hi all,

I've recently read a v interesting thread titled "why should I not breed a litter"?

It was an interesting read and brought up a couple of questions for me, as a "new" person to the world of breeding/showing etc.

1. Lots of people mentioned that people need "extensive knowledge" of both the breed and dogs in general before they start breeding. Many mentioned getting a mentor. How does one go about getting a mentor? My breed club (since I'm not in the uk) is basically silent, has no online presence, has not responded to any calls or emails and the IKC has no answer for me when I question this. So what now?

2. How do I get "more involved" in showing? Obviously  there's none on now, but I've seen "online shows" happening and again, no response from my breed club or KC. I was involved in horse showing years ago before breaking my back, so I know how showing works, but no idea where to start with dogs.

Thanks

My mentor (and now amazing friend) is the breeder of my dog which you will find is the most common source of a mentor. Other than that, in normal times, I would be talking to people in your breed at shows, get to know them, find someone who's dogs and breeding practices you like and, assuming they are willing, pick their brains. Show your dog as much as possible and watch others being judged to learn about the breed standard.

Every breeder has been a novice once so for me, as long as you have shown that you are extremely interested and committed to the breed you chose, are breeding for the right reasons, i.e. to improve the breed and not just for money, have good foundation dogs and a good setup, and have that experienced mentor in place who is willing to answer any stupid question you may have (trust me I've asked loads), then you are ok to breed.

There are some hugely experienced people on here (much more experienced than me) who may well give you a different or more complex answer but for me that's the basics.

Unfortunately though, at the moment you just can't get more involved in showing. Online shows just don't count I'm afraid

Thank you for such a detailed response!

I suppose we will just need to wait and learn as much as we can meantime.

Yes my.mentors initially were the breeder of my bitch and the owner of her sire.

I thenbresearched 10 years worth of breed club publications and contacted breeders of dogs I admired, and as others have said breeders, exhibitors and judges of the breed.

Read everything you can on the breed.