Liz, Your comments brought to mind a problem I have had in the recent past. I have come to know two women who have purchased their dogs from pet stores, one is a Schipperke and the other a Papillion. They are both of my parents generation (non Internet). I am not particularly close to either but they belong to a club that my husband and I belong to and being dog owners we have at least that in common. I have found that neither did any research on their breeds, never mentioned looking for a breeder, typical "just had to have one" syndrome. I am not a particularly outspoken person, but I also feel strongly regarding this subject and I am at a loss as to how to enter into the topic of pet store puppies. They are both so very proud of their pups and the last thing I want to do is insult them. How do I go about opening the topic without offending them? Without it seeming a direct insult to them and their dogs. If they had Berners is would be a no brainer, but they are not overly impressed with my big beautiful, hairy, messy lovable dogs :-) Thanks in advance for any advice.
Cheryl, Tessa & Tanner --- Liz Bradbury <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Hi Tracey, > Don't be too hard on your Mom... Not so long ago it > could have been > me... Our first Berner - and first dog - we bought > from an ad. in a > local paper (1986). We knew zip about pedigrees, > BYBs, or anything > really. Granted the learning curve was > subsequently steep and fast, > but only because Hannah had multiple problems. I do > seem to remember > asking something about a club for Bernese people, > but was told it was > just for professionals! > Then, in 1996, my son introduced me to the internet > and we did a > search for Bernese, and my education began in > earnest, thanks to the > Berner-L - I had been a member of the GB club for a > number of years > by then, but it's surprising how much more I learnt > just by listening > to people throwing their ideas back & forth. > There are still so many folk without the resources > I've been lucky > enough to have, and if you've bought one dog from a > farm, a flea > market, a pet shop, and had no problems, why would > you suspect the > next would be any different? > My parents still think I verge on madness and tunnel > vision when it > comes to the dog world... They have a miniature > Dachs, bought from a > local paper ad. She has epilepsy and a bad spine, > but they just > accept that as something that happens. They don't > see the need to > spend even days on research, let alone months. > Admittedly, they were > appalled by the background of the 3 rescues (2 puppy > farm females and > a dog from an extremely abusive home) I've had and > saddened by the > early demise of others, but they accept that this is > going to happen > to some dogs and as far as they are concerned, they > are doing their > bit for dog-kind. They do try to persuade me I'm a > fool to keep > taking in dogs that obviously have a multitude of > problems and get > really aggravated when I insist that Bernese will > always be part of > my life. > All we can do is hope to nudge PPOs gently in the > right direction, > and gently educate the public by all the means we > can. It's going to > take a while for the internet generation to get the > word around, but > the advances in the past few years have been > wonderful. We just have > to be patient and find the right words to effect > even the most > stubborn of pet owners!! > Liz Bradbury in Scotland, with Roxie the bouncing > Berner; Newfs Toby > and Maggie; & the 6 Feline Fiends. > http://www.btinternet.com/~liz.Bradbury1 > > > On Tue, 15 Jul 2003 11:08:30 -0500, Tracey Conner > wrote: > >Last month I learned where my mother had gotten her > cute little toy > >poodle > > > __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? SBC Yahoo! DSL - Now only $29.95 per month! http://sbc.yahoo.com
