Centre Stage

"Breed promotion is not okay” & “Breed education is OK via Approved Venues”

I combined the two points because they were getting mixed together in my rant.

Breed promotion gets the breed exposure which allows people to learn about the dogs – leading to Breed Education. Case in point – when I was approached by an ad firm to use Ridgebacks in the upcoming Bayer campaign I could have stood on snotty principle and said “(Gasp!) We don’t want our breed promoted on a national brochure”. But no – I took pride in the request to show off beautiful, well bred Ridgebacks. Dear oh dear … skewer me sideways.

There are several avenues to promote dog breeds: club websites, purebred dog magazines, pet expos, dog shows, your own website, books, breeder classifieds on various dog related websites. These are deemed acceptable mediums to advertise because they are ‘dog world’ specific. Thus people involved in dogs, people who ‘get’ you and your obsession, will see your ads and assume you are a reputable breeder.

There is a fear that if you promote your breed anywhere other than the aforementioned mediums you will attract the attention of people who you do NOT want owning your breed. This assumes that the people you do not want owning your dogs don’t use the internet, buy magazines, go to shows, expos, or buy books. There is a broad based assumption that the ONLY people who use Kijiji etc are those you don’t want owning one of your puppies. No faulty logic there.

The number of Rescues in the US is a sad commentary on the state of the breed there but there is no one reason to point to – certainly not breed promotion. The good breeders in the US are breeding good dogs and finding good homes. That has been and always will be the case. There are *known* millers in the US which Rescue and other reputable breeders are trying to stop. It has little to nothing to do with how much or little promotion the breed has received.

Popularity is a double edged sword – you get an influx of interest in the breed which can be good (new people showing, new people learning, new people bringing money to the club and shows) but you also get people breeding with the wrong intentions or out of ignorance. Those people exist and all our tut-tutting won’t stop them – all we can do is BETTER than them and take their business. But we aren’t are we? We are being run over by them because of our attitude. Of course so-called reputable breeders aren’t always completely ethical but your chances are better than good.

I guess I want to promote my breed to the world because well dammit … I’m PROUD of them. I take pride in their temperaments and their ability to live with cats, love everyone they meet, manage strange situations well, and get along with other dogs. I am proud of the lack of health concerns they, their parents, and their parent’s parents have. I love that they are champions and are out of and by champions in a direct line back 50 plus years.

I guess this blog is a form of breed promotion. Gasp. Swoon. I tell all about them … good … bad … angelic … poop machines … doggy destructo. I don’t sugar coat them. No one is really educated about something if all they see is butterflies and rainbows which is all BYBs and millers offer in the way of information. If I’m promoting a breed it’s not like I’m having a movie premiere and only saying how great the movie is … I’m selling the bad before the good and if the bad is something you can live with, well, then welcome to the good.

Promoting the breed is not a sin. Rhodesian Ridgebacks are not the Holy Grail. It is not necessary for breeders to create a labyrinth of clues so that only the truly worthy can find a breeder and be graced with a puppy.

Which leads me straight to the part where I eviscerate myself.