BEDLINGTON TERRIER: A LOW ENTRY BREED
If breeders don't have a high comfort level with a puppy client, they should move on and find someone who better fits their criteria, and leave it up to the owner as to whether or not to sterilize the dog. The use of Limited Registration offered by the Ameri- can Kennel Club has been abused and is being used as a tool for financial gain. The intention of this option was to enable breeders to eliminate dogs with inherited defects and diseases from the gene pool. There are examples in our breed of instances of high-quality dogs that were being held for bounty with Limited Registrations. Experienced breeders interceded on behalf of these clients, and the dogs became worthy exhibits and studs. How many worthy dogs have been eliminated from the gene pool this way? The hard work, dedication, and expense of breeding certainly is a limiting factor in itself. Requiring steriliza- tion and using Limited Registration in an unethical way has been a big factor in the decline of our numbers. These measures in no way guarantee that a dog won't end up in careless hands. Other registries exist and all that an uneth- ical person would need is the AKC number of the sire and dam and they are in business, even if the AKC registration is limited or withheld pending proof of sterilization. If we wish to halt the population decline of the Bedlington Ter- rier, we need to respect the parameters of AKC registration for the sake of our declining breed. “If breeders don’t have a high comfort level with a puppy client, they should move on and find
Ch. Capstone Clearly Carillon
someone who better fits their
Ch. Bluenote Life's A Beach
criteria, and leave it up to the owner as to whether or not to sterilize the dog.”
SHOWSIGHT MAGAZINE, APRIL 2022 | 195
Powered by FlippingBook