Expert: Michele Gauthier - 2/12/2004

Question
Hi. I was just curious. My husband and I are looking at getting a Mastiff puppy from a wonderful breeder here in town. She also shows dog. My husband and I have never done that and were looking for a pet. However we fell in love with a different dog that we went to see. This dog is beautiful and has a great personality. He will most likely be a wonderful show dog. The breeder has now asked us if we would be interested she would sell us that one for the same price if we would allow her to show the dog. She said that would require a great deal of trust between us. We would of course pay for the vet apt., feeding the dog etc. and she would cover the costs of the dog show entry fees. I was just wondering if this is common for people to do? Do you have any good questions about this arrangment that I should ask this breeder? We might be interested in doing this but I want to get it all ironed out so it's very clear what is our responsiblity etc.
Thanks for any advice you might have :)
Mindy WAgner

Answer
Hi, sometimes these type of ownerships end in disaster and sometimes they work out. You need to be clear on who pays for what. For example if the dog acquires kennel cough from a dog show who will pay for that? If the dog didn't go to the show it wouldn't have gotten kennel cough so who is responsible? In my opinion I feel people should know a lot more about showing dogs and the reason people show before they go into arrangements like this. If the person doesn't understand showing dogs how is the person going to be aware of every problem that could pop up. And there is no way I could list all the problems here. I really feel strongly that before you decide to go into an arrangement with the breeder you need to learn a lot about showing/breeding dogs. For example are you prepared for your dog to be gone every weekend or for week after week while being shown. SOmetimes when these arrangements begin they look just fine but as time goes on people begin to see that they have gotten into something they knew little about. Many times it is not the breeder not telling you about all the problems that could come up but simply the breeder not being able to think of and list all the problems. It is kind of like letting someone take and show your child. Problems pop up. If you are not really excited about having your dog shown I wouldn't do it. This has to be something that you want really bad too. Michele