"Opinion .
"Just" a pet ..

Written for the Dalmatian Club Newsletter.

Anyone who peruses facebook pet pages, will often see posts from people
looking for an x, y or z type of dog but they're "just looking for a pet".

Many times I have had emails from people looking for a Dalmatian puppy - who

"just want a pet". The inference being that pets will be much cheaper than a
Show prospect or a "really promising" puppy, and in some cases they are. But
I want to challenge this perception that "mere pets" are somehow less worthy
or less valuable than their relatives who go on to become Show and
performance Champions.

I remember having an argument with a farmer friend years ago about the
relative merit of "working dogs" as opposed to "town dogs" (his term). I

don't think I was able to persuade him, but my point of view was - and still
is - that being someone's much loved companion, best mate, family member is
every bit as important a job as bringing in the sheep (or cows etc).

These days when pedigree, purebred dogs and their breeders are constantly
under attack and under scrutiny for producing puppies who are "inbred" and
"unhealthy", "suffering from inherited diseases and conditions" and somehow
not as good as cross-bred puppies - it is more important than ever that we
breeders are breeding healthy, strong, well-constructed puppies with sound
temperaments.

I once went to a breed lecture given by a well-known Gundog breeder and
judge and she made the comment that "Pet people deserved good dogs too". I
thought "Yes! Indeed they do!" But how often do we think of it in those
simple terms?

If we are honest, most puppies from most litters of most breeders are
destined to be pets. As a very small scale breeder, whose dogs have never
set the show world on fire - I know that most of my puppies are going to go
to people who want a spotty mate or family member. I think this is a very
important job

Dogs NSW is always bemoaning the fact that there seems to be a huge demand
for so-called "designer dogs" (aka X-breeds or mutts). There are many
reasons for this but you know what? As a Puppy Preschool teacher I get to
see lots of puppies - of all shapes and sizes, breeds and x-breeds and some
(by no means all) of these cross-bred puppies are just delightful. They have
been bred to fill a demand for "nice", healthy, happy, trainable family
companions. Of course some of these breed mixes are disastrous; and not all
breeders are scrupulous (not the time or the article to go into a tirade
about the despicable Puppy factories grrr!), but as I said - some of these
puppies are delightful.
I think purebred dog breeders have "dropped the ball" and helped support
this growth of the "hole in the market" by not regarding the breeding of Pet
dogs as a worthy pursuit.
We owe it to our breed, we owe it to our future and we owe it to the people
who come to us for "Just a pet" to take this job of providing puppies for
pet people, very seriously,. We owe it to our breed, our future and the
puppies we produce to try our very best to produce sound, healthy puppies
with good temperaments and as free as possible from inherited health
problems - as family members, best mates and companions for future
generations of Spotlovers."

But the quest to produce a better specimen of the breed for the showring,
and a sound healthy pet puppy SHOULD NOT be mutually exclusive! I am not
advocating breeding "pet" puppies from inferior specimens of a breed and
producing mediocrity. IMO *ALL* breeders should be striving to breed strong,
healthy, sound (in temperament and structure) trainable puppies that are all
capable of being good companions first and some (hopefully) will possess the
necessary qualities to be Show dogs and future breeding dogs ... and yes I
still believe in Santa Claus ;-) But really it shouldn't be that hard ;-)

Suzy
The first rule of Dog Training is to be smarter than the dog - which is why
some breeds are harder to train than others.