoulder blades shouldn't be too wide apart.

"If they are too wide apart it is ugly to look at. But it is much more difficult for the dog if the shoulder blades are too close together.

"The dog can only drop his head until the blades touch. And when they touch he can't go any lower down. If a bloodhound's shoulder blades are too close together then he can't get his nose to the ground. That has to be the worst fault that a bloodhound can have."

She said for guide dogs it is imperative that one shoulder blade doesn't stick up further than the other. Such a defect would mean that the harness would rub that shoulder blade and cause pain.

"I never evaluate a litter of puppies without evaluating the breed standard first," she said. "We are looking at what the dog's job is, and also trying to keep in mind what the breeder has intended for that litter."

Using the structural approach to selecting and breeding dogs, the Hastings went on to take home 250 'Best In Shows' in their show ring careers.

In October 2001, shortly before Mr. Hastings' death, the couple received the Doberman Pinscher Club of America's Lifetime Achievement Award.

Mrs. Hastings has written and edited a number of books including 'K-9 Structure and Terminology', and 'Another Piece of the Puzzle: Puppy Development'.

She also lectures all over the world on puppy evaluation. She looks at approximately 350 litters a year.

"It is about knowing enough about your puppy so that you know what you need to be working on in a breeder programme, and if you are a breeder you know how to appropriately place a puppy in a home.

"Not every puppy will get along well in every household.

"And I think it is criminal to purposely sell a dog to a performance home that is not structurally sound enough to do it. What I do know is just as critical for the performance people as it is for the show people. Every breeder in the world should use this."

Although she and her husband bred more than 26 different types of dogs over the years, she now just has one Doberman.

"I started in Poodles many years ago and Bob started in Dobermans," she said.

She said breeding so many different types of dogs gave her special insight.

"You will never understand a Bulldog unless you have had one," she said. "If you have only ever had toy breeds you will never understand giants and vice versa."

"I really don't have a favourite, but I can't imagine life without a Doberman."

For more information about Mrs. Hastings go to her website, http://www.dogfolk.com, or contact the Bermuda All Breed Club at 291-1436.