QUOTE A good breeder will be extremely choosy in accepting prospective puppy buyers. A prospective owner should be equally choosy when selecting a breeder. A prospective owner can begin to evaluate a breeder’s expertise by noting whether she ranks the puppies’ mental well-being and physical health above their good looks. Assess several factors: whether your prospective puppy’s parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, and other relations live to ripe old age; and whether your prospective pup is already well socialized and well-trained. Dr Ian Dunbar BEFORE YOU GET YOUR PUPPY 2001
Who do we sell to? Seems like a silly topic to me, but I have recently noticed some posts on Facebook in various forums, so perhaps this is a question you would like an answer to from us!
I am happy to sell to any INDIVIDUAL living in FAMILY CIRCUMSTANCES who demonstrates a love and passion for the breed, and has NO intention of selling on or placing the dog in any home other than of this calibre … with the overriding proviso that if your dog shapes up to representing an individual as defined in the breed standard and true to the original breed, that has good health and robustness and longevity, and is of worthy genetic quality you undertake to CONSIDER to let those genes contribute to future generations ONLY by knowledge-based mating selection and if you have a substantial number of family homes ready for pups … commercial businesses and entities need not consider Clumbers nor our Clumbers..
We are NOT here to horde the genetics of this breed, we are here FOR the breed, we get to share in this breed’s fabulous history for a short segment of the breed’s life … it is our responsibility to improve structure, health, and fitness of the breed within the constraints of physical health and fitness, to adopt verified breeding recommendations, to screen for known, suspected, or likely health issues, to breed to ensure these are at least minimized in the population, and definitely not to increase such incidence, or produce dog’s that are affected to any degree that causes them pain or gross discomfort … and we have to do this with a small genepool and few breeders, but at least breeders from a diverse geographic background. BTW show wins are but ONE of MANY selection criteria, in fact show wins aren’t high on our selection criteria! Shows are valuable in that they give the breeder and owner a chance to see what an ‘outsider’ thinks of the dog and generally what they think of that dog with regard to general fitness and the breed standard. There is only one winner on the day, it does not mean there are not actually more than one exhibit worthy and justifiable of being the winner on that day.
As a pet only owner we are happy to sell to you if
- you are able and prepared to, and do keep the dog groomed out (that does not include clipping ‘it off’)
- you will seek and be able to cover all regular health treatments and unexpected veterinary costs
- you will offer your dog love and a variety of life enriching activities, always, including dog and people socialization ie the dog is part of your life
- you will have a good basic knowledge of the breed so you can share this information with anyone who asks
- you have a backup plan if for some reason you can’t keep the dog
- you haven’t lost a dog in the past from an accident that you really could have prevented, eg dog killed on the road because it ran out because a ‘tradie’ left something open, and if you have done nothing to make sure this can’t happen again
As an exhibitor, show or otherwise, we are happy to sell to you if
- all of the ‘pet only owner’ applies
- you honour and uphold the rules of the ANKC (or equivalent)
- you continue to respect the dog for his soul even if he doesn’t live up to your demands or expectations, or the judges fail you!
- you respect that to compete with a member of the breed is the number one goal and that winning is the bonus, not the ‘I will do it whatever it takes’ line
- you are polite and never caught in disruptive or rude behaviour towards other competitors or visitors
- you can find time after competing, or whenever, to answer questions, from whom ever!
As someone with a desire to breed from this purchase
- all of the above but also
- not to commit to breed until the dog is old enough to be assessed as an adult and is demonstrated to be worthy of consideration as a parent
- to select the mate with a mind to any defects known or suspect behind either party
- to find GOOD homes for any offspring
- not to horde bloodlines
- not to try to squeeze out other people interested in breeding, if they ‘undesirable’ take it up with the ANKC/state body or equivalent
