Showsight October 2018

Becoming

Commercial Breeders—Not What You Think BY JACQUELYN FOGEL F or the past three years, I h a v e reserved the

They didn’t understand what we were going to do, and they saw it as an enormous waste of three days. Both of them became quite adept at avoiding me or working on the prepa- ration for the event, so most of the preparation work fell to me, and this was clearly not within my range of expertise. I ordered the supplies, aprons and towels, made sure our Cedar Creek Pet Resort display booth was ready to set up, printed business cards for us, set prices on the items we had for sale, then told my groomers that attendance was not optional. I totally forgot about bringing a cash box or credit card reader, though I did make up some order forms for the items we were offering in our kits. Retail has never been my thing, but I’m learning fast! I also informed my two groomers that they would be going on the “farm tour” the day before the event. My daugh- ter, Andrea suddenly had a half dozen things she needed to do with her boys on that day, and Jordan said he couldn’t miss any more work time because being gone for Montgom- ery County shows was going to cost him a lot of grooming income. Again, I informed them that this was not optional, and I agreed to pay them both for the days we were in Indi- ana—and I volunteered the boys’ grandpa, Tom, to help out with their after-school activities. I may not be good at retail, but I can organize a road trip with dogs! The “farm tour” was actually a tour of commercial ken- nels in the area. It was this type of tour two years earlier that opened my eyes to the new realities of commercial breeding, and I knew my two groomers needed this introduction before they would be willing to buy into the concept of assisting commercial breeders. It worked. We toured five family opera- tions. We met the breeders and played with the puppies. We saw the amazing exercise paddocks, the spotless kennels, and the beautiful whelping areas. We saw the toys and play equipment in the yards. We heard about plans to update and modify, and we talked about what it might take to compete with their dogs in AKC shows one day. My primary observation was the remarkable improvement in the confirmation of the dogs I was seeing this year. They were exponentially better than the dogs I saw just two years ago. The Cavaliers, Bulldogs, French Bulldogs, Pekingese, Miniature Schnauzers, Poodles and Bichons were lovely and structurally sound. I knew the kennels would be beautiful based upon past observations, but I had no idea the quality of the dogs could improve that quickly. One conversation with a breeder was so refreshing that I wish I had taped it. Jordan asked why he saw so many Blue Bulldogs and French bulldogs. The breeder said they

last week in Septem- ber for a convention in Shipshewana, Indiana. It’s not a judges’ semi- nar, nor a dog show. It’s not a Field Trial or Per formance event , or a Rotary Conven- tion. It’s a convention for breeders—mostly comme rc i a l br eed - ers, though they wel- come any breeder who wants to attend. Just one condition—check your judgment at the door, and arrive with an open mind. This year I brought a team of groomers to the conference. The AKC, who has a prominent booth with tons of infor- mation and breed expertise, invited us to be an exhibitor. I jumped at the opportunity. This was my third ICAW (Indi- ana Council for Animal Welfare) conference, and I was so impressed with the first two I attended that I was more than excited to be more than a spectator for this one. The AKC asked us to demonstrate proper ear cleaning, teeth clean- ing and nail trims. They wanted us to explain how impor- tant these three simple procedures are for the maintenance of healthy dogs. Then they gave us an hour to demonstrate some basic pet grooming to show the breeders how breed- specific pet trims can both enhance the appearance of their dogs, and give them some time to one-on-one socialize, bond and health check all of their dogs. They lined up some dogs for us to groom, and assured us the dogs would all be bathed and brushed. We also brought grooming supplies to offer for sale. I reviewed and modified two grooming packages sup- plied by a grooming wholesaler, and we offered a basic and level 2 grooming kit for breeders to purchase. I ordered some grooming tables, toothpaste, toothbrushes, books and tooth polishers to sell. We also brought some of our logo aprons and towels to give away. Preparing for the show was not easy. The AKC breeder representative, Stacy Mason, was pretty clear about what she was looking for, but my two groomers could not have been less interested or engaged. They didn’t want to go. They didn’t know why an AKC breeder/groomer would want to go.

“MY PRIMARY OBSERVATION WAS THE REMARKABLE IMPROVEMENT IN THE CONFIRMATION OF THE DOGS I WAS SEEING THIS YEAR. THEY WERE EXPONENTIALLY BETTER THAN THE DOGS I SAW JUST TWO YEARS AGO.”

48 • S how S ight M agazine , O ctober 2018

Powered by