Janine, As usual this post is well thought out and very intellegent <g>. Thank you for your opinion. Jo Ann Carvill
Charlotte Sims Richmond, Va [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: <<Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah! No, most of us "tunnel visioners" don't do these things, what we do is live with the results (sometimes, disastrous) from some breeders inept and uncaring decisions.>> Well if this is the maturity & intelligence level of the debate then I'm not surprised that this issue has never been resolved. As the majority of breeders that I know primarily breed firstly for themselves are you suggesting that they do not live with the results of their breeding decisions. <<Not a single pet owner has made light of the heartache breeders go through on a regular basis,>> Yes you did!!! What else was the Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah comment but I have yet to hear a breeder say, "Thank you for making sure Little Scooter got the surgery he needed for his knees. Thank you for taking such good, loving care of Fluffy when she went into heart failure at seven years old." Well you have obviously had a bad experience with your breeder. I take full responsibility for all the puppies that I produce I request that if for any reason they can no longer keep little Fluffy that in all cases she comes back to me and if any of the above scenarios occurred I would definitely do anything in my power to ease the burden. That's also why a lot of my puppies come back when their owners go on vacation and stay (free of charge by the way) and why I have people coming back for repeat puppies. How many pet owner references would you like to see!!!! But more to the point the vast majority of breeders feel the same way. Are you punishing the good 99% for the bad 1%? <<I am and will always be eternally grateful to each and every breeder who fully test, and does the very best job they can to breed the healthiest possible Cavaliers.>> I don't know where the total focus on testing has come from. Testing in isolation means nothing. It is how those test results are applied that is important. So you can applaud as many breeders that test as you like, but the ones that you should be applauding are the ones who test for the issues that are affecting Cavaliers but who breed beautiful typey long lived, healthy in body and mind Cavaliers. If all you want is a healthy dog for goodness sake go to the pound and get one from there. << But, don't bellyache to me about what a hard life you have. You've chosen to undertake the breeding of a living, breathing creature, just as I've made the decision to make a home for the result of those breedings.>> I wouldn't dream of bellyaching to you, I don't remember anything in my initial post about having a hard life. I was trying to describe how a breeder suffers heartache, anxiety, stress etc. As it seemed from the comments in some of the posts that it is only the pet owners who have to bear this burden and this is simply not true. Do you think because we show and or breed Cavaliers that we don't love them as much as you love your Cavalier? Yes I do have litters, sometimes none, normally one and very occasionally two in a year and I will make the decisions that relate to those breedings to the very best of my ability. When I was a teenager and I got my first Cavalier I decided then that I was going to share my life with Cavaliers and that I was going to make a difference by bettering the breed to the best of my ability. I consider it a partnership, and as such,I expect to help make decisions about the direction my beloved Cavalierstake. At this juncture, the only way I know to do that is through the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel Club, USA. The problem with this rationale is that ultimately the decision will be made by the breeders and not by pet owners. At the end of the day the breeders will decide which club/registry they will be members of and use. As breeders are faced more often with having to disregard a stud dog that they really want to use for "all the right reasons" just because it is registered with the wrong body and they are breaching a code of ethics to use him then their hands will be forced. The bottom line of course is that without breeders there won't be any Cavaliers, full stop. My final word on this matter and I do mean final as I will now go back to using my delete button until this thread is over is that those people who do genuinely love the breed need work proactively. Don't make mandates that will never work because the variables are too great but instead spend your time educating, volunteering, supporting don't take pot shots at breeders just because they don't, won't do things exactly how you want them to be done. Until you have walked in their shoes you really can't comment. Janine King Nidra Cavaliers Invercargill, New Zealand [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.nidracavaliers.com ========================================================= "Magic Commands": to stop receiving mail for awhile, click here and send the email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?body=SET%20CKCS-L%20NOMAIL to start it up gain click here: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?body=SET%20CKCS-L%20MAIL E-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] for assistance. Search the Archives... http://apple.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ckcs-l.html All e-mail sent through CKCS-L is Copyright 2002 by its original author.
