>Nope. I wouldn’t lose a friend (or a marriage!) over it. I used to joke tho (and it’s hardly a joke really) that if you get into showing dogs, it’s like someone puts a vacuum cleaner hose into your pocket and turns it on, be prepared. I never went into debt over it, but I knew LOTS of people who did. And lots marriages, etc. Very sad.<
The most important thing I was ever, ever taught by my childhood/teen years mentor was the risk into which you put yourself by campaigning a dog if the economy suddenly goes south while you are doing so. She may have had “the breeders’ dream” but the price she ultimately paid left her living hand to mouth the rest of her life when she should have been at least comfortable. God rest her soul.
She didn’t teach this on purpose, obviously, but I’ve tried to pass the lesson on whenever the opportunity presents. I scaled back to the bone when the stock market dove - I’ve not bred a litter in years and my dogs are mostly dead or ancient. I will not go into debt to show this pup and if we don’t have a major change in Nov, the shows I attend will be few and far between.
Yup, same attitude as me. I know it frustrates a lot of my dog show friends, they don’t understand, but there things more important. Sad about your mentor.
I think the people who can afford to pour money in usually end up doing something that makes them money, like run a boarding kennel or professional handler, and some of them still end up going broke. Most of the folks I know who got into dogs when I did are no longer in it. I think they used to say the average was 5 years.