WELCOME BIEWER TERRIERS TO THE TOY GROUP 2021!
THE VALUE OF A MENTOR
By Debarah Billings
A fter falling in love with this breed, I started my journey with the Biewer Terrier in 2009. At that time the breed was considered a “Rare Breed.” How- ever, we were allowed to show within a few venues that had accepted them. My goal was to learn everything pos- sible about breeding for improvement of structure, health and longevity in this beautiful breed. This was defi- nitely a huge undertaking as I had never bred or shown any breed. Re- gardless, I was determined! Now to find that perfect puppy. My breeder mentor advised me to be patient
as breeders cannot guarantee how a 12-week-old puppy will mature. How does that work out for such a new passion? After contacting the few breeders in our country, I was able to get on a waitlist. I could hardly wait to receive this special puppy! After receiving her, the first task was to find a conformation class, for which I showed up with my Biewer Terrier puppy in a harness and lead. You can imagine the look on my instructor’s face! I placed my puppy on the table, prepared for her initial examination, and the instructor told me, “Lovely
puppy, but the first thing we need to do is to get rid of this contraption!” I quickly realized I needed more than a breeder mentor! I found by taking my Biewer Ter- rier puppy to weekly conformation classes, I had the best opportunity to introduce this puppy to the rest of the world. The instructors were kind and gave me advice, cheering me on in or- der to boost my confidence as well as the puppy’s! You can see that I had a lot of work ahead of me if I were to have a chance of making a difference for the breed.
“I found by taking my Biewer Terrier puppy to weekly conformation classes, I had the best opportunity to introduce this puppy to the rest of the world.”
T op N otch T oys , J anuary 2021 • 49
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