Click to join our Facebook Fan Page and follow us on Twitter!

Dog Files Viewpoint: My Dog’s Better Than Your Dog!

By KatyBeth Jensen For The Dog Files

All sorts of pups will come to camp this summer.  Crash, my rescue poster pup, will gallop through our gates. Howard, a Labradoodle who has never known a sad moment will come to play. Maggie, a Pitbull, will shyly join us while her people travel. The Bouvier des Flandres will summer with me. And then, of course, there is Joey, George,  Dakota, Tucker, Theo, Lily, Buddy, Chelsea Chatham, Radda, Skelly, Sophie and, last but not least, Sullivan. Just to name a few…

Why do we insist that a rescue dog is more valuable or more loved than a purebred dog with a pedigree full of champions? On the other hand, why wouldn’t a mixed breed or a rescue pup be just as valuable as a purebred dog? 

The other day, I heard someone offer the opinion that people who bought purebred dogs were snobs. Really? Well maybe a little and it is true that people who show dogs are a bit on the crazy side. I know, because I co-own a champion Doberman and own an AKC-registered Parson Terrier that was ridiculously expensive.  I also own a Beagle that mostly isn’t, and a Schipperke rescued from a pet store. Who cares. What’s important is that my dogs are all loved and will live with me forever-after.  My clients who own the well-bred, pricey Bouviers, Vizslas and Boxers don’t love their dogs any more or any less than my clients who adopted mix-breed dogs from shelters. 

Whether you want to adopt a pup, rescue a pup, or buy a pup from a reputable breeder, what does it matter as long as you are willing to love them and give them a forever-after home? Helping to find forever-after homes for the abandoned, abused dogs that overpopulate and overwhelm our shelters and rescue groups is a noble thing to do. Adopting is a wonderful option. Preaching the value of spaying and neutering dogs that aren’t going on to the show arena is helping to grow responsible dog ownership, and if we can shut down pet stores that display puppies in the windows, I think we can count on a ticket to heaven.  On the other hand, judging each other or standing superior because you own one type of dog over the other is just silly.  
 
Stand proud for your dog. Declare them the best, the most perfect, and of course, the most loved, and let your fellow dog owners do the same. Putting someone else’s choice down or standing in judgment leaves you less time to brag about your wonder-pup! If you want to promote rescues or shelters, you can point to your dog’s strengths, challenges and how far they have come, without ever declaring EVERYONE SHOULD RESCUE. If you want to promote purebred dogs, you can talk about the strength and beauty of a thoughtfully-bred dog.  

Let’s all be dog snobs together! Of course, its’ going to be hard to outshine my Doberman that just walked out of the show ring with her championship, or my goofy Schipperke that spins like a top, but go ahead and give it a try.  What makes your pup the best? 

Pats for your pups,

Katybeth

KatyBeth & Rascal

Katybeth is a professional pet spoiler, living in the Chicagoland area, running her own business, Camp-Run-A-Pup. Camp Run-A-Pup spoils other people’s pups, and they do it really well. Katybeth lives with and loves three dogs of her own, Rascal, a Parson’s Terrier (AKC recognizers her as a Parson’s; you might recognize her as a Jack Russell), Skippy, a Schipperke with a personality disorder, and Scooby, a beagle that might belong to a neighbor. Katybeth’s newest family star is Soquel’s Last Souvenire, or as they like to call her, Trinket, a show-stopping Doberman pup. Katybeth co-owns Trinket with her mom because she likes being on the winning side of the dog show arena and wanted the rights to tell the real unabridged stories of the oddities of dog showing. the movie Dog Show did not even come close to telling. Katybeth also enjoys writing her blog — My Odd Family. Dogs, dog people, dog shows and owning a dog business combined with hearth, home and family never leaves her at a loss for material to write about.

Katybeth Jensen,PPS
Professional Pet Spoiler
http://www.camprunapup.com/
http://www.deerantlersforpups.com/
http://myoddfamily.com/