I would like to preface this article by saying once again this is not related to any one specific dog show or dogs but multiple shows and multiple dogs and has been in the articles folder being worked on over the past few years and has only now come to print.
No hurt feelings please
Know how and when to give advice.
Let’s face it, as professional breeders we have many friends and connections throughout the world in dogs. It’s a lifestyle and if you know then you know. With that comes many conversations about matings, who to keep in the program and a variety of other important kennel issues. We discuss these things with our friends in dogs and we make suggestions to one another. Some advice is taken but most breeders ultimately do what they want to do.
I wanted to just quickly talk about when you get to a certain point in a breeding program that other breeders ask for your advice on their own program. And while I’m grateful and never dreamed many years ago I would get to the stage in my program where other breeders respected my opinion enough to ask me my thoughts, It’s something that has gotten a mind of its own over the past few years with weekly questions coming in from all over the globe about who breeders should breed to their bitch to.
This is something I have been conflicted about the past few years.
While I love to help other breeders when I can, we are fiercely competitive here and giving another breeder advice on a breeding or certain aspects of their kennel can end up costing wins, money and can turn into a touch of feeling sorry for yourself because you just got beat by a beautiful dog that you basically bred without the actual credit in the paperwork.
Now, if you breed labradors for fun and you compete in conformation for fun and you’re not fiercely competitive, that’s fine, but I don’t think this article pertains to you and you don’t need to read any further. This article is for breeders who have MADE IT in their careers and their opinion is valued enough that other breeders ask their opinion on breeding matters.
I recently, over the past few years, have gone to numerous large specialties and when it comes down to the end for the points I look out and see the BEST 3-4 beautiful dogs that look very similar to what I breed here. They are all lovely, and they are all competing for the win. There’s only one problem, I’m only the breeder of record on two of them that I own and bred. The other dogs are owned and bred by friends that asked advice on who to breed their bitch to and I gave them the best piece of advice I could. Many times the breeder didn’t even know the stud dog I suggested. But alas once the advice is taken, the breeding is performed and that litter is born and those puppies are succesful, you had nothing to do with it all of the sudden, the breeding is now all theirs, it was all them, it was their breeding talent that created that dog! I can think of several breedings throughout the country that I basically bred and the litter turned out fantastic yet no “Thank You” publicly, no tag in any social media post, basically “Dissappear Mark” we got this from here.
So, how do you handle that ? You handle it like a professional, that’s how. You smile, congratulate and move forward and hope they come to their senses and thank you with each step of the dog’s success. Most times they do not, many breeders like to take credit and not hand much out so expect that when giving advice.
But what lesson was taught is the question ?
If you give advice to breeders that you are going to compete against down the road then be ready to swallow some pride, bite your lip and be ready NOT to have your name on that Potomac trophy if it ever goes that far.
For me that last part is something I’m not sure I could ever forgive myself for if it happened, I know, a long shot but stranger things have happened.
So how NOW do I give advice to breeders and friends about potential breedings ?
I no longer tell friends or acquaintances who to breed their bitch to. Instead I tell them to recognize their type and breed type to type and you can’t go wrong.
The problem is most of the time newer breeders don’t even know what type they have so what I do is suggest 5 or 6 stud dogs that I think would be complementary to their bitch. I know all along which one of the 5 is best but I no longer tell them. I let them figure it out on their own and this way when I see them down the road win or lose I don’t feel any kind of way about it yet I was still able to help a friend out without compromising my intellectual property and paying for it down the road. Remember, in the end a breeding program is defined not by one dog but a culmantion of many great dogs over many years so while you might have had a hand in ones intial success just remember they must mantain that high standard long after your breeding skills and knowledge has passed by them.
I hope this article clarifies to many of you that contact me in regards to breedings why I do not get specific with breedings to make ANYMORE. Instead of writing this out over and over again weekly I figured it be much easier to put on the website for viewing. Now when another breeder writes me i can give them this link.
August 23