Becoming: Breeders Have a Story To Tell
BY JACQUELYN FOGEL continued
with multiple dogs. He is a very pleasant young man, and our conversation quickly morphed into a discussion of vaccination protocols and canine nutrition. Before he could start to lecture me on his beliefs, I started telling him about my 45 years of practical breeder’s informa- tion. He started to contradict a couple of things I said, but I quickly told him that my 45 years of real-life expe- rience had taught me otherwise. He was shocked to learn that I had a current Merck Manual and a Plumb’s Veterinary Medication Handbook – and even more astonished to learn about a widely used protocol that prescribed daily fenbendazole for pregnant and nursing dams. I suggested he refer to his Plumb’s Manual and he would find it there. He said he was astonished at my medical knowledge, and I suggested that he get out and meet more breeders and animal farmers in real life. Our conversation then shifted. He began treating me like a co-professional instead of a novice, and he started to ask me some very different types of questions. My favorite was when he asked if I knew anything about German Shepherds. I responded that I was no expert in herding dogs, I breed hounds and terriers, but I would try. He said his German Shepherd was sort of high- strung…… at which point I stopped him and asked if he knew what the pure-bred dog he kept in an apartment was developed to do. “Well, they herd, of course! “ he responded feeling quite smug. And I countered with, “You know, of course, that not all dogs in the herding group were bred to move animals around, right?” I got a blank look from the vet and I continued. I explained that German Shepherds were bred to be perimeter guards and not only did they have to travel great dis- tances, they had to have highly tuned instincts to distin- guish in a moment who was prey and who was preda- tor. They were bred to be herd guards, not herd movers. Now just imagine why all of the German Shepherds you see have such beautiful long strides, and always behave as though they’re looking for something. What you are calling high-strung has been bred into these dogs to make sure they can do their work. Then I asked him what he was doing to make sure his dog had plenty of exercise and intellectual stimulation appropriate for his breed. The young vet looked me directly in the eye and said, “I feel really stupid. They don’t spend any time on behavioral issues in vet school, and I really don’t know anything about why certain dogs behave differently from others. Thank you.” I then went on to briefly describe the Early Neurological Stimulation program that Carmen Battaglia writes about, and explained that Carmen is a German Shepherd breeder, and he may want to address some of his questions to a real expert on the breed. I also talked about the reproductive work done by Marty Greer, and pointed out that she is a Corgi breeder. Then I told him that AKC breeders of pure bred dogs were becoming extinct, and he should start now to figure out where the
next batch of breed-related statistics was going to come from since nobody collects good data on mutts. I fin- ished by suggesting that he get to know the younger Amish breeders in Indiana who are trying to make a dif- ference in the world of pure-bred dogs because when the AKC breeders are gone, they may have the only pur- pose-bred dogs left in this country. By then the young vet’s head was swimming, and I had taught myself to be proud of my work as a breeder of AKC dogs. I followed up by sending the vet links to Carmen’s ENS articles and a link to a “Dog Talk” inter- view done with Craig Curry who is an advocate for the Indiana Amish breeders. I hope he reads and listens, though I have not heard back from him. Breeders must learn to own and take pride in what they do, and be confident enough to talk to people about being breeders. Too many people think breeders are bad. Don’t fall for the, “I only buy rescues,” – and respond with a variation of, “If that dog wasn’t pulled from a burning building or a flooded rooftop, then it wasn’t rescued. It was intentionally bred by somebody who didn’t care one bit about it’s health, behavior or purpose, and was sold to make money. So-called res- cues perpetuate the growth in poorly bred dogs by sup- plying endless buyers for those intentionally, and poor- ly, bred dogs.” We have to take back our story, and we need to start telling it out loud, to as many people as we can. We can- not afford to be shy or embarrassed. We need to be proud of the hard work we do as responsible breeders of well-bred, purpose bred dogs. The people in this country still love their dogs. Many of them are begin- ning to realize that there are significant down sides to purchasing recycled dogs of unknown origin. So I want to suggest that the next time somebody asks you what you do, look them straight in the eye and lead first with,” I am an AKC breeder of purebred (fill in this blank with your breed).” Then begin your own story about how you chose that breed, and why they are such great dogs. You don’t have to just listen to all the other Fido stories because you have your own story, and it’s way more interesting. ■ Jackie Fogel got her first purebred basset in 1969, but her real education in the world of AKC dogs and shows started in 1979 when she moved to Wisconsin and whelped her first home-bred champion. In 1995 Jackie got a bedlington terrier from David Ramsey of the famous Willow Wind line. She has bred and shown numer- ous #1 bedlingtons, and continues to actively breed both bas- sets and bedlingtons. In 2007 Jackie began judging, and is approved to judge 6 breeds. She owns and manages Cedar Creek Pet Resort, and is active in the Kettle Moraine Kennel Club, Keep Your Pets, Inc., (a non-profit she founded), and the local Rotary club. Jackie writes for ShowSight Magazine, the basset column in the Gazette, and a pet column in a local magazine.
54 • S HOW S IGHT M AGAZINE , O CTOBER 2017
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