What Not to Say to Your Breeder

[QuickSilver]

Originally Posted by Mardelin

Now I had a very refreshing call yesterday. A lady, who had shown Poms years ago. But, now looking to get into yorkies. She was not looking to buy a yorkie at this time....but, to learn all she could, before begining her journey. In her observation while attending dog shows, our breed was in serious trouble (very astute observation), since she was seeing so many dogs in the ring that were strictly pet quality. We spent along while on the phone and it was so refreshing to talk to this person. Someone whose heart was in the right place...

Sorry to inject a serious note into a lighthearted thread, but is this true? I'd be curious to hear more about that.

[Mardelin]

Originally Posted by WinstonMom

Many years ago, I used to breed maltese and got a phone call from a woman who wanted to know "what color they were?" She wanted a maltese in the worst way but didn't want a white one as she thought they would get "too dirty".

Audrey

I think the best call I got was a few months ago. Now, this person had obtained my name from the YTCA breeder referral list, the only place I'm listed. Her first question was if I breed Maltipoo and did I have any puppies available that were of breeding quality. Second question was if I knew other reputable breeders that she could contact? I burst out laughing (no way was I attempting to be rude, but I couldn't help the spontaneous laughter) ....and she didn't take offense. But, asked why I was laughing and went into the whole speal of YTCA, yorkies, etc. She was so embarrassed, but thanked me for educating her. We spent a couple of hours on the phone, with her asking me questions and me answering. In the end she stated that now she understood why I laughed.

[Mardelin]

Originally Posted by QuickSilver

Sorry to inject a serious note into a lighthearted thread, but is this true? I'd be curious to hear more about that.

Is what true?

[Nancy1999]

Originally Posted by Mardelin

Is what true?

The part she put in bold, "our breed was in serious trouble." I guess I thought almost everyone knew it was in serious trouble, but maybe for different reasons.

[Nancy1999]

Originally Posted by Mardelin

I think the best call I got was a few months ago. Now, this person had obtained my name from the YTCA breeder referral list, the only place I'm listed. Her first question was if I breed Maltipoo and did I have any puppies available that were of breeding quality. Second question was if I knew other reputable breeders that she could contact? I burst out laughing (no way was I attempting to be rude, but I couldn't help the spontaneous laughter) ....and she didn't take offense. But, asked why I was laughing and went into the whole speal of YTCA, yorkies, etc. She was so embarrassed, but thanked me for educating her. We spent a couple of hours on the phone, with her asking me questions and me answering. In the end she stated that now she understood why I laughed.

That's a great story with a great outcome!

[Mardelin]

Originally Posted by Nancy1999

The part she put in bold, "our breed was in serious trouble." I guess I thought almost everyone knew it was in serious trouble, but maybe for different reasons.

Yes, it is in serious trouble. There are so many great breeders that know what they are doing. They have mentored many others to follow in their footsteps. But, BYBers are coming out of the woodwork. And you see many of these BYBers entering the breeding/show world without the benefit of a mentor. Many of the BYBers want to show and Champion a dog just to promote puppy sales and have no clue on how to breed correctly. BYBers far outnumber those great breeders. Now it's not to say there aren't BYBers out there that don't want to do it correctly, because I've encountered a few that have been turned around with the proper mentorship. They just hadn't had the oppurtunity to obtain a good mentor.

[Nancy1999]

Originally Posted by Mardelin

Yes, it is in serious trouble. There are so many great breeders that know what they are doing. They have mentored many others to follow in their footsteps. But, BYBers are coming out of the woodwork. And you see many of these BYBers entering the breeding/show world without the benefit of a mentor. BYBers far outnumber those great breeders.

Oh gotcha, and now it becomes more clear why some dislike the term, "show breeder", and prefer the term, "hobby breeder/exhibitor.

[Mardelin]

Originally Posted by Nancy1999

Oh gotcha, and now it becomes more clear why some dislike the term, "show breeder", and prefer the term, "hobby breeder/exhibitor.

I actually prefer exhibitor/breeder

[QuickSilver]

What constitutes "in trouble", exactly? I'm assuming we are not talking inbreeding or health problems? If there are a lot of great breeders, presumably there are a lot of great yorkies out there, no? Is it that the average yorkie walking down the street is off standard? Or are pet quality yorkies winning championships? Or they are just being shown?

I know the yorkie is a popular breed; does that automatically make it "endangered" because many more are bred?

Just curious.

[livingdustmops]

I was a little concerned when I read the title to this thread because you can educate people to give the right answers who do not have the best interest of the dog (I have seen it with rescue)in mind and you waste a lot of time trying to get to the truth....but this thread is funny and loved it...

[Mardelin]

Originally Posted by QuickSilver

What constitutes "in trouble", exactly? I'm assuming we are not talking inbreeding or health problems? If there are a lot of great breeders, presumably there are a lot of great yorkies out there, no? Is it that the average yorkie walking down the street is off standard? Or are pet quality yorkies winning championships? Or they are just being shown?

I know the yorkie is a popular breed; does that automatically make it "endangered" because many more are bred?

Just curious.

There are several reasons.

BYBers outnumber Great Breeders. These BYBers breed indiscrimentatly....with no clue. And yes, most of their breeding is off standard. But, I don't know if this can be turned around. Great Breeders, breed very carefullly and don't produce a lot of litters. BYBers do and provide a buyers market for the public.

Great Breeders, because of being burnt so often, are now very guarded with their lines. And they do breed infrequently.

Yes, Pet quality dogs are obtaining championships.....if you drag it around long enough and show in obscure shows with no competition....

Now there are still some great dogs shown by great breeders in the ring. But, I am seeing BYBers in the ring with dogs that shouldn't even be there, let alone being used as breeding stock.

[Mardelin]

Originally Posted by livingdustmops

I was a little concerned when I read the title to this thread because you can educate people to give the right answers who do not have the best interest of the dog (I have seen it with rescue)in mind and you waste a lot of time trying to get to the truth....but this thread is funny and loved it...

Yeah! Learning to talk the talk.....it's happened with breeders too.

[WinstonMom]

Originally Posted by livingdustmops

I was a little concerned when I read the title to this thread because you can educate people to give the right answers who do not have the best interest of the dog (I have seen it with rescue)in mind and you waste a lot of time trying to get to the truth....but this thread is funny and loved it...

I know I was a little worried about that too, but I think that most of the people who make the silly inquiries are too stupid to have done their homework and find this thread.

Audrey

[Nancy1999]

Originally Posted by WinstonMom

I know I was a little worried about that too, but I think that most of the people who make the silly inquiries are too stupid to have done their homework and find this thread.

Audrey

Lol, I agree with this!

[Woogie Man]

Originally Posted by Mardelin

Yes, Pet quality dogs are obtaining championships.....if you drag it around long enough and show in obscure shows with no competition....
.

I was in the airport a couple of years ago and struck up a conversation with a guy that had a Standard Poodle he was shipping. He told me his mother had shipped the dog down to him from Washington to finish out and he was sending him back to her. Now, I haven't been around a ton of Poodles but this one certainly wasn't among the best I'd seen, so yeah, I think some are venue shopping to get that title. In my mind, there are champions and then there are true champions. I've also seen Yorkies with the 'CH' designation I didn't think much of.