The “Real” World

By Pilar Kuhn

My world away from dog showing is a complex one. Most frequently I navigate as “production staff” or “talent” for large-scale events for various companies and lately these types of jobs have kept me quite busy. While thankful for the income, I’m exceptionally thankful for the opportunity to keep my non-dog show friends apprised of what’s happening in our world of dog shows, breeding, as well as animal rights activist groups campaigns against us.

Last fall when we had our Scottie litter, I was actually working an event in Las Vegas. My husband called me at 3 am to inform me our bitch was in labor and I pulled up our Dropcam to watch her remotely while he watched over her in person. I kept the Dropcam site up and running on my laptop the remainder of the event and my colleagues stopped by regularly to marvel at life and Mother Nature. They knew we had planned this breeding for years and were genuinely excited for us. No one condemned us for breeding a litter of purebred Scotties. We were not “bad, evil breeders” like animal rights activists want the general public to believe. And my “normal” colleagues saw firsthand why those ads are dishonest.

During lunch at a recent event, a colleague asked if I could explain about pedigrees, what we look for, how to read and understand them, and what exactly is “line breeding”. Six people all leaned in to listen to the response. They were intrigued to hear that we look at eight generations of a potential pedigree to determine what dogs’ genetics may carry forward and have more genetic influence. I paused at one point and apologized for getting so detailed, but they all said they were fascinated and truly never realized that breeders can go through such painstaking research in advance.

At another meal break, a colleague shared with me that she just got a Rhodesian Ridgeback puppy and spent quite a bit of time interviewing various breeders. She had lost her twelve year-old Ridgeback during the past year and felt like she had to apologize to her friends when she told them she wanted to buy another one instead of getting a shelter dog. She knew why she liked the Ridgebacks, why they were the breed for her, and why she wanted another one. She doesn’t understand why people think buying a particular breed knowing what you’re getting is such a bad thing, but she said the castigation she received from “Adopt Don’t Shop” zealots was appalling. I was grateful to hear her point of view. She informed yet another group of “normal” people why she supports purebred dogs as a pet owner.

I find I answer some general questions on a regular basis. What do we feed our dogs and why? What do we do with our dogs when out of town? How long does it take to groom a Bouvier versus a Scottie and who grooms them? How do we find puppy buyers and what makes a good home for one of our puppies? Do we offer any sort of guarantees? Word spreads around. They talk to other friends and family. I consider this a grassroots effort to educate the general public about dog ownership and ethical breeding practices.

In this particular work environment, my co-workers know how important our dogs are to my husband and me and how we have our dogs as a part of our lives. They gain insight into many of us in the dog fancy who live the same way. Most of us have “normal jobs”. We love our dogs. We breed to carry on good, healthy genetics. We interview potential buyers.

We don’t do it for the money. We lose money on a regular basis. We do it for the love of our breeds.

I encourage all of us to consider our “non-dog show” friends as part of our grassroots efforts to combat the animal rights activists and their ongoing campaign against ethical breeders. We have to take charge of our own fancy. We can turn this train around a conversation at a time.

http://www.caninehealthfoundation.org/

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Posted by admin on May 15 2013. Filed under Current Articles, Featured. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.