Duck Retriever

Retrieverman has done a good post on the split in Golden Retrievers between people who want a Golden Retriever bird dogs (field bred) and the breeders who produce show type Golden Retrievers. Whose side do you believe I'm on?

I read his post, and though "I could write on that for 40 hours, and still need somebody else to find photos and add to it".

First, the argument is between major kinds of people: either your a Clumper (AKA Grouper) or you are a Splitter. You either see the differences between things or the similarities between things. It a basic difference in people.

But it is also about point of view: if you are making money off of selling papers or dog shows, then you want everyone in your group. But if the group is run by a majority that opposes or ignores you, then you have reason to think "Splitsville Time".

The answer I think lays in splitting them all up into tiny little groups, then clumping those little groups into intelligent bigger groups.

The basic idea is that people who hunt with their dogs get their own Kingdom. People whose dogs actually work get their own Kingdom. Pet dogs have their own Kingdom.

And show dog breeders get their own Kingdom, mostly to try to keep them from trying to take over everybody else's domain. Like bill 1634 (California 2008) where pet dogs would have to be castrated/ spayed, but show dog breeders could keep cranking out the puppies. Forcing people wanting a pet dog to get a dog not bred to be a pet - like a left over show dog puppy.

Why would show dog breeders think they should get to sell to the public who want to buy a pet dog puppy - that is the domain of the pet dog breeders. People who choose which dogs to breed based on which dogs will make the best pets, should be the ones advertising pet puppies.

Show breeders, who select which dogs to breed based on which dogs are the best show dogs, should sell their puppies to other show breeders, NOT advertise them as "pet quality".

A little common sense will tell you that if a breeder selects which male to mate her female to based on his show wins, then she is aiming to produce show dogs, not quality pets.

A breeder aiming to breed good pet puppies, instead looking for a stud dog with lots of show wins, inquires to the stud dog owner about if the male dog barks too much, is good with children, was easy to house-train, can stay alone in the house or has to be crated .

Oh wait, I'm starting a 40 plus hour post here - and I don't want to get started on that/

Besides, Retrieverman is a socially more aware person, and doesn't blast anyone - maybe because he hasn't spent years being verbally blasted by show breeders who say that only show breeders should be allowed to have a pregnant dog, everyone else should be forced to have their dogs fixed.

Anyway, he's a good read, and doesn't flame at people, so you will probably enjoy him, and I'm going to recommend his site.
http://retrieverman.wordpress.com/

and the post that I am commenting on is:
http://retrieverman.wordpress.com/2009/10/23/some-basic-truths-about-splits-incertain-dog-breeds/

What breed is the retriever is the above photo?