Jen wrote:
...this is the first question they ask, and when the answer is no, they then ask why not. There usually isn't much time to get into the whole responsible breeding spiel, so other than "she's spayed" I haven't come up with a really short response to this yet. Dear Jen, Cessi and Tucker: The most frequent question and the one that makes me laugh the most is, "Are YOU going to have puppies?" With a blank stare, I generally reply, "that would be genetically impossible". They then reiterate, "I mean, is he going to have puppies?" Again, the answer is no - he is a HE. Eventually they get around to asking the question correctly, "are you going to breed these dogs?" My answer is always; "No, I am not a breeder, that is not my intention." If they want a pup I add, " if you are seriously interested I can put you in contact with a responsible breeder." I give interested parties the 'Bernese Baseball Card', my calling card and the whole breeding conversation ends there. If they are seriously interested in a Bernese they will call me at a later date. Some do and some don't. They have the baseball card. Some people persist and rattle on about how beautiful he is, what a sweetheart, absolutely adorable, how can you not want puppies! In all seriousness I tell them, "There are underlying faults to this and any dog that you cannot see by simply looking at him and petting him. Careful consideration needs to be taken when selecting Bernese breeding stock." That is usually too indepth for them, they look at you as if you have horns and go on there way. You could always simply tell people, "They (Cessi and Tucker) are not a married couple." - Denise
