I hear a lot of show breeders saying they won't sell to show homes, I think the worry is that these other pups will do well and people will say 'you've kept the wrong one', now the wrong one to whom and for what? Are these breeders worried that the others in the ring from the litter will do better than theirs? I feel that way of thinking is not a good one, as brainless has said it should be, be proud of what you have produced and how well your breeding is doing, rather than be jealous/envious of what you are not in the ring!!!

Just out of interest how many of you people who breed have been told you've kept the wrong pup for various of reasons? How did it make you feel when hearing this? Did you think you'd do something different for your next litter?  

>Are these breeders worried that the others in the ring from the litter will do better than theirs?

That's exactly what they're worried about. I think it's daft - they still get the glory of having bred a winner, without the money and time involved getting to shows! :-p

> You'll notice the supreme Champion is in brackets, it was a title wrongly attributed by Pedigree Pet Foods, and the media, to the Best In show winner at Crufts.

Exactly by using the brackets, it's quite clear this very well known and respected Cocker breeder knows full well what title her wonderful dog Albert actually won but she knows that members of the public will be more familar with the term "supreme champion" even if this is not actually the accurate term.

"You'll notice the supreme Champion is in brackets, it was a title wrongly attributed by Pedigree Pet Foods, and the media, to the Best In show winner at Crufts.

It is totally incorrect as a dog could win BIS at Crufts winning it's first CC, and therefore not be a champion, or never become one (less likely), especially if the owner chose to retire the dog after such a big win."

Very interesting to read this as the winners of the Crufts Dog and Bitch Obedience Championships automatically become Obedience Champions if they weren't already (and are automatically qualified for next year's Crufts by dint of winning this one).

> Very interesting to read this as the winners of the Crufts Dog and Bitch Obedience Championships automatically become Obedience Champions if they weren't already (and are automatically qualified for next year's Crufts by dint of winning this one).

Ah but to qualify for Crufts in Obedience your dog had to have won a ticket or be an Ob ch already.  so their crufts win counts for two tickets if they have just the one.

If only champions and CC winenrs competed in conformation there woudlb e very small entries, even fi Best of sex awards counted in Non CC breeds.

I think in my breed last year there were just 11 dog CC winners, and only One was not a champion at years end.  In bitches also 11 CC winners, of which 3 were not champions.

I'd have no problem selling to a show/breeder, I was elated when I read the first place critique the bitch from my first litter got at her first show,to see my affix in print for the first time was wonderful.

There are some breeders out there who want to keep all the awards for themselves,they forget that in the past someone took a chance and let them have a bitch to start their show/breeding life.

One thing I've been made aware of recently is people that won't sell a show puppy to a show home because they don't want them showing the puppy if it doesn't turn out as nicely as expected. By then they've sold the puppy so don't have much of a leg to stand on, surely? It's a risk I would take but others are very precious about their lines and how their name is perceived so don't want a puppy that isn't top notch running around the ring parading their affix.

This is a tricky one, as I can well understand the embarrassment of a less good one being shown from a successful kennel.  But surely everyone knows that no-one can produce all winners,a and from a breeders point of view I am as interested in how litter-mates, or a litter as a whole turn out when deciding on using a dog at stud.

Maybe the Kennel club should bring back the not eligible for exhibition endorsement as originally there were four.  The last was name unchangeable.

Surely if a pup didn't turn out to be show quality the owner isn't going to waste their time and money taking it to shows.

I too am surprised that a potential owner wouldn't know this. I went into my finding my pup with the expectation that the breeder would pick first, and also that the dam's breeder would pick second (in this scenario he also wanted a pup).

Another helpful thing can be that depending on your breed, where you actually plan to show your dog can matter so you may find a pup who is your favourite for his moderation is not someone else's type simply because he is too moderate for their own country, or too extreme, small, big, etc etc etc. This probably only happens in breeds with smaller litter outputs where the buyers will all tend to come from different countries....but it is helpful!

When 'my' litter (that which my pup is from) was born there was a pup of unusual colouring in it....this colour always excites people and i knew immediately that a lot of people would stop caring about the other pups and just want that one!! Cue a slew of emails and calls to the breeder offering craaaaaazy money for this pup....all down to colour. This to me is crazy, while we all can have a colour preference, picking based on it especially in a breed where colour doesn't matter is just a bit mad to me. Hence why I am ending up with a gorgeous pup with a fab temperament....in the last colour I would have willingly chose LOL.

If it's an owner that's new to showing and just wants to show for fun then they would do, especially if it's from a litter that was fairly consistent. It might not be pet qualify but with a nice looking pup they may never realise that it isn't quite up to scratch, and I can imagine the breeder may be embarrassed. Personally I wouldn't mind, it's the new owner's dog now and you can't stop them showing the pup, surely?

>Surely if a pup didn't turn out to be show quality the owner isn't going to waste their time and money taking it to shows.

You'd be surprised! I have reasonable but not outstanding dogs, but I love showing, so I still go to shows. The alternatives are giving up showing for 5 years until I can buy another dog, then hope that one is better quality, or getting rid of the ones that aren't brilliant quality and buying a puppy who might or might not be. Anyone that knows me knows getting rid of dogs isn't an option, I'm too softhearted! So I show the less good ones, and set my sights lower so I can be pleased with 2nd out of 3, or 3rd out of 5. But I do have a couple of friends who persist in showing dogs that really aren't show quality at all, they always get 4th out of 4 or 5th out of 6, then complain the judge is crooked. :-)