[gemy]

I don't usually post in this manner; but this thread in my opinion, went south in a way that I feel was un-necessary. Just check out the responses on the breeders thread to this poster, versus what you find here in the General Forum.

Yes it is preferable to find a hands-on mentor to help you and teach and train you that lives close to you, that epitomizes what a great breeder is. But the obvious reality for many folks due to geographical location; hey think of Siberia, or language barriers (as this poster has), or simply distance and a sad lack of great breeders in your area, it is not always possible to find what you are looking for. So then what? Where do you turn?

Let's put aside for the moment the idea which is almost holy here of a "mentor", we seem to use this term here synomous with the term "guru" in yoga, or Master in other disciplines. Masters/gurus/mentors are by their very experential knowledge base rare.

If you separate out the component parts of what is necessary to learn, to assimilate prior to breeding then it is possible and even practical to seek and find even on an on line forum; teachers who are willing to share what they can over the internet, to direct you to other resources to check out factual information, and to help you to develop a set of assessment tools to apply to various facets of in this case dog breeding.

A birthing/whelping coach obvious needs to be physically present, but while a very important part of the breeding process, is NOT the only part of it.

Some parts of the knowledge base lead themselves very well to internet coaching or teaching.

For example": Anatomical Structure and analysis Evaluating movement; video tutorials
Health Databases: where to check, how to read them, how to evaluate them
Q&A of what you've read in book A.B, or C.

Why not ask open ended questions, call off the rush to judgement, let the poster answer, see where those answers take you.