Originally Posted by Nancy1999  I use to have a lot of the same feelings you have, I believed that all breeders were breeding for profit, and while I saw nothing wrong with making a profit, if this is a primary motive, the breeder will take risks that aren't good for the breed. They will try to breed for public taste and what's the going trend at the moment, and become one-trait breeders. To many breeds have been hurt by this mentality.
After joining Yorkietalk, several people pointed me in the direction of the Yorkshire Terrier Club of American (YTCA), and after reading their site, I decided to talk with a YTCA breeder. I can tell you there was a great deal of difference between talking to this breeder and other breeders. She had no interest in selling me a dog, she didn't care if I bought one of her dogs or not, what she was interested in, was teaching me about the breed, and as we became better acquainted, she was also interested in learning about me, and my experience with dogs. I had to prove to her that I would be a good Yorkie parent. After all, Yorkies aren't for everyone. We got to know each other over a period of time, and I was sure I had found someone who was breeding because they truly loved the breed, and wanted to improve upon it. I told many people of my goals and what I was looking for in a breeder, and people would say, "Yeah, right good luck with that." But I knew in my heart if I were a breeder, that's the sort of breeder I would want to be.
Many of the YTCA members call themselves hobby/exhibitors, this means that breeding is a hobby, and like most hobbies you don't make money, it costs you, but because of your great love and fulfillment, it's worth it, and maybe over time you can break even, or even come out ahead, but that is never the goal. I use to think showing was a frivolous thing, all about awards and more about "showing off". I learned that it's not a frivolous thing at all, and you really need to show in order to develop an eye for what makes a good breeding dog, it's also very difficult to be critical of your own dogs, but others can tell you if the dog you have should be bred, or if the dog you have bred, is a fine example of the breed. Many YTCA members don't even breed that much, it's too expensive, and finding the right home for the offspring is difficult.
You sound like you are skeptical about there being good breeders out there, and you have a right to be skeptical, they are a very small percent of the population, but there are breeders who are breeding for the right reasons, and that’s to protect, preserve, and improve the Yorkshire Terrier breed. The challenge for the rest of us, it to support those breeders whose breeding programs we can heartily endorse, and in that way, we too will be protecting, preserving and improving the Yorkshire Terrier. |