Don't throw her to the dogs!!!

[kdickerson]

Hello all! Hope everyone's holidays were nice and tips were good!

To make a long story short(er), a nice, but clueless client with a very sweet toy poodle comes to me and basically says "I know you show dogs...blah blah... want to breed GiGi... blah blah... can you point me towards a stud dog."

Since I've grown up around dog shows and breeders, I'm (like most of you probably are) VERY opinionated when it comes to ethics re: breeding.

I kind of falter because I don't want to lose a good client over my opinion, and end up saying that I don't know any poodle breeders, but that there is a big show coming up in January, and that if she asks (closer to the show) I can point her in the right direction.

Problem is, I don't want to just send her to a dog show, looking for a stud dog, because I know she will probably get treated ******. I've seen it happen. It would be, literally, throwing her to the dogs. As someone mentioned in a previous post, me (and the dog show people) would turn into "those people" and she would be offended and breed the dog anyways.

My opinions about breeding dogs were gained over time and through education. Before my experience with dogs, I didn't see a problem with someone breeding a litter or two. I know that this is an opportunity for education, and I need to know how to kindly, respectfully, SHOW her that this is a bad idea.

I would love to go to the dog show with her and educate her about showing and breeding dogs. I don't want her get all defensive because I'm "judgemental" and I really think she could probably be educated. A friend once tried to get me to "put in a good word" for him with a local breeder, but it all hit the fan when he found out that the breeder sold dogs with limited registrations. He wanted a papered dog so he could "breed it and recoup the money he spent on the dog!"

This was a super long post, but what I really want to know is how you approach this with your own clients? What has worked (and not worked)?

[odette]

i just give them the facts i.e. COST, risk of losing dam,health tests, the possibility that the pups won't sell or end up in ****** homes. paint a very bleak picture, one guy was he$% bent on breeding, knew what he was doing,blah-blah. he did sell all the pups, says he made money, oddly both dogs are now neutered!

[Boxerfan]

We kind of ran into this with a client of ours. She has a toy poodle that has a face like a shih tzu, horrible underbite and that was only part of her problems. She had a male at home and kept saying she thought they bred. Fortunately they didn't, I'm not sure how people can look at their dog and not see the serious flaws they have, especially obvious ones. We kind of kept our mouths shut, I'm not sure she cared about our opinions and thankfully she never got puppies out of her dog.

[SpikeyTheYorkie]

"Well, you can breed her to just about any dog you want, and they are everywhere. But FIRST, let's see how your dog stands up to the breed standard.

The Breed standard says...

...well, your dog has a low tail set...very low.

...The topline isn't straight, she has a roached back. She'd be lovely if she were a Bedlington terrier (lol)...

...Her eyes are round, rather than oval.

...Her cheeks are not flat, lack of chiseling under the eyes...

...She is much longer than she is tall, that would be a hard flaw to hide (or, her back legs are much longer than her front legs, making her topline rise in the rear.

...She has a beautiful coat, unfortunately parti poodles cannot be shown in AKC, so the color is undesirable.

...She is just uglier than sin. So sorry.

Ok, so that last one might not work, lol.

Tammy in Utah

[D'tails]

I just tell people I only know show breeders and can't think of anyone that deals with pets. Ideally taking her to a show and giving her the lectures is nice, but people refuse to listen. Also, showing is a large financial commitement with a very steep learning curve. 99.9% of people will have no interest in this at all. I would direct her to the national breed club website, hope they have educational articles there, and hope she reads them.

[k2p1e]

The problem is to them they don't give a rats behind about the standard...to them it means nothing.

I rather hit them with that they are braver then me...considering you put your dog's life at risk, cause there are risks with breeding...and you never know. I let them know I am way too overprotective of my babies...most don't think that far.