My Sincerest Apologies - Page 1

My Sincerest Apologies

To ALL that I have offended. This was never, never my intention. Since I began reading posts on various boards, I have been trying my best to understand and learn. I have seen other newbies do this and it never seemed wrong, it was never shown to be a negative thing. I was never given the impression that this was in bad taste. I too am a newbie and have been trying so hard to do everything right. I guess I was following the wrong leader. I am sorry. I was so excited at the time of posting because after 1 year of hard work I thought I had found such wonderful kennels and the people seemed so nice. I was hoping that people could help me pick one.

I have seen this done hundreds of times, people helping people choose a kennel. Obviously I am not cut out for this. I will leave and never bother anyone again. I do hope that you will not hate me. I do hope that you can forgive me. Again, my sincerest apologies to you, I meant no harm and I do wish all of you the very best.

Penny

Penny- I don't think there wasn't any harm done to apologize for anything.  This site IS for folks to learn, gather information, get referrals but it is up to YOU to determine if what is offered to you is what you are looking for ahead of time.

Typically when one asks for a kennel recommendation the buyer posts specifically what they are looking for ie: working or show line, sport, family, PP...., any particular bloodlines you prefer ect.  Then folks on this board will direct you to someone they've either done business with first hand or know someone personally who's been a satisfied customer.

Where people ( in this case breeders) can get upset or more like irritated is with what I call the "window shopper", the person who they spend several hours with communicating, explaining, educating, sending videos, pictures ect...and that person really isn't looking to buy right now but just gathering info for if and when they are ready only to go buy somewhere else in the end anyways. In that case I'd suggest you come to a message board to gather your info, ask your questions THEN when you are really ready to make a purchase you narrow down your kennel and contact them.  Once you decide what you want and who you want to do business with you can always wait for the next litter if they do not have what you want at the time.

I'm not a breeder, but I am a business woman and the one thing I hate most is for someone to waste my time "window shopping"  when I could be assisting perhaps a former client who is and will be ready to do business.  Their time is valuable.  I'm not implying you should be an impulse buyer by no means, it's good you're trying to take your time in hopes you make the right choice, it's not only an investment of money but also many years of your time with your added addition BUT try to keep in mind some of the kennels do this as their livlihood and not a "hobby breeder" who has all the time in the world to chit chat about dogs.  Being a newbie like myself can get frustrating sometimes but if you are willing to learn even when it's not what you want to hear then the process of learning will be less painful. lol  Good luck to you.

When you breed and sell dogs, answering newbie questions just goes with the territory. I suspect all the important breeders  who are now so adamant about not having their time wasted by "stupid questions" were once newbies themselves with their own stupid questions.  I bred my first litter in 73, asked stupid questions for 6 years before I bred that litter and have also had my share of newbies and window shopping. Yes, most times it is a waste of time and goes nowhere. However every now and then it isn't a waste of time and a great dog owner is found.

Newbies don't know the right questions to ask, they are new to the breed and often to the dog world as well.  They don't understand proper GSD etiquette, they only want  help finding a good dog. After all the bad press this breed gets almost every day, I think breeders are lucky that people still want a GSD and don't go to another breed with a better reputation.

If a breeder doesn't want to mentor a newbie, then maybe they should not offer dogs for sale to anyone other than a seasoned GSD owner and that should be stated up front  - sorry, I only sell dogs to those who have owned a GSD in the past.

My advice to a newbie from now on is going to be - if you want a companion dog and have no plans to breed it, then log on to Petfinder.com Don't buy from a breeder as long as there are unwanted dogs being killed every day. I will also take my own advise if I want another dog in the future.

tezz, there is NO reason that you should have to even apologize on this board or any other board for anything!!!!  I'm sorry that these people make you feel that you need to.  Things will never change on this board!  Same people, same shit!  Try out a few new boards that actually have very nice people on them that don't bash anyone for the type of shepherd that they own, and don't purposely try to make someone look stupid just to make them look good themselves!  This is a addy for our newest forum.  Check it out, you won't be disappointed!   http://lcgsd.proboards98.com 

Penny is not window shopping.  She is sincere in her quest and was ready to make a commitment.  Her offense was to violate the common decency of not publishing private correspondence for the entire world to see.  It makes no difference that the content of what she published is 100% above board on my part.   What matters is the underlying principle.  Newbie to the GSD world, or not, good manners and simple common sense behavior still count to some of us.  Sadly, I PM'd Penny to say that all future communication with me regarding a pup must take place in person (like, actually TALK to each other via telephone!).  Instead, she chose--again--to write to an international forum. 

Talk less (especially on the internet), listen more.  Two ears, one mouth--for a reason.

Gayle Kirkwood