IF YOU BREED IT, THEY WILL COME PRESERVATION BREEDERS ARE MATCHMAKERS TOO by Dan Sayers
players are in the right positions can a World Series win be considered. So it is with breeding dogs. For a breeder to achieve his or her goals, the right “players” need to be in place. Pheno- type and pedigrees must be consid- ered, so the right dog must be taken to the right bitch. For the conformation ring, selection means putting togeth- er the right dog with the right handler, entering the right shows under the right judges and, if needed, putting together the right backing. But for the vast majority of puppies, the most im- portant part of the selection process is matching the right person for each pup. Of course, this task is easier said than done. Though breeders do get to know each pup pretty well by eight weeks, puppy buyers are often com- plete strangers. Putting together a pennant-winning baseball team can be far easier. Somuch has beenwritten lately about the purebred dog breeder as preserva- tionist, but the men and women who endeavor to prevent the extinction of our recognized breeds are also matchmakers. Through a leap of faith, they consciously make the decision to
bring puppies into the world in the be- lief that each one will find its forever home. In this way, dog breeders are not unlike baseball coaches—or even marriage brokers. The breeder hopes to connect the right pup with the right person, bestowing blessings on the newly united with both a parent’s pride and a pastor’s faith. Despite all the attention placed these days on the coefficient of inbreeding (COI), the importance of health test results and adherence to the standards, breeding dogs is really about making connec- tions with people. And just like Kevin Costner’s character in the blockbust- er film, a breeder’s passion frequently connects him or her with like-minded people from the past, present and into the future. The vast majority of conscientious purebred dog breeders depend on the dog-loving public to help preserve our breeds. (Most breeders simply can’t provide proper housing and social- ization for every pup produced.) In some ways, the task of finding homes is easier today than ever before. Gone are the days when breeders placed an ad in the Sunday classifieds with
B reeding purebred dogs in the digi- tal age is like building a baseball diamond in a corn field. To your neighbors, it probably doesn’t make much sense. But to preserva- tion-minded dog lovers, a whelping box is no different from the batter’s box featured in the 1989 film Field of Dreams: If you build (or breed) it, they will come. Or at least you hope they’ll come. In Major League Baseball, the race for the pennant begins with the se- lection of teams. Only when the right
“THROUGH A LEAP OF FAITH, THEY CONSCIOUSLY MAKE THE DECISION TO BRING PUPPIES INTO THE WORLD IN the belief that each one will find its forever home.” 56 • T op N otch T oys , J uly 2019
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