Hi, again, Robin,
I've spent a great deal of time at that site, now and while I think it
is a super effort I am a bit dismayed at the continual inference that
one *cannot* be a good or reputable breeder if one doesn't feed BARF. I
really would like to have a pointer to that site on my own webpage, but
I don't agree with that particular sentiment. I have written the author
the following letter:
************Hello, Jane,
I am very impressed with your enormous effort in producing the
site to
educate those who wish to breed dogs. It is a wonderful snapshot of the
difficulties, perils, heartbreak and financial hardship through which
good breeders often go. I applaud your work and commitment to our
canine relatives as well as to the humans who love them.
I have a question for you, however. Throughout the scenarios
you seem
to indicate that the only diet which can be fed by reputable breeders is
a BARF diet. While I would desparately like to use your site as a
reference for others who ask me about breeding, I feel that this is not
a completely accurate picture. There are some of us who home cook for
our dogs or use foods with human grade ingredients and work extremely
hard on understanding the NRC (and/or Waltham Center) guidelines and
have very healthy dogs. I'm a bit confused at the inference that we
cannot be good breeders if we don't use BARF. I understand your point
in conveying that nutrition is an art and a science and that the
convenient kibble is not usually the best thing for any dog. However, I
do think it muddies the waters when it comes to relating good breeding
with BARF-only diets.
Is it possible that you would consider a modified version of
your
breeding scenario which places nutrition as a high level
concern/cost/effort but doesn't require the continual insistance on BARF
as the only choice?
I admire those who have the commitment to the BARF diet, but for some of
us it truly is not an option. In my case, I cannot have a lot of
bacteria from raw food on my dogs who live in our home with my son who
has a G.I. disorder which would be disasterously effected by additional
bacteria. There are as many reasons not to use BARF as there are to use
it; and much to be learned from the BARF diet which can be applied to
other diets as well.
Please consider this request as I think your work is extremely
important. It is especially important to those of us in the newly
popular breeds which seem to be lucrative enterprises to the newly
excited owner of a "darling and fabulous" pup who "definitely should be
bred". In our breed we have MVD, Retinal displasia, HD, luxating
patellas and a myarid heritable diseases which must be considered (and
tested for) prior to even considering breeding even the most typey
specimen.
I hope that you will take this in the spirit in which it is intended; a
high compliment on your work and a request to tailor it for those of us
who work just as hard on nutrition but from a different perspective.
Thanks again for a wonderful job.
***********
Because I think that the work that went into this site is very valuable,
would be difficult to duplicate (and possibly infringing), it would be
super if others who felt this way would write to her as well so that we
could reference the site as the valuable tool it is without the
discomfort of feeling that our feeding choices were considered wrong.
Best,
Suze
"Susan A. Schlenger" wrote:
>
> Hi, Robin,
> Indeed this site is a great effort. I see that there is an associated
> list called "dogmentor" for novices and those experts who wish to teach
> them. It looks as if the mission of the list is to help those who truly
> wish to learn dog breeding or talk those who shouldn't be breeding out
> of attempting to breed. What a concept!
>
> Suze
>
> Robin McLeod wrote:
> >
> > I belong to a showdogs email list, and while visiting
> > the site of another listmember, I found a link to this
> > absolutely FABULOUS site. Please do check it out!
> >
> > http://www.geocities.com/learntobreed/
> >
> > Robin McLeod (& Teddy who thinks he's a hound!)
> > Minnesota
> >
> > __________________________________________________
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> --
> Suze at Llawen Cavaliers
> "...I have seen that in any great undertaking it is not enough for a man
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Suze at Llawen Cavaliers
"...I have seen that in any great undertaking it is not enough for a man
to depend simply upon himself." -Isna Ia-wica
"Thought comes before speech" Luther Standing Bear
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