Other breeders in your breed aren’t your competition.
It can be easy to start seeing them that way, especially when you’re watching the same breeders and dogs win weekend after weekend while wondering why yours aren’t. I’ve seen it plenty of times where someone doesn’t understand why their dog didn’t win, and instead of stepping back and being open to why, hurt feelings get in the way of taking an honest look at their own dog. Sometimes the better question isn’t “Why did their dog beat mine?” but “What qualities did the judge like, and what can I learn from it?”
That doesn’t mean every win makes a dog better than yours, or that ribbons should be the goal of a breeding program. But if we can’t recognize the strengths in dogs outside our own program, we’re probably missing opportunities to improve our own.
And someday that breeder you once saw as competition might be someone you co-own with, breed to, or celebrate with because you produced something pretty great together.
At the end of the day we’re all working toward better dogs. We might as well build each other up, make some amazing friendships, and produce some pretty great dogs together!
-Kvali
