Question for breeders with websites- SchH Pics Only?

[wildo]

Just a simple question to breeders with websites. In the few breeders I've looked into, there seems to be an abundance of SchH pics on their websites of their dogs. Typically, it's SchH only- no herding, flyball, agility, S&R, etc, etc photos.

Is this because most breeders will use SchH as a test for breed worthiness, and therefore that is their main focus area? GSDs can do a lot more than SchH and all these breeders often state on their websites that the dogs should be able to succeed in all dog sports.

So just curious- why is there often a lack of "other" dog sport pics on breeders' websites? Is my assumption correct that breeders tend to focus on breed worthiness tests like Schutzhund?

...this is just a curiosity question- nothing more.

[wildo]

I ask because, let's say I want to find a breeder for my next agility star. It would be great to see how the breeder's dogs are doing in agility. I might be able to extrapolate based on their SchH success, but in the end it would be great to see agility stuff. Or herding. Or flyball. Or, you know, whatever your dog sport of choice is.

I'm sure the breeder might have pics of their progeny that are not published on their site. But again, my question is generally speaking- why don't we seem many pics like this on the sites? Just curious.

[dawnandjr]

Good question. If I had a website, you would only see pictures of my dog doing obedience. She has puppies doing Schutzhund and others are pets. If it were me, I would put as many different pictures as I could. Showing the versitilty of the breed. If the websites are from working lines, then to promote the working ability, people feel the need to validate them in Schutzhund.

[Xeph]

On my site, you'll see nothing but stacks, however, if you asked me, I have TONS of pics and videos of my dogs herding, doing agility, obedience, etc that I'd happily share with you.

I actually really dislike websites that have tons and tons of pictures on them. It slows loading time, and, IMO, makes the breeder seem almost unfocused (even if what they're going for is to show the versatility of their animals).

[GSDBESTK9]

Well, I think it has more to do with the fact that no breeder has time to do everything, every sport. That doesn't mean they don't produce dogs that would be great for Agility. Our Tara produces puppies that would make AWESOME agility dogs because they are so fast and agile. But even though I used to compete in Agility I have no time for it at the moment. Maybe once I get back to doing it, we'll be able to post pictures of our GSDs doing Agility.

[GSDBESTK9]

Hmm, now that I think about it, I could ask one of our Tara puppy buyers for Agility pictures with Cara. Good idea! Thanks!

[wildo]

Originally Posted by Xeph

On my site, you'll see nothing but stacks, however, if you asked me, I have TONS of pics and videos of my dogs herding, doing agility, obedience, etc that I'd happily share with you.

This is the answer I pretty much expected. With so many people using sources like social media and the internet in general for doing research and making purchasing decisions though, I still find it interesting that the websites are not more diversified. I'm not saying in any way that I would not look into a breeder because they only show SchH pics and I wanted to do flyball- that would be silly. But I can tell you that if I was down to two breeders and all other things being equal- one of them had flyball success stories on their dogs listed on their website- I would absolutely look into that one first.

I have no doubt that any reputable breeder could supply plenty of info about their dogs in the various sports. I just think it's odd that, well, they don't (on their website).

[wildo]

Originally Posted by GSDBESTK9

Hmm, now that I think about it, I could ask one of our Tara puppy buyers for Agility pictures with Cara. Good idea! Thanks!

Actually, Carolina, this is exactly what I was talking about. I am sure most hobby breeders don't have the time to do a million things with their dogs- granted. I assumed though that the pups they produce go off to do a fairly diverse amount of things. And my understanding is that the offspring of a breeding pair can often be more showing of what you might get (obviously) than the breeding pair themselves.

For me, seeing what the pups are doing and accomplishing would be a huge factor in my decision to even pursue the breeder to begin with. Especially if I am not overly interested in the same dog sport that the breeder is into.

[GSDBESTK9]

The problem is that we rely on the puppy buyers to send us pictures and some of them are not as camera-crazy as some of us. Plus not everyone, unfortunately, stays in touch. We do keep in touch with one of Tara's puppy buyers that is doing Agility with her girl. I will try to ask her. I have considered keeping one of Tara's pups for myself just to do Agility with but I just don't have the time right now.

[Xeph]

I just think it's odd that, well, they don't (on their website).

And I go back to "look at the websites that look so cluttered", lol. If I listed everything I did just with STRAUSS on his page (pics and all), #1, it'd cost me a mint for all the graphics and the coding to make it not look like crap, and #2, the load time would take forever....especially for people that are still on dial up.

But I also list all the titles my dogs have behind their names, have a big "about us" section, etc etc.

My website is up so people can get an IDEA about my dogs, but I do not put absolutely everything up....it's up to the buyer to do some research on their own (and I plant seedlings for questions, like OFA stats, links to their pedigrees on PDB, and titles behind and in front of names)