By Eilzabeth M. Jarrell

People who continuously achieve high success in their breeding programs over time share certain characteristics. They have a vision for their breed of choice. They are dedicated and persistent about breeding towards their vision. They are professionals. And they understand the business of dogs.

That these top tier, long time breeders love dogs is not to be questioned. However, they cannot permit themselves to become emotionally attached to every single puppy they produce or even to every adult they own. If they did, they could never sell them.

Most of them could earn far more income with far less effort in other endeavors. To understand that dogs are indeed a business for them is the first stop in understanding the serious dog show world.

These breeders have spent their lives studying dogs. They have routinely lost sleep whelping litters, caring for sick or injured dogs, and simply raising puppies assuming they are fortunate enough that their bitch actually produced a litter of healthy puppies. They routinely schedule their healthy breeding stock for various health clearances. They scour the world for suitable new breeding stock. They speak with other, equally knowledgeable breeders. They study pedigrees, movement, and breedings. Breeding dogs is an expensive proposition at best.

The very best dogs often have backers to finance their campaigns. Handlers, advertisements, and travel can lead to enormous expenses. Breeders must make these financial arrangements. To do so requires them to be sophisticated businessmen.

The quantity of dogs owned or bred is independent of whether or not these top tier breeders are businessmen. Some of them only stand a single stud dog and themselves own perhaps only two or three breedable bitches whom they breed once every few years. They are the diametric opposite to puppy mills. They are professionals who view their dogs as a business and conduct themselves appropriately, but they are also very much aware that their dogs have feelings too.

In short, these breeders devote their entire lives, and often a good deal of their personal finances, towards bettering their breed in accordance with their vision. Dogs consume all of their time. For some, breeding dogs is their sole livelihood. They are the consummate of dedicated professionals.

So it is only reasonable that these top tier breeders expect to be paid for at least some of their time and expenses. They view selling a dog as a business proposition. The problem lies with certain buyers who consider buying a dog to be an emotional proposition.

No one, not even the best breeder in the world, can absolutely guarantee that even the most promising show prospect at eight weeks will grow into the next Garden winner. The only thing a breeder can do is guarantee that the parents of the show prospect have passed the appropriate health checks. A breeder with a lifetime of breeding dogs behind him may have made an educated guess about what the puppy may become, but that is all he can promise. Most breeders will replace a puppy who does not pass the necessary health clearances at two years, but that is not what the puppy buyer may understand or want.

Not all puppy buyers understand what the breeder is offering. Rare is the litter composed entirely of future Best In Show winners. Many puppy buyers confuse the educated breeder’s opinion about how a show prospect might mature with a steadfast guarantee of how that show prospect will actually mature. Everyone dreams, but as regards an eight week-old puppy, all anyone can do is dream.

Two years down the line, the puppy buyer is emotionally conflicted. He loves his dog, but the dog clearly is not finishable. He then confronts the breeder with his angry and hurt emotions, accusing the breeder of breaking his promise. He is incorrect.

The breeder promised to sell a healthy, eight week-old puppy, whose parents had the appropriate health clearances, and who, in his educated opinion, might become a show dog. No reputable breeder can promise more than that.

When a long time breeder sells a puppy, he is indirectly also selling all the years of his vision. This includes all the years of his time spent getting to the point of even breeding the particular litter in which the puppy was born. Such is what a long time, successful breeder can offer. That is what the breeder sold and what the buyer purchased.

It is no wonder then that many top tier breeders are selling some of their best show prospects and even mature breeding stock abroad. Foreigners serious about show dogs tend to understand that show dogs are a business for these breeders. Further, countries on the euro are enjoying essentially a half price sale on the dollar. Foreigners will gladly pay top dollar for the opportunity to purchase these dogs.

Moreover, when someone asks a breeder his opinion or advice concerning a dog not purchased from him, the breeder should be paid, directly or indirectly with a gift, for his time. Time is a most precious commodity. Time spent discussing someone else’s problem puppy is time not spent furthering his vision and mitigating his expenses. The breeder is a professional running a successful business. As such, the breeder should be paid for his time especially with respect to dogs not sold by him. These top tier breeders are almost always more than willing to give of their time to anyone, but they should not be expected to do so.

Any other business is run this way. So, too, should be the business of dogs.