The way I interpreted Pat's comment about breeders who "force" an owner to finish the CH on a "show quality" pup was like this... not sure if this was what she meant or not:
Oftentimes, the breeder has a pup or two left s/he thinks are "nice" and wants to see these pups in a show home. In the not-so-distant past, Bernese were hard to find. So a person who really wanted "just-a-pet" might get roped into a "show pup" just to get a puppy from decent lines, soon... This person has NO intention of breeding, just wants a nice dog. They don't really know what is involved, so they agree to show the dog... then regret it. About 7 years ago, I was having a hard time deciding which girl pup to keep - both were nice. I kept both a while - until about 14 weeks - and then knew who I was keeping... the other girl was also nice. A wonderful couple, new to Bernese, wanted the one I was letting go. I talked to them about co-ownership, showing, etc. - clearly they just wanted a pet and so she was sold as a pet on spay/neuter contract. She is a beautiful dog. After she was spayed, her owners expressed regret about her "lost" show career and it was very simple - I assured them their dog wasn't losing any sleep over it!! She ended up with a unilateral grade 1 elbow so I was so glad that she was not placed as a breeding prospect (but to answer Darcy's topic, I do not think it is a crime to carefully and cautiously breed - and then *follow-up* on this breeding - a bitch with Grade 1 ED). Now, Sandy's example seemed to focus on ensuring that a "show prospect" is finished BEFORE BEING BRED and yes, I agree with Sandy on that. If someone wants to buy a breeding dog from Sandy, and she wants it to be finished before it is bred, I totally support her view on this. Does this make sense? I am not sure I really am getting the point across but I tried! I agree with both of these ladies which may be confusing. Sharon Montville - Firstrax - Colorado __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Web Hosting - Let the expert host your site http://webhosting.yahoo.com
