Seven Foundations of a Successful Dog Breeder
~ Jonathan Jeffery Kimes (Pluperfect Kennels)
I ~~II ~~III~~ IV~~ V~~ VI ~~VII
V - BY GIVING YOU HAVE NOTHING TO LOSE
Another pitfall breeders often experience is the inability to celebrate others' Successes. While certainly we feel the route we are taking is the best way to approach that utopian plateau of breed perfection, there are actually many routes to that same goal. It takes nothing at all away from our own accomplishments to recognize the accomplished efforts of other breeders.
This inability and unwillingness to appreciate other's efforts usually comes from having made a decision not to breed to certain bloodlines or deal with certain persons. When such a kennel then produces a success, it is difficult for us to acknowledge such an achievement for we tend to find that inconsistent with our opinion of that particular person or family of dogs. It takes quite an honest and secure person to recognize and celebrate the accomplishments of others.
While it is probably good advice to hold our criticisms closer to our chest, recognizing another's achievement only brings good things. By being someone who can see the virtues in breeding lines other than your own, you gain a reputation of fair-ness and objectivity that is a very rare pearl in dogdom. You may find, over time, your point of view and your philosophies are taken with much greater weight when others do not perceive them to have originated in a mind consumed with self aggrandizement. Thus, by doing so you lose nothing and yet you gain so very much.