Best Introductory Books About Dog Shows
It’s almost inevitable that, after spending time owning any one breed in particular, you may be bitten with the ‘dog show bug’. Your breeder might offer you a nice show potential puppy, or you just might decide that showing could be a fun hobby. No matter how or why you get bitten, jumping straight into the world of conformation shows is not for the faint of heart.
Like most sports, your best resource for learning about dog showing is a mentor – someone to hold your hand and guide you step by step through the process. In lieu of that, however, books can be a great crash course in learning the lingo, and getting a feel for the lay of the land.
I asked experienced show people and breeders for their personal suggestions on the best books for true novices to read if they want to learn about dog shows.
Here are their suggestions, and mine.
Potential Puppy Buyer Murders Rat Terrier Breeder
Lisa Montgomery sentenced to death for murder of dog breeder Bobbi Jo Stinnett, and kidnapping of Stinnett's unborn child.
Thanks to Jen and Yes Biscuit for reminding me of the worst ‘potential puppy buyer’ scenario of all time – the murder of Bobbi Jo Stinnett, a Missouri Rat Terrier breeder, and the theft of her unborn child.
The crime took place on Decemeber 16, 2004. According to CNN,
“Montgomery met Stinnett through an online chat room and — using a fictitious name — expressed interest in a rat-terrier dog, a type she bred and sold. Montgomery allegedly obtained directions to Stinnett’s home and visited her there Thursday. Hours later, officials have said, Stinnett’s mother found her body.
The baby, who has since been named Victoria Jo, was located in Montgomery’s custody the following day, police said. She was taken to Stormont-Vail Regional Health Care Center in Topeka, Kansas, and was released Monday night after being united with her father, Zeb Stinnett.”
Lisa Montgomery had a long history of feigned pregnancies, and was a ‘hanger on’ in several rat terrier chat rooms. Bobbi Jo Stinnet had apparently even once defended Montgomery when she was “accused of misrepresenting the pedigrees of her dogs” – source: http://karisable.com/stinnett.htm
Montgomery used the same rat terrier chatroom where she had met Stinnett to arrange the meeting that would lead to Stinnett’s death.
On Wednesday, December 16, 2004, Lisa, posing as “Darlene Fisher” contacted Bobbie Jo in an Internet chat room under the pretext of wanting to buy a rat terrier. Bobbie Jo gave her directions to her house and they agreed to meet the next day.
Like most of us have done in the past – or continue to do now – Stinnett didn’t check ‘Darlene Fisher’s’ credentials or other information before giving her directions to her home. The next day, Stinnett’s mother discovered her daughter’s body dead in pool of blood, with fistfulls of blond hair and the fetus removed from her body.
MSNBC.Com reports that –
“Prosecutors said Montgomery used a rope to choke Stinnett, who was eight months pregnant. But Stinnett was conscious and trying to defend herself as Montgomery used a kitchen knife to cut the baby girl from the womb, prosecutors said.
Montgomery was arrested the day after the killing after spending the morning showing off the infant as her own in her hometown of Melvern, Kan.”
The Grand Jury indictment against Lisa Montgomery read:
On or about December 16, 2004, at Skidmore, in Nodaway County, in the Western District of Missouri and elsewhere, LISA M. MONTGOMERY, the defendant, a/k/a Darlene Fischer, a/k/a Fischer4kids, willfully and unlawfully kidnapped, abducted, carried away, and held Victoria Jo Stinnett, and willfully transported Victoria Jo Stinnett in interstate commerce from Skidmore, Missouri, across the state line to Melvern, Kansas, the actions of the defendant resulting in the death of Bobbie Jo Stinnett.
On Oct. 22, 2007, a jury found Lisa Montgomery guilty, and on Friday, April 4, 2008, U.S. District Judge Gary Fenner gave Lisa Montgomery the death sentence, making her the third woman on federal death row.
Montgomery remains on death row to this day, and has appealed her conviction.
Stolen Dogs and Scared Breeders
Another Ontario breeder has had dogs stolen by vistors who pretended to be potential puppy buyers. This isn’t the first time this has happened – years back, a Bulldog breeder in California lost almost every dog in their house to people who had come to ‘meet the dogs’ a few days before, and the infamous home invading Yorkie thieves gained access to the house by posing as potential purchasers. An American Eskimo breeder in Northern Ontario had a litter of puppies stolen from right out of her kitchen, and we ourselves had a puppy stolen from inside of our house – while I was at home alone with my children.
This rise in dogs stolen from right inside our homes has left a lot of breeders feeling paranoid – and a lot of puppy buyers feeling confused.
For years, we’ve told potential buyers that visiting the home of the breeder they are considering purchasing a puppy from is a great way to choose a quality breeder – and it is. Unfortunately, it’s also less and less common to find breeders willing to let possible buyers drop over for just a ‘meet the dogs’ visit.
Can you blame us? After all, we don’t know you – and we don’t know if your intent is to sincerely meet us and our dogs, or if you have something more nefarious in mind. Are you ‘casing’ us, trying to find out where the dogs live and what access points there might be? Are you checking to see if our doors are secure, and if there’s a gun safe sitting in our family room? As breeders, we just don’t know – and we’re all of us more and more paranoid about the possibility that your innocuous visit can turn into a house emptied of its pets.
As puppy buyers, however, it’s not unusual to want to meet the possible parents of your future puppy, in advance of picking that puppy up. As breeders, it’s also common for us to want to meet you, as well. An initial impression can go a long way to convincing us that you are the right family for one of our precious kids.
What kind of compromise can we all make, to create an atmosphere where both sets of parties get what they need?