Joined
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301 Posts
It really is.
My current Dobe, Bonnie, started doing some SAR training months ago. Unfortunately she didn't work out. She was from a BYB, and came with some rather serious anxiety issues. I worked on her for a few months and thought she was getting better, but it turned out, she was only better when I was around, and handler bias is not allowed in our SAR program. This is entirely my fault, I failed my dog, but being as she was the first dog who's ever been my sole responsibility, I suppose I should have known that I would make mistakes.
I'd really like to get another Doberman in the future and give SAR work another try, but finding a breeder who has proven dogs, health tests, is willing to establish a working relationship, and has a decent set of morals isn't as easy as I thought that it would be. Now I'm not in the market at present- I'm not really financially able to take another dog at the time and I'd like Bonnie to be at least well into her 2nd year of life before I get another, but I've always been the type to plan ahead. Besides, I want to have a relationship with my breeder, not just buy a pup and call that the end of it. I want a breeder who's willing to help me learn about the bloodlines they work with and the accomplishments their dogs have made, because generally when I see a dog's full list of titles all I see is a scrambled-up alphabet, and I'd like to learn more.
I was wondering if anyone had some suggestions for breeders that fit that criteria (breeding proven working dogs, health tests, and is interested in maintaining contact with puppy buyers). I have time to look so I'm not rushed, and I have seen three or four promising looking breeders, but it seems like I'm wading through an ocean of BYBs and show breeders (not that I'm comparing the two). It'd be great if someone could point me to breeders like that in the southeast, but for a good pup I'd be more than willing to ship (within North America).
My current Dobe, Bonnie, started doing some SAR training months ago. Unfortunately she didn't work out. She was from a BYB, and came with some rather serious anxiety issues. I worked on her for a few months and thought she was getting better, but it turned out, she was only better when I was around, and handler bias is not allowed in our SAR program. This is entirely my fault, I failed my dog, but being as she was the first dog who's ever been my sole responsibility, I suppose I should have known that I would make mistakes.
I'd really like to get another Doberman in the future and give SAR work another try, but finding a breeder who has proven dogs, health tests, is willing to establish a working relationship, and has a decent set of morals isn't as easy as I thought that it would be. Now I'm not in the market at present- I'm not really financially able to take another dog at the time and I'd like Bonnie to be at least well into her 2nd year of life before I get another, but I've always been the type to plan ahead. Besides, I want to have a relationship with my breeder, not just buy a pup and call that the end of it. I want a breeder who's willing to help me learn about the bloodlines they work with and the accomplishments their dogs have made, because generally when I see a dog's full list of titles all I see is a scrambled-up alphabet, and I'd like to learn more.
I was wondering if anyone had some suggestions for breeders that fit that criteria (breeding proven working dogs, health tests, and is interested in maintaining contact with puppy buyers). I have time to look so I'm not rushed, and I have seen three or four promising looking breeders, but it seems like I'm wading through an ocean of BYBs and show breeders (not that I'm comparing the two). It'd be great if someone could point me to breeders like that in the southeast, but for a good pup I'd be more than willing to ship (within North America).