{"id":115,"date":"2010-04-14T17:05:22","date_gmt":"2010-04-14T22:05:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sibped.com\/jalerran\/?p=115"},"modified":"2010-04-14T17:05:22","modified_gmt":"2010-04-14T22:05:22","slug":"thoughts-on-dog-politics-technology","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/sibped.com\/jalerran\/2010\/04\/14\/thoughts-on-dog-politics-technology\/","title":{"rendered":"Thoughts on ‘Dog’ Politics & Technology"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

Written in 2007 –<\/h3>\n

How much has this advanced in the last 3 years :)??<\/p>\n

Politics\u2026 The Root of All Evil<\/h3>\n

Throughout my experience in purebred dogs, I have been vexed by three issues \u2013 <\/span><\/h3>\n

Politics, Technology, and Health<\/span><\/h3>\n

By politics, I am referring not to our next presidential candidate, nor to the tendencies of some judges to let the person on the end of the lead influence their selections (rather than the dog).\u00a0 No, by \u2018politics\u2019, I mean the gossip, peer pressures, and less-than-congenial activities demonstrated by many folks in the fancy; in ANY fancy, from what I understand.<\/span><\/h3>\n

Some time ago, I had written \u201cPolitics \u2013 The Inhumane Treatment of Humans<\/em>\u201d (see site menu, left<\/strong>)\u00a0to partially address the subject \u2013 or at least my view of it.\u00a0 I received a lot of responses from folks who happened to review it, most of which indicated that others were having the same experiences.\u00a0 Confirming\u2026 but sad, nonetheless.<\/span><\/h3>\n

In analyzing the two other concepts that have troubled me over the years (technology and health), I noticed a connection between them, and those \u2018politics\u2019, and decided it might be interesting to throw out the correlation and see if the response is, again, the same.<\/span><\/h3>\n

Technology<\/span><\/h3>\n

Before becoming frustrated and even a little bitter about the \u2018politics\u2019 associated with breeding and exhibiting dogs, I was eager, and probably\u00a0a bit\u00a0over-zealous, in my endeavor to learn and absorb every possible\u00a0piece of information I could.\u00a0 The internet, and all it had to offer, was an incredible tool for allowing me to gain insight and familiarity with many aspects of breeding, exhibiting, and more.\u00a0 There were websites displaying top-winning dogs, club information, show entries, health and veterinary tips, and even online chat lists where people could communally address issues, provide show results, and discuss related topics.\u00a0 I thought, \u201cWhat an excellent source of educational material for members of the fancy \u2013 both young and old!\u201d\u00a0 How lucky I felt to be able to learn without the constraints of distance and time that must have plagued the more seasoned folks out there!<\/span><\/h3>\n

One thing that was particularly troubling to me, however, was that as I began to learn the differences between reputable breeding verses backyard breeders and puppy mills, I noticed that when I would perform a \u2018search\u2019 on every major search engine (Google, Yahoo, MSN, etc.), the results would come back displaying links to websites for breeders who did not indicate that they used all of those reputable breeding practices.\u00a0 The entire first page or two of results contained either \u2018dog-for-sale\u2019 sites that did not require advertisers to demonstrate reputability, or alternatively, websites for breeders who did not perform health background screenings, did not show or do anything with their dogs (other than just breed them<\/em>), and often sold to potential homes on a first-come, first-served basis.<\/span><\/h3>\n

As I started researching how these \u2018breeders\u2019<\/em> were able to rank so highly in the search engine results, I found that getting the top spots was not necessarily an easy task.\u00a0 A website had to be optimized, utilize the correct \u2018tags\u2019, not to mention that each search engine had different criteria by which it ranked the results.\u00a0 I also learned that many people in the fancy were against the ‘doggie-for-sale’ sites.\u00a0 They did not want to support advertisers that did not require people to adhere to ethical guidelines, and in some cases, they felt that using such sites would be a bit beneath them,<\/em> in\u00a0an elitist sense.<\/span><\/h3>\n

As an educator, every day I see first-hand how the internet is the main tool used by today\u2019s generation to do just about anything.\u00a0 It\u2019s not going to go away.\u00a0 So, then why didn\u2019t these model-breeders hold the top spots?\u00a0 I could understand the concept of boycotting something because a person thinks the related practices should be changed (hence why I\u2019ve refused to join certain breed clubs when the members don\u2019t all adhere to the ethical guidelines themselves); however, I couldn\u2019t comprehend why people in the fancy did not feel it was important for seemingly more reputable breeders to hold those top spots on the search engine results. <\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n

