"working" prospects as pets?

[Liesje]

The "pet quality" thread got me thinking....breeders, how do you feel when you sell a very promising pup (if you're a working line breeder, a pup that you think will be good for a working/SchH home; if you're a show line breeder, a pup you think can excel in the ring) to a family that makes it clear they intend to work/show the pup, but then you find out they aren't doing work/show or anything much beyond basic training and keeping the dog as a pet? Is that disappointing? Or are you satisfied as long as the customer is happy and the dog appears happy and loved? Assume for this thread that the dog is not "too much" for the family (ie, they are perfectly happy with the dog, they are not calling you to complain that the dog is too hyper yet not doing any training).

[acurajane]

Hmmm, good point. I will be watching the outcome of this.

[Chris Wild]

So long as dog and family are happy, I'm happy as that is by far the most important aspect. Truthfully, I'd be lying if I said there wasn't a *tiny* bit of disappointment, because there is. But it's just a tiny bit and in no way dampens how I happy feel about the home the dog is in.

Plus, that itty bit of disappointment in those few cases is usually offset by the pups sold as pets, who's owners later got interested in sport of some type, and surprised everyone by putting titles on their pets.

At the end of the day, I'd rather place a pup in a home where it will be a beloved family member and never set paw on a trial field than I would place a pup in a home where it will have a slew of letters after it's name and a stack of trophies on the mantle but be viewed as a commodity and treated as a means to an end, not as a companion.

[Smithie86]

Same as Chris. 1st and foremost - home is most important.

We have done this more often than not - we have turned down people that we felt it was not a right fit, even if it was someone who would work and trial the dog. You learn, more and more, what to ask and what is answered - what is the best situation.

[onyx'girl]

Not a breeder but a potential owner of a well bred dog, and I think that if I ~as an owner do not give the pup/dog a chance to excel in the area of interest of what goals I had in the beginning(shared before purchase with the breeder), then I am failing the pup as an "owner"-I hate that word, I prefer guide/caretaker. I think it would be dissapointing as a breeder to put your heart and soul into a planned litter, and the pups you've sold don't get the chance to do what they were bred to do, it would be a huge dissapointment, even if the breeder didn't let on that the pup didn't get the chance to show what it was made of. But as Chris said, as long as the dog was loved,busy and happy...busy is the key word for a "working" prospect!

[lhczth]

A great home is my first priority very closely followed by a working home. I don't breed very often so have been lucky to get a huge majority of my pups into homes that work them in one way or the other. If I have a prospect that just has to be worked and titled then I had better keep it myself.