ARE YOU FEELING P R E S S U R E D INTO BREEDING?
A n acquaintance of mine with her first show dog is enjoying all aspects of the sport she has discovered, except one. She joined her local kennel club and has found the members both welcom- ing and helpful in teaching her the ropes. The instructors in her handling class are generous with their advice; the stewards and judges at the shows have been equally kind. The one area of stress is her fellow exhibi- tors who have been unrelenting in their pressure on her to breed her bitch. This woman is a successful attorney who didn’t buy her dog without first doing thorough research on breeders, and she won’t be bullied, but the well- intentioned nagging is getting unpleasant. She lives in a condo, travels a lot for business, and never planned to become a breeder. She opened a can of worms when she made the comment to me over din- ner, “Besides, I read that responsible breeders have a litter when they plan to keep a puppy, which I wouldn’t be.” When it comes to breeding, philosophies and points of view are cyclical. And recently the tide has shifted again. Fifty and 60 years ago, when many of the old-timers in the sport first got involved, we typically went to breeders who maintained large kennels, sometimes a kennel staff, and had multiple litters a year. There were no com- plicated strings or contracts; deals were usually sealed over a handshake, and we considered these breeders who had faith in us, and gave us our start, our indispensable first teachers (this was long before the term “mentor” came into vogue).
BY ALLAN REZNIK
“THE ONE AREA OF STRESS IS HER FELLOW EXHIBITORS WHO HAVE BEEN UNRELENTING IN THEIR PRESSURE ON HER TO BREED HER BITCH.”
44 | SHOWSIGHT MAGAZINE, MARCH 2024
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