Show quality - Page 2

 well said Uber land..  more clear than mine LOL (being french i don't have a lot of vocabulary!) Thanks

 I do not sell "show quality" puppies, but I do discount puppies with "disqualifying faults", which is defined in our FCI breed standard (I don't concern myself with the AKC version). These puppies are sold to companion homes with limited AKC registration.

Bottom line: nobody really knows whether a particular puppy will become an AKC champion or an SV VA or V rated dog. The old time breeders used to say look for a pup who never goes through an awkward stage, who always seems coordinated, who moves well and has no obvious faults of structure or temperament. Of course, obvious faults like extra or missing teeth don't show until the pup finishes teething at 7 or 8 months, well past the time most people get a puppy. FWIW.

You can pay extra for a "show quality" pup, but it doesn't usually mean anything unfortunately. If you really want a show quality animal, save your money and buy a young grownup (so to speak) so you can tell what the structure and temperament are. And go to every show you can get to, stand ringside and listen for people to talk to. You have to have a good BS detector sometimes. Get a copy of the FCI standard and study, study, study. Go to Linda Shaw's shawlein site and look at what she has to say also.

I think you got a pup that didn't turn out to be show quality. You may have to chalk it up to experience and enjoy the dog for the love he can give you and the relationship you can have with him. Many, many dogs have some fault, including HD with no symptoms, that does not prevent them from being wonderful companions for many years.

In my opinion, all young pups are a crap shoot. Nothing can be guaranteed. As for HD and other genetic issues, those usually are not obvious in the very young so how could a breeder know if a pup will or will not have them? Isn't that why the good breeders offer guarantees? Isn't that why most buyers buy pups WITH guarantees? Its is because nothing can be guaranteed with dogs. We never really know what we have until the dog is mature or close to it. That is just my opinion.

 

Edited to add: I do not mean faults in this statement. Those are obvious and a pup with a fault should not be sold as show quality.

I breed a show litter for me, every litter that I have bred which is not many (my tattoo numbers are only upto 28 and all of my puppies are done) I intend to keep at least 1 puppy for showing. I do not breed just for the pet market.
Any puppies that I sell after the 1 or 2 I keep are sold for the same value, If I have a buyer that is very  keen to show a puppy they have next pick after me, they pay no more than the pet buyer. They are most welcome to have another person assess the litter for a suitable puppy.

Both parents should be health checked and x-rayed as should their previous generations.

Yes picking a quality show puppy at 8 or 12 weeks is still a lottery no matter how hard the breeder tries. As every puppy goes to it's new home I wonder if I have retained the right one or have I sold that Winner to a puppy home I guess if you can find a breeder who has those same thoughts you have a winner any way because they are confident that all of their puppies are of good quality.

Show quality guarantees that I have seen, basically state that the dog will be free from genetic faults (defined by dog's standard) that will disqualify it from showing.

Rik

All it can really mean is the pup shows no disqualifying or non typical features at the time of sale.  How much success it will have in the showring will always depend on what else is in the ring at  the time.  Certainly in the UK, the judge will be splitting hairs to choose between the top placings as the dogs are so uniform.

Margaret N-J

 Kaffirdog: I agree entirely.

David Payne - VIDEX GSD - ENGLAND

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