Hazyland Old English Sheepdogs
Celebrating all Bobtails since 2007
I only want a pet dog
The vast majority of people who contact me for a puppy
say these words to me - "I only want a pet dog, I don't
want to show. I'm not interested in all that"
And that is perfectly fine because at the end of the day I
am more concerned that my puppies go to good homes &
not necessarily show homes.
However, here are my reasons on why you should
absolutely buy your puppy from a show breeder.
The UK Kennel Club has what we call a Breed Standard
for every breed of dog (purebreds). This is basically the
description and blueprint of how your dog should be built,
how it should move, how it should behave and also any
distinguishing features or characteristics.
People who show their dogs are basically asking the
judges (experts in the breed) to assess their dog against
the Kennel Club Breed Standard. If the dog does
consistently well under many experts in the breed then
you can pretty much assume that you have a fairly good
specimen of the breed. If you do not do consistently well
then you should question as to whether the dog is good
enough.
Breeders who show are always striving to produce the
best puppies that they can to put in front of experts and
they use their knowledge of pedigrees, health results and
experience to try to produce better stock.
You should only ever breed from the best stock so if you
have stock that does not make the grade then it simply
shouldn't be bred from.
It is not a matter of being elitist or anything like that, it is a
matter of producing as close to the breed standard as
possible. To do otherwise is to be on the slippery slope to
ruining a breed.
People can very easily become 'Kennel Blind' and are
unable to objectively look at their dogs and assess its
faults. Hence the reason why they should be shown. If
they are not shown and assessed, by experts, against the
Breed Standard, how does the owner know whether they
have a good specimen or not?
So, getting back to puppies. If you go to a show breeder
who has used all their knowledge and expertise (and
probably that of others too) you are getting your puppy
from a litter who have all been potentially bred to show.
Of course, a show breeder cannot keep everything that
they breed and there are a lot of show worthy dogs who
are laid by the fireplace every night of the week. What
those owners do have though, as well as their pet dog, is
the knowledge that their puppy has been bred with care,
will have come from parents who have been thoroughly
*health tested and who have been well socialised prior to
going to their new homes.
So, knowing all this information, would you still want a
puppy from someone who doesn't show, who has little
knowledge of pedigrees and who does not health test their
breeding stock? No, me neither!!
*Health tests include - Hip Scoring, Elbow Scoring, BVA Eye testing for Hereditary Cataracts (yearly),
DNA testing for PCD, EIC, MDR1 and CA