I would like to know REALLY how many SHOW PUPPIES if I were to say out of 100 make it in the show ring??? Not starting any fires, Im a newbie and need to know.
I always heard that 1 out of 4 that you think are show quality, actually work out to be competitive in the show ring. Also, look how many thousand Labradors are registered with the AKC every year and only about 100+ become champions every year.
Depends on who the breeder is that you get a show potential pup from. Some breeders are very educated, have alot of experience, breed very consistently, and know how to pick a show potential pup. Others not so much.
We are relatively new at the showing/breeding (about 10 years from our first attempts). I can say that getting a good quality show dog is difficult at best. Our first two attempts ended up with a girl with epilepsy and then another girl with elbow dysplasia and kidney disease. We now have three CH's at home (all purchased from well established breeders). That said we have placed 5 other dogs to get those dogs (not including the first two I mentioned as we kept both of those as our pets). we even placed a dog back with the breeder that went Best Puppy in Show at a Labrador specialty because we did not think her look was what we wanted in my little pack (although she is stunning, just not our cup of tea). Naturally she is now only a point away from her CH and has some nice wins at specialties but we needed to go with what we like and not just whatever happens to be winning at the time.
Admittedly our own breedings have not yet lived up to the quality of dogs that we have purchased from other fine breeders (we are only three litters into this great hobby), but we are learning and continuing to ask a lot of questions from people who know about what it takes to produce great dogs.
To buy a great dog takes some very special circumstances and a great relationship with the breeder. To breed a great dog, well I will leave that to better minds than mine. I can say that to date, for us, it is not an easy task to produce a truly great dog.
I think we owe our success to date has been that we have been willing to cut dogs that do not meet our bar. It sounds harsh but it is not nearly as bad as you think. We always find great loving homes for these dogs and after they have been shown for a bit they are well rounded stable dogs. We have also surrounded ourselves with people who are knowledgeable about breeding Labradors and try to keep the minds of beginners so we can continue to learn.
Here is what you should do. Find an old catalog from a specialty show. Preferably from at least 5 or more years ago. Just read through the sweepstakes and see how many names you recognize. That should give you a very clear picture of how many dogs make it in the show ring.
Toni
Thanks for the great post. You have a great outlook on breeding, open and honest and willing to do what it takes. Congrats and good luck with your endeavors.
