I have just read this on another Whippet Group page. The person that wrote it is not a member of WAS (yet) I have asked their permission to copy and paste it and I think that its worth a read. I’ve been thinking for a while about people’s reactions to what are effectively crossbreds or unregistered “purebred” dogs in dog breed appreciation groups. The responses seem to go along one of these lines: • The dog is obviously crossbred. It has no place here. • Nice dog, but it’s not purebred. • Lighten up, they are all dogs and every purebred dog came from mutts. I can see the validity of each of those positions but WHY does the breeding of a dog matter so much to some of us? Let me explain my position. If you are, for example, a fancier of the Australian Duck Hound you’ll be interested in guarding the reputation of that breed. Dogs crossed with the ADH or that are not pedigreed ADHs cash in on the reputation of the breed and the work put in over decades by breeders and enthusiasts. Dogs bred by people with no genuine appreciation for breed type or temperament and sold to people who also don’t “get” the breed and its requirements, detract from the breed’s reputation. In Whippets, where soundness, moderation and temperament are important breed features (as they are in all breeds) dogs that are none of those things reflect poorly on the breed. So for me, when you ask me to comment on your “Australian Duckhound” I’ll be polite. I’ll resist the urge to tell you that I don’t think your dog is purebred if I think that is the case. I’ll be quiet when you complain about characteristics in your pup that you should have been informed about before you got one and I’ll cringe when your dog displays temperament or behaviour that is neither typical or desirable in the breed. And quietly I’ll despair a little for the future of the breed in the hands of people who neither seem to know nor care about those defining and desirable breed features before breeding and selling dogs to people who do not understand what they are buying.
Posted on: Wed, 01 Oct 2014 08:52:12 +0000