If people in the public are searching for a \u2018husky puppy\u2019, and their results yield only breeders that do not adhere to reputable breeding practices, they probably won\u2019t have anything better with which to compare.\u00a0 Rarely does anyone go beyond the first page or two of search results!\u00a0 Not to mention, as I talked with other breeders \u2013 (even those who did not have puppies on the ground at all times<\/em>) – I found that they were having difficulty finding GOOD homes.\u00a0 At the same time, those breeders demonstrating none of the reputable breeding practices who held those top search engine listings were receiving more than 30-40 inquiries per week!\u00a0 So, I gave search engine listings a try, and did what I could to get our site listed.\u00a0 After time, I did manage to get some decent site-traffic results.\u00a0 I wasn\u2019t able to attain those top spots, but through the use of some of the various internet marketing tools, I was able to get a better ranking for our site.\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t cheap, but did allow me a great way of having homes to choose from when I would have litters. <\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n

When I didn\u2019t have puppies myself, I would forward the inquiries to other folks that seemed to be reputable breeders in hopes that buyers would go there instead of the breeders that were rather obviously less-than-reputable.\u00a0 But, those lists would occasionally fall into what I was told were the \u2018wrong hands\u2019<\/em>, so I decided to try a different approach.\u00a0 I queried one of the chat-lists, and offered to assist reputable folks with that same process.\u00a0 Needless to say, many of the veterans of the fancy were far from thrilled with this concept.\u00a0 They had some interesting arguments such as:<\/span><\/h3>\n

1.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Even \u2018reputable\u2019 breeders are not always \u2018reputable\u2019.<\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n

2.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Promoting a website is the same as promoting the breed itself.<\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n

3.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 This will only encourage even reputable breeders to produce more puppies in order to meet the supply and demand trends.<\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n

4.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 There are already breeder referral methods in place \u2013 people should just use those.<\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n

5.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 If there aren\u2019t enough good homes available, people shouldn\u2019t be breeding a litter in the first place.<\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n

It would take all day to consider each of those points independently, but suffice it to say, I thought that we could all just agree to disagree on some of those arguments, right?\u00a0 But, as with anything in the breed, this was when \u2018politics\u2019 came into play again.\u00a0 For anyone who is not already aware, often times, if someone doesn\u2019t agree with someone else in the fancy, then it\u2019s not just a matter of a difference opinion\u2026 no, it becomes personal.\u00a0 And anybody can ultimately be labeled a backyard breeder, puppy mill, (or worse), simply because their practices are different than someone else\u2019s.\u00a0 This whole labeling practice was a very touchy subject for me for quite some time (if you couldn\u2019t tell by the first \u2018politics\u2019 article), but I did get a good laugh after reading this article written by a breeder in Michigan \u201cYou Might Be a Puppy Mill If\u2026\u201d <\/span><\/h3>\n

http:\/\/tajasiberians.com\/id30.html<\/span><\/a> (scroll down).<\/span><\/h3>\n

Humorous, but then again, I enjoy sarcasm.\u00a0 Apparently, there were other readers out there who had taken offense to it, and did not appreciate its sentiment.\u00a0 Unfortunately, it definitely has an added component of truth to it, aside from the tongue-in-cheek presentation of the material.<\/span><\/h3>\n

At any rate, once the discussion on the issue of website promotion ensued, I started to receive phone calls and emails, some very lengthy, from breeders who felt compelled to ascend down from on-high (there\u2019s that darn sarcasm again<\/em>) and suggest that not only was I a misguided nut, but all of my dogs were garbage, too.\u00a0 Unbeknownst to me, the breeders of my dogs had more-or-less single-handedly ruined the entire breed!\u00a0 On the other hand, I also got emails from other folks saying that I was on the right-track, and that I was saying things that most others only thought, but dared not say (fear of the \u2018Mob\u2019).\u00a0 This correspondence was becoming very tedious, very frustrating, and honestly, a little nauseating.\u00a0 Finally, I decided I\u2019d had enough, and figured I\u2019d be more productive spending my time grooming a dog or two than debating on the computer, so I signed off of the lists.<\/span><\/h3>\n

But, I did go so far as to write a letter to some of the breed clubs expressing my concerns about the use of technology by backyard breeders and the need for more reputable breeders to have a presence on the web. After months, the gist of the response I did finally get was that I could get someone with another opinion to write an \u2018opposing-viewpoints\u2019 article and submit it for publication.\u00a0 I did not progress with that suggestion, figuring we\u2019d already basically done all that publicly on the chat-lines, and I was growing tired of the repercussions of challenging the opinions of those with \u2018political influence\u2019<\/em>.<\/span><\/h3>\n

