Day 9: Accountability & Reputation
Agatha, 2 months old.
Note - this is an opinion piece on what I feel makes a breeder accountable and/or reputable, and how I personally define these two words in relation to my programme! In no way do I condemn breeders who don’t do the things that I do - and conversely, there are many things that I don’t do that other breeders do! More power to everyone - a rising tide lifts all boats!
In my opinion, both terms relate to how breeders interact with external parties: other people (puppy people, breeding partners, stud owners) and also their dogs (puppies, show dogs, retired dogs, pets). Before we start, let’s look at the dictionary definitions of some terms:
“Reputable” means having a good reputation. One’s “reputation” are the widespread beliefs that others hold about you.
“Accountable” means responsible, or justified in their actions or decisions. “Accountability” describes a person as accountable: the obligation or willingness to accept responsibility for one’s actions.
There’s 2 things at play here - personal actions, and public perception. At the end of the day, my personal order of operations is:
1st priority - The dogs’ & my own well-being: if I/my household is not well, I can’t care properly for my dogs
2nd priority - The breed as a whole: how my actions, choices, and community contribute to the preservation of the PWC (health, structure, temperament, workability)
3rd priority - Current Capriccio family: providing support and a shoulder to lean on for all involved with my dogs
“Doing right by the dogs” means respecting their needs as both livestock and beloved companions, ensuring their comfort, and keeping their care up to quality standards. It means putting their comfort and quality of life ahead of my own, and understanding how they may perceive treatment and/or procedures differently from their human counterparts. It’s about knowing when to make tough decisions, like removing a dog from a breeding program, putting a dog down, taking a dog back, or choosing a difficult treatment regime.
There should be an expectation of breeders to be accountable towards both their dogs and towards the people that they deal with, whether in the show/breeding world or the pet/public sphere. If they act that way, their reputation amongst the general public should be generally positive. However, there is the possibility that a perfectly accountable breeder has a terrible reputation simply because of a single bad experience that was blown out of proportion, or even mishandled. Conversely, certain breeders who lack accountability have inflated reputations because of a few key positive experiences shared far and wide by a select few individuals.
What I’m saying is that it’s the responsibility of you as a future puppy owner to do the research on breeders you’re interested in. Go speak to their current and past owners, go speak to people who are in discussions with them right now or have just received a puppy from them. Go speak to both nay-sayers and praise-singers to hear what they have to say. DO YOUR RESEARCH!!!
