I received a very thoughtful e-mail from a young man last week expressing his interest in Australian Shepherds, detailing his background, and ultimately asking for my insight into the critical components required to be a successful breeder and exhibitor.
As I started to put thoughts to paper for my response, something quite interesting occurred to me. Had I been asked this question 15 years ago, my list of requirements to attain success in the world of purebred dogs would have included items such as researching pedigrees, ensuring you have safe housing, understanding animal husbandry, and making friends with a good Veterinarian, among others. While all of these are absolutely critical foundations, after many years of honestly analyzing my own personal journey as well as watching many others, I would add a few other less obvious components to obtain success not only "in dogs", but in a life with dogs.
Get your priorities straight.
Countless hours spent on websites, every weekend at a dog show, paperwork, cleaning, grooming, training, etc. The world of dogs can quickly become a singular all-consuming focus. Force yourself to find balance. If you don’t have family and friends to stand by you and to share successes with you, it’s going to be a very lonely journey.
Don’t use your dogs to make you feel important.
If you want to show dogs to “make a name for yourself” or to bolster your ego, you are setting yourself up for a short-term high. At the moment you are handed that ribbon, it’s easy to have an inflated sense of accomplishment. But every weekend of every year, people are handed lots of ribbons. Statistics will come, and statistics will go. Records will be broken. If you want to feel important…
Strive to make a difference.
There are so many ways outside of the show ring to make an impact. Teach a Junior Handling class, become part of a therapy dog program, become a mentor, etc. And maybe making a difference doesn’t include your dog at all. (Remember that “balance” thing I mentioned?)
I once had the opportunity to volunteer at an organization that assists homeless families by providing daycare for children while the parent, in most cases single mothers, searched for jobs.
I helped by reading stories to the children, building a terrarium with them, and as a centipede crawled across my hand explained how it got its name.
I have long forgotten many of my wins in the show ring, but I have never forgotten how important I felt when I was able to help these children learn and to provide a positive male figure.
And finally, the most important component to true success in my opinion…
Be a nice person. Be a good person.
The dog show world is not for the faint of heart. Competition can bring out the best, and unfortunately the very worst in people. Regardless of the hurdles you will encounter, and despite how challenging it is to remain positive when staring down adversity, just put a smile on your face and remember this lyric from Jimmy Buffett…“The good guys win.”
As I started to put thoughts to paper for my response, something quite interesting occurred to me. Had I been asked this question 15 years ago, my list of requirements to attain success in the world of purebred dogs would have included items such as researching pedigrees, ensuring you have safe housing, understanding animal husbandry, and making friends with a good Veterinarian, among others. While all of these are absolutely critical foundations, after many years of honestly analyzing my own personal journey as well as watching many others, I would add a few other less obvious components to obtain success not only "in dogs", but in a life with dogs.
Get your priorities straight.
Countless hours spent on websites, every weekend at a dog show, paperwork, cleaning, grooming, training, etc. The world of dogs can quickly become a singular all-consuming focus. Force yourself to find balance. If you don’t have family and friends to stand by you and to share successes with you, it’s going to be a very lonely journey.
Don’t use your dogs to make you feel important.
If you want to show dogs to “make a name for yourself” or to bolster your ego, you are setting yourself up for a short-term high. At the moment you are handed that ribbon, it’s easy to have an inflated sense of accomplishment. But every weekend of every year, people are handed lots of ribbons. Statistics will come, and statistics will go. Records will be broken. If you want to feel important…
Strive to make a difference.
There are so many ways outside of the show ring to make an impact. Teach a Junior Handling class, become part of a therapy dog program, become a mentor, etc. And maybe making a difference doesn’t include your dog at all. (Remember that “balance” thing I mentioned?)
I once had the opportunity to volunteer at an organization that assists homeless families by providing daycare for children while the parent, in most cases single mothers, searched for jobs.
I helped by reading stories to the children, building a terrarium with them, and as a centipede crawled across my hand explained how it got its name.
I have long forgotten many of my wins in the show ring, but I have never forgotten how important I felt when I was able to help these children learn and to provide a positive male figure.
And finally, the most important component to true success in my opinion…
Be a nice person. Be a good person.
The dog show world is not for the faint of heart. Competition can bring out the best, and unfortunately the very worst in people. Regardless of the hurdles you will encounter, and despite how challenging it is to remain positive when staring down adversity, just put a smile on your face and remember this lyric from Jimmy Buffett…“The good guys win.”