However, in always trying to find the positives with any situation, I did come away with what I could definitely acknowledge as being a few good points from those \u2018opposing\u2019 veterans.\u00a0 Some noted that technology, despite all it had to offer from an educational context, also made it possible for newcomers to move forward in the development of their lines with little or no mentorship.\u00a0 And, it permitted newcomers and veterans alike to buy dogs from different sides of the country without ever visiting that breeder, nor gaining any true knowledge of \u2018what\u2019 they were incorporating into their breeding program.\u00a0 So, I did the best I could to apply that information.\u00a0 I took all that time I was saving by being off of the chat-lines, and toured more than 30 breeders in the U.S. and Canada.\u00a0 And it was, and continues to be, in my opinion, truly the BEST way of learning.<\/span><\/h3>\n

The veterans were right on many accounts.\u00a0 Technology can<\/em> be deceptive.\u00a0 Pictures posted on a website may or may not do a particular dog justice \u2013 or may also give the perception that a dog is more than he is cracked up to be.\u00a0 I saw that most breeders do not actually include ALL of their dogs on their websites.\u00a0 A lot of the breeders I visited on my tours had five or more litters on the ground.\u00a0 Many breeders do not actually update their websites with every litter they have produced. <\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n

On that note, and in the vein of how most problems tend to relate back to \u2018politics\u2019, I had another good laugh last year when I was informed by a friend that she\u2019d been told the \u2018internet police\u2019 had been watching my site.\u00a0 The \u2018internet police\u2019<\/em> were reportedly a group of folks with nothing better to do all day but to comb other\u2019s websites in search of would-be puppy mills.\u00a0 Hey \u2013 I don\u2019t mean to sound as though I\u2019m condemning their research – more power to them.\u00a0 However, as a result of this \u2018intelligence leak\u2019, it was being suggesting to my friend that because we were \u2018under surveillance\u2019, we must be up to no good.\u00a0 Just as there is no perfect dog, I\u2019m certainly not suggesting we\u2019re perfect breeders that have never deviated from the guidelines in the slightest, but I\u2019m not sure that using technology as a means of\u00a0alluding to inappropriateness<\/em> is necessarily appropriate<\/em> either.\u00a0 That practice of stirring up the pot of contempt between breeders seems almost as deceptive as those breeders that don’t practice accurately or completely updating their site\u00a0information.<\/span><\/h3>\n

It is very easy to point fingers, but far less simple to enact change, especially in the midst of such a \u2018political<\/em>\u2019 mess.\u00a0 Shame on me.\u00a0 Likewise, for as much as technology can be considered deceptive or misused, it is still ultimately the \u2018politics<\/em>\u2019 that influence what people do and do not disclose, as well as what is and is not considered reputable.\u00a0 And as has been said before, there are ALWAYS two sides to every story.\u00a0 So, with all of that technology has to offer, the obvious \u2018politically<\/em>\u2019 driven method of warning someone about a negative experience with another breeder would be to create a webpage about it.\u00a0 If we can all agree to disagree on this particular topic, web-based slander, I don\u2019t agree with this practice.\u00a0 I\u2019ve bounced back and forth on the sites of breeders outlining their disputes between each other.\u00a0 I\u2019ve seen it happen to strangers, as well as folks I know personally. And now, after having been the subject of one such page myself, all I can say is that if everyone in dogs who ever had a disagreement with someone else felt compelled to create a website telling the public how awful that other breeder is and why everyone should save themselves the trouble by simply blacklisting that other nasty person, we\u2019d have nobody left to have to contend with.\u00a0 My guess is that we\u2019d have enough material to rival even the best daytime drama on television. \u00a0\u00a0That being said, as the world turns\u2026 during these days of our lives, let\u2019s flip\u00a0over to \u2018General Hospital\u2019, and take a look at the third aspect that has consumed my thoughts over the years \u2013 \u201cHealth\u201d.<\/span><\/h3>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Written in 2007 – How much has this advanced in the last 3 years :)?? Politics\u2026 The Root of All Evil Throughout my experience in purebred dogs, I have been vexed by three issues \u2013 Politics, Technology, and Health By politics, I am referring not to our next presidential candidate, nor to the tendencies of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[25],"class_list":["post-115","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-politics-in-dogs"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/sibped.com\/jalerran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/sibped.com\/jalerran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/sibped.com\/jalerran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sibped.com\/jalerran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sibped.com\/jalerran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=115"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/sibped.com\/jalerran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":116,"href":"http:\/\/sibped.com\/jalerran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115\/revisions\/116"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/sibped.com\/jalerran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=115"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sibped.com\/jalerran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=115"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sibped.com\/jalerran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=115"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}